You probably hear it as often as I do. “Trying to get them organized is like herding cats.” Whether it’s being applied to the stewardship committee, the congregational council, or the local minister’s alliance, it’s an apt simile whenever you come across a pack of individuals who are more interested in getting what they […]
Getting a head start on your church plant is critical. How you approach the first years will usually determine the ultimate outcome.
How many honest spiritual conversations have you had with thoroughly unchurched people in the past 90 days?
How many unchurched people have you personally brought to Christ (not just to a worship […]
I was reading an article by Amy Butler on the ABP News site recently on the season of church budgets. She was responding to a writer who was comparing church budgets with budgets of other nonprofit organizations. Basically, the writer was complaining that the church spent too much money on staff and buildings and […]
Everyone who follows my work knows I am a great fan of the local church. It is fundamental to the growth of the Kingdom, along with other forms of being the Church. I have no truck with those who say the day of the local church is over.
I can’t stand what the vast majority of […]
In our new book, Effective Staffing for Vital Churches, we write that all churches are missional or they aren’t a church. Pastor and author Michael Slaughter fell in love with the book at that point. Here is a brief excerpt from the book.
We believe every church is missional or it isn’t a church! But […]
For some, the thought of congregational unity may be more like a fantasy than a vision of reality, and yet there are churches dotted across the nation that are not only missionally aligned, but they are unified in all they do. That doesn’t mean the members are all automatons or that everyone agrees with everything. […]
I read a lot of Mission or Vision statements from a lot of different churches. Most of them don’t turn me on and if they won’t turn me on there is a good chance they won’t turn on anyone other than churched people. They are mostly:
· too churchy – using words that are familiar only […]
There are at least five ways to quantitatively measure mission involvement, and at least five ways to measure mission effectiveness.
Measure mission involvement: These measurements are in ascending order of importance … from least significant to most significant.
1) Property use: How many community organizations completely aligned with your congregational mission use your space during the week?
2) […]
Sure, spiritual growth is very personal, often unpredictable, and difficult to put into words. But it is really not as hard to measure as we may think. Count how many new small group leaders are moving through the process of identification, apprenticing, and starting new groups. Count how many members … adherents … and […]
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