I recently got a note from a pastor who thought that we at The Effective Church Group are down on small churches … that the only faithful churches are large churches. “The larger the better, it seems.”
Let me crystal clear: There’s nothing wrong with small churches. In the words of some smartie, “God […]
My wife works in a pagan bookstore. She’s one of two Christians who work there – everyone else is Wiccan, polytheistic, or one shade or another of neopagan. (In a related note, the vast majority of those who patronize or work at the bookstore are former Christians who have turned their backs on the […]
A client recently posed a staffing question and asked me to address it. “Why should the first hired staff positions be (1) a worship leader for a non-traditional style worship service; and (2) a children’s director?” The answer is as simple as it should be self-evident.
Without a steady influx of young families to the […]
Some years ago, my three brothers and I got together for a family reunion. We gathered our wives and kids and traveled to a central location and spent a weekend eating, swimming, participating in a talent show but mostly just catching up on what was going on in each other’s lives. Our kids got […]
By now, most of us realize that we live in times of both great challenges and Kingdom advancement. Of course I’ve never been pregnant naturally, but I hear that labor pains feel a lot like dying. Yet, it is not death that is coming forth-but new life.
For many of us, we look at our […]
Moving through life is like reading chapters in a book. Most people read one chapter at a time. Life is the same – as you move through life, you open and close one chapter at a time with each chapter usually focusing on a different theme or emphasis.
I remember when I closed the chapter on pastoring […]
Here’s yet another excerpt from 21st Century Strategies for Church Growth.
One of the missing ingredients in today’s church is accountability. As church leaders, we are often so grateful to have volunteers who serve that we’re willing to overlook poor attitudes, bad behavior, and even a lack of integrity. In other words, we settle for […]
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 […]
By David Olsen
This is a must read for any Christian leader who wants to play a part in what God is doing in our world at this point in time. Olsen has given us a priceless book. It’s not doom and gloom. It clearly shows the way forward. The hope of the American church […]
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