Pastor? Leader? Really?

In a previous post I suggested there was a need for new – or renewed – language for church leaders. As wonderful as having new language might be, there’s an underlying issue that I’ve become increasingly aware of. Many, if not most, clergy in today’s North American church are well trained pastors, but when […]

The Future of Church Consulting

I began consulting with churches part time in 1987. I’ve been a full time consultant to churches since 1990. My consulting firm, 21st Century Strategies, Inc. has been around for twenty-two years. So I’ve had time to see a lot of changes in church consulting over the years- some good and some not so […]

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Local Churches with High Capacity Church Multiplication Centers

By Linda Stanley

Recently, Leadership Network sponsored a briefing at Central Christian Church in Henderson, Nevada that included presentations from local churches that have high capacity church multiplication centers. These churches are participants in a five-year pilot project that was designed as a strategic partnership between each of them and Leadership Network. The project began […]

Bucks, Butts, or Disciples?

To become a part of the Next Level for Church Growth Pastors Group (a private Facebook Group), a pastor has to answer three questions. Question #2 is about Church Growth. It’s always amused me (not Ha Ha amusement) when some pastor pushes back and accuses me (and The Effective Church Group) about being one […]

Is it Time to Drop the Requirement: Part Two

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 […]

Missional Small Groups

One of the key elements of most discipleship pipelines I’ve seen is what I call missional small groups. The problem is, when most people hear “small groups” they think of Bible studies, which is far from what is meant by missional small groups. So let’s look at the difference.

Most ineffective small groups are primarily […]

Never Enough Leaders

It seems that the leading cause of flagging small group ministries is the consistent lack of available small group leaders. Depending on the size of the church, we always recommend starting a new small group (or Sunday school class) between semi-annually and monthly. These new groups are necessary to accommodate new people who would […]

Why Most Church Consultations Don’t Make a Long-Term Difference

We at 21st Century Strategies have been doing church consultations for over twenty-three years and we’ve had the opportunity to study why some churches thrive after a consultant has done their job and why other churches fail. Conversations with other church consultants reveal a lot of the same data. Here’s the bottom line: for […]