Older Adult Ministries
Did you know that there are more people over the age of 65 than under the age of 18 in the U.S.? Did you know that 50% of older Americans have no religious affiliation? Did you know in 1900 the average life expectancy for Americans was 47 and today it is 77? Did you know […]
What Small Groups Can Learn from the House Church Movement
If nominations were solicited for a single word that best described the North American house church and home fellowship movement, “potential” might be the one in the sealed envelope. David Garrison who has studied global church planting movements suggests that house church planting is one of the key factors for the growth of global Christianity. […]
Teaching Your Parish to Pray
Most Christians learn to pray from two sources. First, those who were raised by Christian parents may have learned from them. Sadly, many Christian parents simply don’t have a good handle on prayer themselves, so after their children memorized “God is great, God is good” and “Jesus tender, Shepherd hear me, bless this little lamb […]
Focus Groups
Some churches still find Focus Groups helpful in identifying the ministry needs of the market place. Here is my take on Focus Groups. The purpose of a focus group is to identify the attitudes, concerns, issues, hopes, dreams, and needs of the group of people you have brought together for the focus group. From this […]
What You Know Doesn’t Matter
I’m a fairly smart guy and I’ve got the degrees to prove it, so when I was in a seminar and the presenter made the assertion, “What you know doesn’t really matter,” well, it got my dander up and at least in my head I crossed my arms and thought, “That’s bunk.” But the speaker […]
Spiritual Habits for Real People
Easter is literally just around the corner and church leaders are gearing up for one of the most visitor and alumni attendance Sundays of the year. There’s so much to do: neighborhood Easter Egg hunts to organize; the Easter Cantata to publicize; ecumenical (or not) Easter Sunrise Services to coordinate; visitor follow-up programs to massage; […]