A Lesson in “Getting It”
My wife is currently the pastor of a small church here in Columbia, Missouri (Oakland Christian). It’s a small church, but putting what she knows about church growth, evangelism, follow-up, and leadership development into action the church has recently begun to show growth – especially with the younger adult crowd. The church’s nursery is in […]
Emerging Key Issues Facing the Church of Tomorrow
Key Number One: How to minister in a multicultural world The boats are no longer coming to North America from Europe. Mainline denominations are finding it impossible to become multicultural in spite of their resolutions and affirmative action. As long as denominations remain dominated by European forms of worship, they’ll never develop multicultural congregations. European forms […]
Get Some Visibility
Bill Easum and I are working on an ebook called Church Turnaround. In one section, we talk about getting noticed by the community. Far too many churches that have been in existence for any length of time have become invisible to the community. If you’re going to turn your church around, you’ll have to be intentional […]
Setting Clear Expectations
I was talking with a pastor the other day who was having trouble getting what he needed out of his staff. I asked him if he had set clear expectations for them as to what he was expecting. He said, “Sure, I told them I wanted their area of ministry to grow.” Well, folks, that’s […]
Prayvangelism
I spent the last week at a mainline’s church planter and church transformation training event. I wish I could say I was surprised at how great the training was. I wish. But the fact is, the training was long on the right theology and light on practicalities like the importance of evangelism in starting and […]
What’s in a Name?
I was with a group of church planters recently, and the conversation around the table focused on naming the church. Most of the planters had already named their ministries, but a few were still in limbo… which can be a very good place to be. So, if you haven’t yet named your church, or you’re […]