The Early Church Practice of Small Groups
The early doctrine of the church (ecclesiology) included the following elements: • They met in homes — “house to house” openly (Acts 2:46) • Worship was participatory rather than a spectator sport (Acts 11:27-30) • Every member was involved in ministry; members shared responsibility (Acts 11:27-30) • Teachings reflected a small group context (Acts 10:22-48; […]
Small Groups are Replacing Adult Sunday School
In my book Dancing with Dinosaurs (1993) I had a chapter in which I said adult Sunday School was coming to an end and was being replaced by small groups that meet in homes. You should have heard the negative letters I received. One person called me a heretic. Another called me stupid. I think […]
Who Is My Neighbor?
When I was growing up, if I wanted to play football I had to go out into the neighborhood and put together a team. Playing ball was a neighborhood sport. Not so anymore. Consider the following. Today most children who want to play football are driven to an organized program that may consist of children […]
9/11 Ten Year Anniversary
Coming up in September we will celebrate (if that is the proper word for it) the 10th anniversary of the fateful day of 9/11. If there was any doubt that the world has fundamentally changed, 9/11 should settle that. Now the real question is, what are you planning in the way of a celebration that […]
Why Do Churches Wait until It’s Almost Too Late?
One of the things I’ve noticed over my years of consulting is that most declining churches wait until it’s almost too late to try to stop their decline. They will watch their worship attendance decline some 50-60% over a ten-year period and do nothing about it. But here’s the kicker – they won’t do anything about it until the […]
Exponential 2011
I will be at Exponential 2011 this year on all three days for four workshops. If you plan on being there, it would be great to connect. Just email me and let me know. Exponential is one of the largest gatherings of church planters on the planet. It delivers quite a punch over three days. If […]