It’s common for church people to resist the “ways of the world” when it impacts how we do church together. At The Effective Church Group, we are always ready for push back when we express practical advice which arises from the reality of how human nature works.
We hear “It’ll never work; or it’s not […]
Recently, I wrote a post about starting a turnaround effort in a small church that’s been in decline for years (Ten Things to Do to Lead a Turnaround). I immediately got requests from church leaders of declining mid-sized and large churches: “What about us? What should we do?”
So, here is a list of things […]
I teach the Pastoral Leadership Course for the Mid-America Center For Ministry. It’s an eight-week online intensive on what it takes to be an effective leader in the church today. One of the things I teach during the course is that a pastor cannot grow the church by staying in their office. There’s always […]
I was recently asked what advice I’d give to a pastor getting ready to start a new transformation effort in a small church that’s been in decline for years. Here are the top 10 things I recommended.
Hand off everything you possibly can. Hand off regular hospital visitation, shut-in visitation, member care, etc. Instead, […]
My post, titled “Is It Time To Drop The Requirement,” resulted in several responses, which prompted me to do a little more digging into the subject of ordination. And after extensive reading on the subject I conclude there is absolutely no mention of ordination in the New Testament. By the second part of the […]
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 similar to ministry area
Debt: $0
Available Resources: ~$100,000 in endowments
Ministry Area […]
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 any […]
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 […]
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 […]
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