Growing A Church

There’s an axiom in the consulting world that goes: “Only two things grow a church … and about a million things keep it from growing.” Of course the second part is an exaggeration, to a certain extent, but the first part holds true across our nation. Let me help explode a couple of myths that […]

How Can We Measure Congregational Effectiveness?

People are always asking me if it is possible to measure the effectiveness of a church.  My answer is “Yes!” The problem isn’t – can it be measured – but, by what standard do we measure the effectiveness of a church. Too many people want to measure effectiveness around church health. I don’t think church […]

Some People Never Change

The Time- The 16th Century The Place- A monastery in Europe The Setting – Two monks discussing the Gutenberg Bible One monk says to the other one: “I don’t think it will ever catch on. It is too hard to use. I find the old scrolls much easier to read. I can roll it out […]

Ministry Is Distractions

I made a comment at a recent seminar that the only way pastors can reach the unreached is to get out of the office. Seemed to me like a no-brainer, but I repeatedly heard comments like, “Get out of the office and do what?!” The answer is to “Get out of the office and get distracted!” […]

Leaders Who Go From Good to Great

Many good leaders fail to reach their potential and become great leaders. Why? A variety of answers could be given here.  The easiest one is to say that they reached the level of their skill set and natural ability and should not be expected to go any further.  However, I have known many good leaders […]

Snapshot of Your Neighbor

It’s Easter Monday as I sit to write this article. I had the luxury of having two viewpoints at two different churches yesterday. One of the churches was a 400 member church with three services and the other was a 200 member church with two services. Both churches’ staff knew that this would probably be […]