Life In The Parish

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 […]

Get Un-Stuck

When I was growing a healthy effective church, I would often seek out advice from other successful churches to see what they were doing to grow. One of those churches was North Coast Church in Vista California, a suburb of San Diego. The senior pastor is Larry Osborne, and he has positively influenced me […]

Getting Your Building and Grounds Ready for Easter.

With Easter coming, most churches anticipate their largest services of the year. Are your building and grounds ready for double your average attendance? Here are a couple of things to turn your attention to in preparation. Is your parking lot in good shape? Usually 10 percent of your spaces should be clearly designated for […]

6 Essentials of Church Hospitality

My wife and I went on our first cruise.  It was a well oiled machine.  They were prepared for serving meals to 2800 people.  “Free” ice cream almost 24/7!  A staff member always in sight to make your experience great.  A highlight was the towel art on our bed each evening which was in […]

Anatomy of a Movement

History has not been overly kind to most movements. Just reflect on what has happened to the Civil Rights movement after the death of Martin Luther King. It lost most of its momentum. Movements need a strong, charismatic leader.  When the leader dies, most movements wane.  For these movements to have a lasting impact, it […]

What Goes Around Comes Around

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 booths charge money for something. Churches are really there, not to share the Gospel, but to raise money. If somebody comes […]

Accountability

 

Accountability

By: Tom Bandy

There are two basic ways to practice accountability in your organization or church.

The traditional, top-down way is to list all the tasks that could or should be done and then supervise every person to make sure they are accomplished in the prescribed method and timeline. This practice of accountability is time consuming […]

What to Say After “Hello”

I was at a church planting event some years ago when someone asked, “Tell me what you do.” Saying “I plant churches” didn’t seem to capture what I was doing, since I was already coaching other leaders and leading the occasional workshop on evangelism and church growth. But to be honest, I wasn’t prepared […]

The Power of Trust

By Bill Easum

Late one afternoon, some fifty miles off the Texas coast, I had an unexpected encounter with God that would forever change my way of thinking about God and the Christian life. Prior to this encounter, I expected, or at least hoped, to experience God when I was “at church” in worship. However, […]