June 2016
They just don’t get it.
How many times have I said that while shaking my head after attending a conference or reading blog posts and books about church leadership? I could write a book.
Oh, right. I did.
I know I’m not alone in this. If you’re a small church pastor, ...
I spent too many years feeling embarrassed by my church.
Sure, there was a time when the embarrassment was well earned. For a few years, we were unhealthy, dysfunctional and hurting.
But even after we got healthy, I stayed embarrassed. Not because it wasn’t a good church ...
The smaller the church, the harder it is to incorporate new people.
The same dynamic applies to older and more established churches. Here's why.
Everyone who comes into your life changes your life.
The fewer people you know, the greater impact each person has. And the longer ...
In case you were wondering, church growth is a good thing.
Because of The Grasshopper Myth and this blog, I’ve had so many conversations that range from fantastic to heartbreaking in the last few years. I’ve met and heard stories from hundreds of small church pastors ...
If you were trying to help someone, would you want to know if you were unintentionally hurting them?
Of course.
Sometimes that's what happens when big churches try to help small churches.
Not every time. Not even most of the time. But often enough that many small church pastors ...
If you’re a pastor and you’re not using social media, you’re not pastoring your church as well as you could.
Whenever I say that in a minister’s conference I make some pastors mad.
I’m okay with that. Because I also get looks of relief and whispers ...
Leading a church through change is hard. Even when it’s necessary.
In the 23-plus years I’ve been serving at Cornerstone, I’ve learned one principle that has helped keep everyone, including me, open to necessary changes without feeling overwhelmed by them.
Here’s ...
Where are all the great small churches?
Would you know one if you saw one?
They exist. There’s no doubt about that. There are great small churches in every country, serving every ethnic group and in virtually every language. They worship in every imaginable liturgical style ...
Unspeakable evil visited Orlando over the weekend.
More than a tragedy. More than a disaster.
Evil.
In trying to make sense of events like this, we’re all capable of saying something stupid.
Christians are no exception to this. Sometimes we say dumb things. Things that hurt ...
Just when you think you’re ahead of the curve, the curve moves. Especially if you’re a small church pastor.
My parents sent me to college with a Smith Corona typewriter in 1978. It was electric and portable. I was ahead of the curve.
Then one day, I saw a crowd gathering ...
We live in an increasingly post-denominational world. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, it’s just the way things are now.
Years ago, virtually every friend I had in ministry was within my denomination. Every program we used came from our denominational headquarters. ...
We need to hear from the small, not just the big.
From the poor, not just the rich.
From the weak, not just the strong.
From the failures, not just the successes.
From the struggling, not just from those who have overcome.
From those who are still vulnerable, hurting and who will ...
Churches get stuck sometimes.
If you’re a pastor, you’ve known seasons when it’s hard to get church members to do great things for Jesus.
Good things.
Okay — anything.
During our church’s years of being stuck, I longed for the day when launching a new ...
Yesterday I got frustrated while reading Tony Morgan’s latest blog post.
But it wasn’t Tony’s fault.
Tony Morgan is the founder of The Unstuck Group and he’s starting a new series on growth strategies for churches of different sizes.
In the first sentence, ...
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