2017
I spend a fair amount of time on social media. But there are a lot of people who don't even know I'm in a group with them because, while I monitor a lot of conversations, I seldom participate.
I hang out, I follow the conversation, I learn whatever can be gained, but ...
Imagine all the time, money and resources that have gone into church growth in the last generation.
Is it naïve to wonder what the world and the church would look like today if all that effort had been invested exclusively in church health instead?
Is it possible that if ...
I’ve pastored three churches.
I left the first one in the middle of a long-term turnaround, believing it was best for someone else to finish the job I had started.
I left the second one early, when I realized I was not the right pastor to help the turnaround happen.
In the ...
So much of what's taught about church methods and structures comes from a corporate mindset.
That's to be expected when most church leadership writers are coming from a large- and megachurch background.
But smaller churches don't operate that way. And they shouldn't. ...
If you’re a pastor who feels like your voice is being ignored because your church is small, you’re in good company. One of the unsung heroes of World War II faced a similar problem.
Andrew Jackson Higgins was a New Orleans boat builder who saw the importance of something ...
Some things become better when they become scalable.
Some don’t.
Some have mixed results.
This is true for churches.
The Positives And Negatives Of Scalability
For instance, the car I drive is cheaper, safer and more fuel-efficient because the assembly line made automobile ...
Last week’s blog post, Why Some Great Churches Never Impact Their Community, got a lot of feedback on Facebook, Twitter and email.
Several readers were concerned that I had been harder on the church than I needed to be. Their primary concerns were:
1. I made a snap judgment ...
Several years ago I had the privilege of being in a great church service on a trip away from home.
The worship was dynamic, the people were friendly, the message was biblical and engaging, the sense of the presence of God was genuine.
As I drove away, I thought, “What a ...
The days of finding or creating a discipleship program, then using it for years, is over. Especially in a small church.
Our church created and implemented a great a discipleship class last year. In our church of 180 (average Sunday attendance) more than 60 adults took the class ...
I like the idea of small churches. But if they’re so great, why do I see so many more unhealthy small churches than unhealthy big churches?
A small church pastor asked me that question recently. Not from cynicism or unkindness. It was out of genuine concern for a reality ...
For the first time in American history we have a generation without Christian parents or grandparents.
Many of the people – especially the youth – who give their lives to Jesus in the church I pastor were never taught Bible stories, prayed at meals or bedtime, or ...
Too many small church pastors are doing most, maybe all, of their ministry alone.
They wonder if anyone outside the church even knows or cares that they exist.
That isolation can become toxic. And it can start to bleed out into their congregations, confirming the worst stereotypes ...
Small church pastors want to hear and use the best ideas, advice, wisdom and counsel we can find.
So we look for it everywhere. From books, blogs, podcasts, conferences, mentors and more.
But many of my fellow small church pastors have stopped looking and asking for help.
It’s ...
What do you do when you have a message that doesn’t quite fit within the norm?
How do you get anyone to take you seriously? Especially in this interconnected world with so many voices yelling at us?
I’ve been asked those questions a few times lately about this blog, ...
When someone says a restaurant serves the best chicken in town, it’s never about the chicken.
Every properly-cooked chicken tastes the same.
What’s different is the flavoring.
It’s the same with churches.
So many of the arguments we have about the right way to ...
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