2018
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 ...
Six months ago today, our church made our biggest transition in a quarter century.
After being the lead pastor for 25 years, I stepped aside so that Gary Garcia (the youth pastor who has been with me for that entire time) could take my position, while I became the teaching pastor. ...
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
There’s a scandal going on in the church today.
It is one of the biggest scandals in church history, yet it remains invisible to most of us.
No, it’s not the sexual sins of some of our leaders. It’s not the physical, emotional and spiritual abuse of church members, ...
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 ...
Pastors want bigger churches.
Church members? Not so much.
Sure, a lot of people go to big churches. That’s what makes them big, after all. And the majority of them are strong, healthy churches doing great ministry. But if you ask the average member why they attend, “because ...
There are two different types of churches, organizationally.
Static and dynamic.
As we saw in a previous article, Why Most Small Churches Don’t Use (Or Need) An Organizational Chart, the smaller the church, the less necessary it is to use a static organizational system.
Static ...
Because I minister to small churches, I’m often asked, “aren’t you worried, that by supporting small churches you’ll be encouraging churches that could grow, to stay small instead?”
Yes. That is a concern. One that I’ve addressed in Small Church ...
Does your small church have an Organizational (Org) Chart?
If you don’t, relax. You probably don’t need one.
If you do, brace yourself. You may want to get rid of it because they tend not to work in small churches like they work in large churches. In fact, some of ...
Churches have to do more ministry with less money.
That’s becoming truer with every passing year, and it will increase for at least another generation.
For example, 15 years ago, the church I serve was smaller and less healthy than it is right now. By every indication of ...
Getting more people to go to church has never been the point of church growth.
Jesus didn’t tell us to “work really hard to gather people into large crowds to fill up your church buildings. Then I’ll know that you love me.” But when you look at how most ...
What‘s the best church size?
Some church growth proponents might argue that, whatever your size, “just a little bigger” would be better.
Many house church attenders would propose that smaller is better.
There are followers of John Wesley’s Rule of 150 who ...
This generation wants to honor its elders and be mentored by them.
That may not feel like it’s true – especially if you, like me, are old enough to qualify for AARP membership. But I assure you it is.
I know this because I see it all the time. Youth, both in and outside ...
The title of today’s post is based on a question that I read in a Facebook group for pastors.
While I seldom take such discussions into a public forum like this, I think this question is important enough to answer here. So here’s the longer version of what was asked: ...
This summer, in county fairs all over America, people will flock to see tribute bands.
With names like Unforgettable Fire (U2), The Fab Four (Beatles), Heartache Tonight (Eagles), and Simple Man (Lynyrd Skynyrd), they can give us a fun evening, seeing a band that looks and plays ...
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