(New York:; Basic Books:: 1996, 277 pgs., hardback. Obtain from Harper Collins. $25.00)
Baily has struck a home run in his reading of history. He identifies three revolutions that have changed the way humans think. The first revolution was geometry. Ancient people wanted to know where they were in relation to the universe. The math […]
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 […]
Grace UMC is located in South Central Pennsylvania about 60 miles north of Baltimore,Md. The community of Hanover is growing about 7-8% annually. Overall population of the community within 10 miles of Grace Church is about 40,000. Grace Church has plateaued in its Sunday Worship attendance for over 15 years at 200 in two morning […]
By
Bill Easum
The following works well in a traditional church.
STEP ONE: Train all staff to identify, recruit, equip, and lead laity into ministry rather than simply doing the ministry for them.
STEP TWO: Require all staff to develop a list of 25 new potential leaders during the year that they will recommend to the Nominating Committee.
STEP […]
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 […]
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 […]
Almost everyone commutes. In Seattle, the “experts” say the average commute is 23.8 minutes, but anyone who works in the city will tell you that a twenty-four minute commute is a luxury that only happens on Sunday morning or sometime after midnight. However, even if you never leave your home to “go to work,” […]
On Sunday, we witnessed a glowing example of what faith in Christ can do to a person, family, and city. Following the killing of nine people in the Mother Emmanuel AME Church, including the pastor, Chuck Todd of “Meet the Press” did an interview with the family of the slain Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr. […]
Sometimes you just can’t win.
After a year of talking about what it takes to be a welcoming church, this image suggests one step forward and two steps back.
To be honest, this congregation set their own table … I didn’t make any recommendations about their Sunday morning refreshment selection, and as you can see it […]
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