Don’t Be a Fly Trap Church
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 […]
Every Real Church Is Missional
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 […]
Flip Your Church Step 3: Develop Congregational Unity
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. In […]
Mission Statements That Inspire
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 […]
Measuring Results in Mission Impact (Part 4 of 4)
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 […]
Measuring Results in Spiritual Growth (Part 3 of 4)
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 newcomers […]