Church Leadership

Church Leadership
3 Big Problems With Running A Church Like A Business
We’re always decrying the rise of the consumer culture within the church. But how should we expect people to act when pastors act like CEOs marketing Jesus as a product?

The Bible uses many colorful words to describe the church. It’s a family, a body, a fellowship, a holy people, a flock, and more.

But not a business.

In my previous post, I wrote about Why It's A Bad Idea To Run A Church Like A Business. In today’s post, I want ...

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Church Leadership
Why It's A Bad Idea To Run A Church Like A Business
Anyone can own and run a business. But Jesus owns the church. So he gets to say how it should be run.

Churches cannot and should not be run like businesses.

I’ve always felt that to be true. But, as a pastor, I only knew it in the abstract.

Then, a few years ago I started my own business. You're reading one of the products of it right now. The writing and speaking I ...

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Church Leadership
What Are You Improving At Your Church Right Now?
The mission of the church is too important for any congregation to settle for business as usual.

What would you say if someone asked you the question in the title of this post?

“What are you improving at your church right now?”

Would you know what to say? It’s an important question.

In fact, if you can't answer that question with at least one specific ...

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Church Leadership
Is Your Church A Family? 5 Ways To Help It Be A Healthy One
A healthy family doesn’t put up walls to keep newcomers out. They welcome new members with open arms and big parties.

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. ...

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Church Leadership
Pastoral Transition: Setting Your Church Up For Ministry Success After You're Gone
The church was here long before us, and it will be here long after us. Let's leave it better for the next pastor.

Following a long-term, successful pastorate is one of the hardest callings in ministry.

It should be one of the easiest. After all, if we’re doing pastoral ministry right, we should set up the next pastor for an even greater level of ministry success than we had.

Instead, ...

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Church Leadership
Are You Missing What God Is Doing While Holding Out For Something Bigger?
When we get to heaven will God ask some of us "Why did you look down on the ministry I gave you?"

God doesn’t always show up in our lives and ministries the way we want him to.

Because, even though we want to do great things for God, our definition of great isn’t always the same as God’s definition of great.

We all have great opportunities for ministry. Don't ...

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Church Leadership
The Best Way To Avoid Pastor Burnout? Equip The Saints
Neither information or inspiration is enough. Pastors need to help congregations turn it into perspiration.

The New Testament doesn’t emphasize the role of pastor nearly as much as our current church structure does.

In fact, there’s just one passage – one! – in which the role of the pastor (along with apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teachers) is mentioned. ...

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Church Leadership
A Pastor's Dilemma: What to Do When You Can't See the Vision for Your Church
Is it okay if a pastor’s calling is to help others fulfill their calling? Or, does every church need a pastor-led vision to get behind?

Is it okay if a pastor’s calling is to help others fulfill their calling? Or, without a big, hairy, audacious pastoral vision, will the people perish?

I’ll come back to those questions soon. But first, this.

You can’t have a great church without a great vision. ...

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Church Leadership
6 Reasons a Leader Never Says "At Least Someone Is Doing Something!"
It doesn’t matter how much activity you’re generating if you’re not solving the problem.

Life is filled with problems.

Some big, some small. Some emergencies, some petty.

When a big problem presents itself, we want somebody to do something about it. Problem-solving is one of the prime roles of a leader, after all.

So, whether it’s in our families, our churches ...

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Church Leadership
Quit Telling Pastors We Have to Stop Pastoring to Have a Successful Church
Great churches don't need spiritual enablers or high-achieving CEOs. They need equipping pastors.

I’m a pastor.

It’s becoming harder to say that lately.

Sure, there are the usual pressures.

  • Dealing with congregation members and their expectations
  • Trying to stay ahead of the change curve
  • Combatting theological and moral compromise
  • Managing a mostly volunteer staff
  • Figuring out how to pay for it all on a small, sometimes shrinking budget
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