2018
So, my last blog post stirred up a lot more response than I expected.
In The Biggest Mistake Teaching Pastors Tend to Make – And How To Correct It, I encouraged pastors to move from being a teaching pastor to an equipping pastor, based on the Pastoral Prime Mandate of Ephesians ...
If you are a teaching pastor, I have a gift for you. I’m going to share one of the most important lessons I’ve learned in 35+ years of pastoral ministry.
It happened when I recognized that I was commiting what is probably the biggest mistake most teaching pastors ...
Better churches become bigger churches. Right?
Maybe not.
That’s been the rule of thumb for businesses, too. And it’s no more true there than it is for us.
As it turns out, constant growth doesn’t work for the majority of churches or businesses. Yet they can still ...
By far, the most common question I’m asked about small church ministry is “if your church is healthy, why is it so small?”
It’s a valid question, for sure. And one that I’ve answered in several previous blog posts, including these:
There are two equal, but opposite mistakes churches regularly make regarding money.
Especially for smaller churches, these are the main ways that finances (or lack of them) stop us from doing the ministry we’re called to do.
(This is part of an ongoing series, Money and ...
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 ...
Social media has no moral component to it – except the ones we give it. It's just a tool.
A very powerful one.
And we’re only beginning to grasp its impact.
When used well it can connect, inform and entertain us. But when it’s used poorly, as it so often is, ...
Uh… Wow.
Every 30 years?
Yes, those are the stats, according to a church renovation expert I heard at a recent conference.
By the time his company is called in to help a church renovate their sanctuary, lobby, exterior or anything significant, it’s been three full ...
The Sunday morning pass-the-plate offering has always been a reliable predictor of the commitment level of church members.
Long before they started leaving – often before many started complaining – people would express their dissatisfaction with a church by stopping ...
Church attendance is changing.
As recently as 20 years ago, if ten people became church members (either formally or informally) the average attendance grew by eight or nine people.
Not any more.
Today, if ten people become church members, average attendance grows by five or six. ...
Sometimes it seems like the divide between big and small churches is so vast it’s almost insurmountable.
And it’s increasing, not diminishing.
Why is that happening? And why has the divide has become especially large in the last few decades?
I think it has to do with ...
A church of 50 people needs to be pastored like a church of 50 people.
You can’t act like a church of 500. Or even 100. The systems, methods and relationship dynamics simply won’t fit.
So how can a church grow, either in its size or effectiveness, if we’re only ...
Here’s a sincere question for my fellow pastors and other church leaders.
What if the members of our churches started sharing their faith, but it wasn’t in a way that brought more people to our specific church? Would we celebrate and encourage that?
If not, we may ...
It’s hard to find people who will step up and lead in the church today. Especially young people.
That’s what I keep hearing.
But I also see many churches that are the exceptions to that supposed rule. Including the amazing congregation I get to serve.
What are healthy ...
If we want to get everything we can from our church experience, we need to start by showing up in person.
That may seem obvious to most churchgoers, but there is a large and growing number of people who think that watching a service online is all the church they need.
And no, ...
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