September 2017
I want to be like David Mainse when I grow up.
Unless you've lived in Canada, or in certain pockets of the US, you may not be aware of David Mainse. So here's a short bio of a man who influenced so many in his 81 years.
David Mainse was the young pastor of a small church ...
A healthy prayer life is hard work.
If you’re one of those Christians who finds your prayer life to be easy, joyous and endlessly fulfilling, we’re grateful for you and the role you play in the body of Christ. But that’s not the way it is for most of us.
Pastors ...
No one will ever make a list of the best small churches in the world.
And they shouldn’t.
After all, a great urban small church looks very different from a great rural one. Same with a great Baptist and Methodist church. Or a great small church in Japan or Costa Rica.
Even ...
My pastor is so hard to please!
I’ve had a lot of conversations with church staff members and volunteers. Their most commonly repeated frustration usually goes like this:
“Nothing makes my pastor happy! Last week we had the best youth night ever. The kids worshiped ...
No one can truly pastor 1,000 people. Or 500.
Even 200 is stretching yourself too thin. That’s why the so-called 200 barrier is such a challenge.
So, if you want to lead a large church, at some point you’ll have to give up most of what it means to be a pastor. Maybe ...
It's coming!
Yesterday, I sent the manuscript for my next book into the publisher.
After decades of living it, years of teaching it, and months of writing it, “Small Church Essentials” is in the capable hands of the great editors at Moody Press.
Here are some details.
The church needs to be more digital. For small churches especially, the digital world can level the playing field, giving us a broader reach and wider ministry impact.
As I wrote in The Gatekeepers are Gone: What’s Holding Your Ministry Back?, we need more churches taking ...
Is the term “Successful Small Church” an oxymoron?
You know, like
- Jumbo shrimp
- Deafening silence
- Awfully good
- Genuine imitation
- Icy hot
- Open secret
- Living dead
- Clean dirt
- Alone together
Or, more sarcastically,
- Microsoft Works
- Smart bombs
- Educational television
When I first considered ...
Small churches can’t do everything. But we can do a lot more than we may think.
The challenge is to use our limited resources in the best possible way, for maximum ministry impact.
Over the years, our small church has learned a few principles that help us do just that.
Pastors face a lot of pressure to perform. Some of it, admittedly, is self-imposed.
One of the main places this pressure is felt is in the demand to research, write and deliver a great sermon every week.
In fact, several times in the last few months, I’ve read blog posts ...
Houston is devastated. But, even as the flood waters recede, the crisis is far from over. The people of Houston need our help, prayers and material assistance.
So, before I get to the subject of this post, here’s a link to the best relief organization I know. Convoy of ...
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