Developing a Membership Covenant
I’m a big “DNA” fan; that is, I believe that, before a church can be effectively planted, grown, or transformed (pick whichever category you find yourself in), its leaders, and ultimately its congregation, have to wrestle with this question: “Why do we exist and what does it matter?” Once the grappling is over and the leaders emerge from […]
Church: Know Thyself
Only the pastor knew I was coming to spend Sunday morning with the church. As a secret shopper, my job was to experience the church as a first-time guest. I knew what time the services started and I had the address of the church. My GPS got me to the church without issue, but what […]
Don’t Be a Fly Trap Church
Everyone who follows my work knows I am a great fan of the local church. It is fundamental to the growth of the Kingdom, along with other forms of being the Church. I have no truck with those who say the day of the local church is over. I can’t stand what the vast majority of […]
Response to Yesterday’s Brain Twister on Facebook
Thanks to the dozens of you who attempted to answer the brain twister posted on Facebook. Although no one got all of the elements correct, many of you got at least part of it right. So let me share with you what I would want to tell this church. I’ll summarize it for our use and […]
Staffing Made Simple
One of the main bugaboos of many pastors is learning how to staff a church. In reality, knowing how to staff is simple if you just use your noggin. The following is based on any size church. If the church has under 500 in worship, some of the following staff should be volunteer or one paid staff […]
Bells Ringing in My Ears
I had to vacate my house for the night because some remodeling was being done, so I checked into a Holiday Inn. While I was out walking my dogs, one of the biggest mainline churches nearby began to ring out old hymn tunes. I was a block away and it hurt my ears. I went into […]