Many churches across the country seem to be caught in what may be described best as a web of inhospitality, especially when it comes to their worship services. They’re not trying to be unfriendly and they often have years of tradition to defend their practices. And yet, after years of conversations with the unconnected, […]
When it comes to Easter, churches tend to roll out the red carpet for visitors. Already major marketing plans are underway to attract the unchurched masses. Anticipating a larger-than-usual crowd, what with the economic situation, pastors and worship teams are meeting to discuss themes, strategies, and tactics to invite the unchurched to consider the […]
I could see the church building from the street. I could even see the parking lot. What I couldn’t see was how to get from here to there.
I was in the midst of a Sunday morning consultation and ten minutes after worship began, I strolled through the building to check on the status of […]
By Bill Easum
Commitment to organized religion is now declining at the same time the public passionately pursues personal, spiritual journeys. How ironic that established/mainline denominations are shrinking during one of the most intensely spiritual periods in North American history. Aside from the spiritual malaise of many churches, two cultural changes lie behind this decline.
First, […]
Ever since my book, Dancing With Dinosaurs (1993), where I wrote about the “Crack in history” I’ve been warning people that we are living in a time of radical change. But I was wrong. We’re really living in a time of unthinkable change. Who would have ever imagined 9/11 could happen; or who in […]
By Bill Easum
Whereas Easter is the most important day of the year for Christians, Christmas Eve is the most important night of the year for the unchurched and non-believer ( I’ll call them the “unconnected” from here on). I’m amazed at how many dying churches have Christmas Eve services designed mostly for their own […]
By Bill Easum
Most of my life has been lived in a world of probabilities. Probability is the likelihood or chance that something is or will happen. Probability theory is used in statistics, mathematics, science and philosophy to draw conclusions about the likelihood of potential events.
For most of my life it was easy to examine […]
For the week of August 15, 2005
Gift and Grow: The Second Step in Discipling
By: Tom Bandy
Serious spiritual growth is the pivot on which everything turns. Once lives have been changed (see previous leadership tip), the next step is to discover and to receive spiritual gifts. Failure to do this makes your church a revolving door for […]
During my years of pastoral ministry I learned two very helpful tactics to raise needed funds. Keep in mind this tip is not for churches that have taught tithing for years and tie tithing to membership. But if you are still doing a year stewardship drive, then these two tips might bring in some […]
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