He finally took our advice and started spending time at the local coffee shop at the big box book store. Every Tuesday and every Thursday he was there from 9 to noon without fail, but after eight weeks he was pretty discouraged. He hadn’t had a meaningful conversation with anyone, hadn’t exchanged contact information […]
There’s recently been a wave of interest by judicatories in starting Peer Coaching events among their church leaders. With the inevitable failure of the “Let’s assign the new kid an experienced pastor to mentor them” program, peer coaching seems like the next best thing since frozen Snicker bars. The problem is, although Peer Coaching […]
Established: ~1904
Tribe: Protestant Mainline
Worship Style: Rural traditional, family informal
Congregational Demographics:
AWA: 32
Trend: 20 years steep decline; 8 years slow decline; followed by 10 years slight decline
Median Age: 61
Adult Generations: 21 Builders+; 8 Boomers; 2 Gen-X; 1 Millennial
Children/Youth: 2–3
Ethnic Mix: Anglo
SES: Mixed, mostly blue collar; income similar to ministry area
Debt: $0
Available Resources: ~$100,000 in endowments
Ministry Area […]
The Secret Ingredient to Church Growth
Ever wonder why some churches seem to be magnetic, drawing people in, while others struggle to fill seats? The answer often lies in one word: Vision. Vision is the secret ingredient that fuels your church’s engine, propelling it from a stagnant entity to a thriving community. But what exactly […]
Recently, I received an email from a member of our Advanced Leadership forum asking an excellent question that many pastors ask. Here it is.
“I just received George Barna’s latest e-news where he has an article ’30 Respected Leaders Weigh in on What It Takes to be a Master Leader.’ I want to shift the focus from […]
A growing church is a byproduct of courageous leadership that prays boldly for a vision from God and then takes bold action that honors the vision God has given. But too many churches have traded in vision for the status quo. They have opted for comfort in doing what we’ve always done before rather than […]
Recently I have been asked by a couple of people why a pastor should know what everyone gives. As one person said, “Doesn’t that cause you to play favorites?”
It just so happened that the next day I was asked to read the galleys of J. Clif Christopher’s new book, titled Whose Offering Plate is It? This is […]
The pastor was sharing his frustration about one of his executive team members during a recent consultation. “No matter what I do, Cyndi finds a problem with pretty much anything I suggest. She either tries to fix what’s not broken or she sabotages the idea completely. I wish I’d never invited her onto the team, but now […]
There are a few myths I keep running into that I feel are hurting churches’ chances of reaching the unreached population in the US. So I thought I would share five of the biggest myths I’ve heard lately.
Myth One: An acoustic service is a great way to reach new people. The fact is […]
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