The time between Easter and the beginning of Summer is a critical time in the life of your church.
Whether Easter is early or late in the calendar, the time between what will probably be your best attended Sunday and the beginning of a time when church service attendance traditionally slumps is short. This year […]
The other day, I was asked by a pastor on Facebook about my weekly schedule when I was in the parish. It took some time to put together, but here’s my “typical” schedule.
One note before you jump in … in the words of my first Regional Minister, “Ministry is Interruptions.” So, even though […]
Over the years, there has been a good bit of talk about what a senior pastor is “supposed” to be doing when it comes to leading a church. However, it’s clear that the lead pastor’s tasks must be driven by whatever “stage” a church finds itself in. If the pastor is leading a traditional […]
Countless rural churches provide refreshment booths at county fairs, fall festivals, and innumerable community events. They have pie booths, ice cream booths, turkey dinner booths, craft booths, and entertainment booths. The problem is, all these boothsΒ charge moneyΒ for something. Churches are really there, not to share the Gospel, but to raise money. If somebody comes […]
Effective church leadership is the most glamourless, thankless, and frustrating job on the planet.
I make that emphatic statement based on two observations. First, I’m unaware of any other sector, profit or non-profit, that is seeing 85 percent of all operation centers facing serious decline β and the leaders of course are shouldered with the […]
Let me start by saying, “I am not an insect person.” I remember screaming my way into the house during Summers growing up in Pittsburgh, PA because I saw a grasshopper jump in our small yard. I can’t tell you how many times I tested my parents’ patience by refusing to go out to […]
One of the biggest mistakes some UM Churches do is to turn the Pastor Parish Relations Committee into a Staff Parish Relations Committee. On the surface this sounds democratic and good. Everyone on the staff has direct access to the personnel committee. However, there are many ramifications of this decision and only one of […]
I’m preparing to speak to the Presbyterian Church of Canada in a couple of months.Β They chose as the subject “The Emmaus Project.”Β It consists of selected churches from all over Canada.
As I was preparing, I got stuck on the tiny phrase the two pilgrims who walked with Jesus said once he had left […]
I recently had a great conversation with an older member of a fast-shrinking congregation. She was looking for resources on how to improve communications within her congregation and she was finding precious few resources … could I help? Sure, I could help. But before we went further, I asked her to tell me what […]
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