Small Church Ministry
Last week, Saddleback Church celebrated an amazing spiritual milestone. Since their founding 38 years ago, they have baptized 50,000 new believers.
That is something the entire body of Christ needs to pause and thank God for. 50,000 people making commitments to Christ in one ...
Numbers matter, because people matter.
If we keep track of them correctly, the right numbers can give us a lot of helpful information about a church and its ministries.
For many years, I kept track of church attendance numbers very carefully. As the church grew, I calculated growth ...
There are a lot of misunderstandings about small churches and the people who pastor them.
- That we’re a problem to be fixed
- That we could be bigger if we’d just follow the latest 8-step church growth plan
- That we can only do good ministry when we hit a certain critical mass
How was church attendance yesterday?
In our church, we started the first service with more people on stage than in the audience.
It filled in to a normal summer crowd later, but for a while it was looking rough.
That’s the way attendance is in a small church. You can have ...
If you’re a control freak, I have one word of advice.
Don’t become the pastor of a small church. (Actually, I’d advise you not to pastor any church. We have enough control freaks in the pulpit already.)
It’s a common misperception that the smaller a church ...
William Vanderbloemen is the CEO and Founder of Vanderbloemen Search Group. a recruitment and consulting firm for churches. Previously, he served as the senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Houston. Recently, William interviewed me for his podcast and I interviewed ...
Money is in charge of too many of our churches.
So many good congregations want to do great ministry, but their limited finances cause them to make too many decisions based on what they can or can’t afford, instead of what God is calling them to do.
It’s a trap that ...
No one is hiding anything from you.
There was a long season of ministry in which I had to tell myself that a lot. I had gone through a near breakdown after trying, but failing, to see the kind of growth in our church that I had been assured was inevitable if I only did the right ...
Today is the day!
You can now buy your copy of my new book, Small Church Essentials, for yourself or for a church leader you know.
Small Church Essentials is the result of all the time I’ve spent writing for, speaking with, and – most importantly – listening ...
Big churches need bold mission statements.
Small churches? Not so much.
If a small church has a mission statement, it’s probably because a church growth expert said you needed one. But it’s unlikely that having a mission statement has changed anything for the church, ...
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