Leveraging Valentine’s Day
When February 14th rolls around each year people make much ado about giving cards and gifts to the sweethearts in their lives. How can you convey to your congregation the real love that this holiday was originally intended to celebrate? Two-hundred and fifty years or so after Jesus was born, during the reign of Emperor […]
Five Steps to Encourage a Guest’s Return Visit
An important step in the growth of any church is to do whatever you can to encourage your first time guests to return for a second week. Notice I use the word ‘guest’ not visitor. To treat first time attenders as a welcomed guest, there are five things I would like to suggest that you […]
My Predictions for 2050
Over the years, I’ve made a few predictions about the future and every one of them has come true (you can see the bulk of them here). Now it’s time for another set of predictions. The first seven predictions are strictly about Christianity and the remaining predictions are secular but will need to be addressed […]
The Basic Law of Congregational Life
Over the past twenty-five years I’ve worked with almost seven hundred churches of all sizes and locations. Most in the U.S. but some in Canada, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, and Ghana. And one overarching truth has emerged from my experiences in these churches – I call this truth The Basic Law of Congregational Life. It […]
Is Christmas Becoming Like Easter?
It’s an exciting time to be a pastor. It’s equally exciting to be a consultant. You have to stay on your toes. These times are changing from moment to moment. For some time, the Effective Church Group has referenced Easter as Alumni Sunday, meaning that it’s a time when members who rarely attend worship may […]
Getting Ready for Sunday
As the pastor, the reminder “Sunday’s coming” may bring feelings of elation or dread. To be fair, most pastors live week-to-week and much of their waking time is spent with an eye toward worship. It might be an overstatement to say we’re obsessed by the weekend, but for most of us, it’s not much of […]