Church Leadership

Church Leadership
Why 'Just Preach the Gospel' Is Naïve, Unbiblical Advice
Talk is never enough. When the gospel message flows through us, it is affected by who we are and what we do.
Why 'Just Preach the Gospel' Is Naïve, Unbiblical Advice
Image: Scott Akerman | Flickr

The gospel is enough.

It has always been enough. It will always be enough.

If we remove anything from it, it's not the gospel any more. If we add anything to it, we don't enhance it, we dilute it.

That’s why almost every young minister has been implored by an older ...

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Church Leadership
Five Simple Steps to Mentor New Believers (Without Overworking the Pastor)
Small churches can use our personal touch to help new believers grow in the way that suits them best.
Five Simple Steps to Mentor New Believers (Without Overworking the Pastor)

My church doesn’t use a discipleship curriculum.

Instead, as I wrote about in my previous two posts, we mentor people.

Those posts ...

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Church Leadership
Mentoring Is Better than Curriculum: Seven Steps to Better Discipleship
How to implement Jethro's plan and Jesus' process to turn believers into disciples. Whatever size your church is.
Mentoring Is Better than Curriculum: Seven Steps to Better Discipleship

Pastoring a small church is not for the timid.

Even the tools that are supposed to help us can leave us feeling more discouraged.

Discipleship curricuum, for instance. Whether it's designed for kids, youth or adults, most of it seems to target bigger churches. Small ...

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Church Leadership
Serious About Discipleship? Mentoring Is Better Than Curriculum
Small churches have a serious advantage when it comes to discipleship. If we’ll use the right tools.
Serious About Discipleship? Mentoring Is Better Than Curriculum

“What discipleship curriculum do you recommend for small churches?”

I get asked that question a lot. And my answer almost always disappoints the questioner.

We don’t use a discipleship curriculum in our church.

I’ll get to why – and what ...

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Church Leadership
Never Settle for a Small Church (No Matter How Big It Is)
When our dreams for our church end at our church doors, we're dreaming too small.
Never Settle for a Small Church (No Matter How Big It Is)

Many people think I’m settling for less when I talk about the value of small churches. Yes, they've actually said that to me.

I appreciate their concern. But they don’t need to worry. I’m not settling for less.

I would be settling for less if my entire goal ...

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Church Leadership , Read These First – The Essentials
The Surprising, Guilt-Free Reason 80% of Churches Don't Break the 200 Barrier
Big churches and small churches are different. But it’s not a difference of quality, theology or willingness.
The Surprising, Guilt-Free Reason 80% of Churches Don't Break the 200 Barrier

Breaking through the 200 barrier.

Sometimes it feels like that's the only pastoring principle anyone has talked about for the past 30 years.

In case you haven’t heard of it, the 200 barrier is the invisible ceiling a church must break through if it doesn’t ...

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Church Leadership , Read These First – The Essentials
Tired of Being Trite: One Pastor's War On Ministry Clichés
Six steps that stop me from dumbing down the gospel (when I remember to follow them).
Tired of Being Trite: One Pastor's War On Ministry Clichés

TRITE /trīt/ (Adjective) Overused and consequently of little import, lacking originality or freshness.

It’s easy to become trite when you’re a pastor.

After all, we’re in constant output mode. Whether we’re preaching, teaching, comforting or just ...

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Church Leadership , Read These First – The Essentials
Forget the 200 Barrier - Small Churches Need to Break the Grasshopper Barrier
The only problem with smallness is when we think being small is a problem
Forget the 200 Barrier - Small Churches Need to Break the Grasshopper Barrier

The 200 Barrier needs to be retired.

We have to erase it from our church leadership lexicon before it does any more harm to good churches and their pastors.

Yes, there is a difference in the way churches behave administratively under and over 200 (give or take 50). It ...

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Church Leadership
Wanted: An Effective System for Small Church Metrics
Small churches aren't ignoring the numbers. We just need metrics that apply to us.
Wanted: An Effective System for Small Church Metrics
Image: Okko Pyykkö | Flickr

Small church pastors are often told that if our church isn't growing it's because we're not paying enough attention to the numbers.

That's not true.

Small church pastors are very aware of the numbers – sometimes painfully so.

I'll admit that small churches ...

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