Recently, Pope Francis released a letter to Chilean Bishops. While I think there are serious issues left in the Catholic Church that must be reconciled and restored, I thought there were some powerful statements in this letter and lessons I can learn. Read the full letter here. Here is the excerpt that jumped off the page…
People leave churches for all kinds of reasons. They might move, their kids get older, their schedules change, the church moves to locations. They also leave for theological reasons. Maybe a new pastor has a different bent on an important theological point. They may have changed the version of the Bible they preach from (not kidding…
I believe that every leader wants to create a healthy culture in their environment, whether they are in the ministry or church world, or they come from a business background. You are no different. You want a healthy church culture. I don’t know any ministry leaders who say, “Yeah, I’m fine with an unhealthy culture…
People want community. Look no further than the host of social networks we hear about seemingly on a daily basis and you’ll see that people want to be with other people. People are searching for community and what it brings in to their life. The truth is, it’s a godly thing to want community. God…
On any given week of the year, thousands of people will be making the walk from their car to the entrance of a church for the very first time. For some, it will be the first time they’ve ever set foot in a church, and for others, it will be their first time trying out…
Over the years I have worked in a small church, a medium church, and now at a 1,500 person multi-site. As I struggled at times trying to get the thing to grow, my list of needs was long. Usually, my needs were coming from my own guessing and at times from well-intentioned people around me….
This is the third and final post in my short series on Leading Change (Part 1 | Part 2). Leading change in the church isn’t easy. It requires great boldness. But that boldness must be born out of brokenness. We must be broken by the gap between what could be and what is. That brokenness…
I have had the privilege of leading a church of 220-250 partners through two three-year capital campaigns which raised over 1.2 million dollars for the sake of major building renovations and improvements. Privilege… Privilege? Depending on the day, that may or may not be the word I would use to describe this experience. Some days…
Most churches have some kind of First Impressions team. You may not call it first impressions, you may call it guest services or greeting, but most churches have some type of team or process for greeting people when they enter the building on a Sunday morning. I don’t know if I’ve ever come across a…
This is the second in my short series of articles about leading change in our churches. In my first post, I talked about how brokenness and boldness are always connected. You can be broken without being bold, but you can never be bold without being broken. Boldness without brokenness is arrogance. Arrogance never builds God’s…
Target left bunch, Philly special. That’s the name of the play that the Philadelphia Eagles ran near the end of the first half in Super Bowl LII. It’s the play that shocked the New England Patriots, not to mention the rest of the world. It was fourth down. Eagles coach, Doug Pederson, decided to go…
You want to reach the unchurched. At least I hope you do. Isn’t that why we got into this ministry gig in the first place? To love and reach people with the gospel? If that’s not what it’s about, then let’s just get out now. There have to be easier ways to make a living,…
I started vocational ministry as an idealist. I was young; still a teenager, actually. I was naive, not understanding the harsh realities of church work. Now, 21 years later, I’m a grizzled veteran. I’ve seen the church at her best. I’ve seen the church at her worst. And I’ve come to realize that there are…
Christmas Eve (and the Christmas season in general) has surpassed Easter as the most likely time for first-time guests to visit our churches. We need to plan accordingly. Going through Advent this Christmas? Click here for everything you need to know about preaching an Advent Sermon Series. Here are five tips to help us all…
You want to reach the unchurched. At least I hope you do. Isn’t that why we got into this ministry gig in the first place? To love and reach people with the gospel? If that’s not what it’s about, then let’s just get out now. There have to be easier ways to make a living,…
Church metrics. That’s not a very pretty phrase. In fact, for many, it seems cold. If church becomes a numbers game, then people become “just a number,” and when people are just a number, we’ve failed to emulate the ministry of Jesus. But if we fail to count anybody, we allow people to slip through…
I work with and talk with a ton of churches. The ones that struggle the most are the ones most isolated and living on an island, not paying attention to what’s going on around them. They have very few relationships with pastors and churches within or outside of their community. Churches that are growing, on…
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