Can This Church Turnaround? Case Study #1
Established: ~1904 Tribe: Protestant Mainline Worship Style: Rural traditional, family informal Congregational Demographics: AWA: 32 Trend: 20 years steep decline; 8 years slow decline; followed by 10 years slight decline Median Age: 61 Adult Generations: 21 Builders+; 8 Boomers; 2 Gen-X; 1 Millennial Children/Youth: 2–3 Ethnic Mix: Anglo SES: Mixed, mostly blue collar; income […]
Five Why’s to Reality
Simon Sinek, the author of Start with Why, teaches that every company knows its “what,” a few know its “how,” but few operate – or even know – their “why.” I’d say the same is true for most churches … and in my experience, is absolutely true for all declining churches. Take a look … There’s […]
What Will It Take For Mainline Denominations To Grow Again?
Nobody will argue that mainline denominations are in decline. It doesn’t matter if the decline is 80 percent or 65 percent as suggested by a recent Barna study, mainline denominations are seeing fewer and fewer people in the pews. This decline begs a question – “What will it take to turn this decline around?” Like […]
Pursue Discomfort
I was listening to Craig Groeschel at the North American Christian Convention in Kansas City and was struck by something he said: There was a sharp intake of breaths across the room when he said that. I suspect his words will be quoted in blogs like this one, and perhaps whispered furtively in a few […]
The Rule of One
The other day I had an inquiry from a pastor I am coaching. Her question was “You said we need to move our 8:30 contemporary service to 9:45 because it is too early to reach young adults. But we have one family who refuses to move. What should we do?” The Rule of One answers […]
Doctrine is Ruining Christianity
In the first and second centuries, the leadership capacity of a Christian was seen in whether they had been with Jesus or had been associated with one of the original disciples rather than what they believed. What they taught or believed was overshadowed by whom they had been with. Relationship with Jesus or his disciples, […]