Five Steps to Revitalization
For the life of me I don’t understand why anyone would try to revitalize a church. But I did and I’m glad I did. Still, when I consider that the vast majority of pastors who try either fail or lose their job, I have to wonder why they would try, or why I tried? I […]
There’s No Dignity in Death When …
Evangelistic fervor that reaches out beyond the church and into the culture. That’s the call to every follower of what Paul calls the Way in this extended passage. And yet evangelism is the least practiced of all Christian disciplines, including faithful stewardship. Yes, more people actually tithe than regularly share their faith with Nones, the […]
10 Things to Do – Turnaround Mid to Large Sized Church
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 […]
7 Things To Do Outside the Church Office
I teach the Pastoral Leadership Course at the Center for Ministry Training Program at Phillips Seminary. 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 […]
10 Things to Do to Lead a Turnaround
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, build […]
Church of Tomorrow – Invested and Committed
My wife and I just completed a trip that we wanted to do since we were kids. We went to Alaska, land of 10,000 blogs (BTW – Alaska has 3 million lakes; sorry Minnesota). The first part of the trip was a cruise up the inside passage. There’s a reason that you are told to […]