One of my favorite blogs to monitor is Accidental Creative. Todd Henry wrote a brilliant article recently about the danger of implementing permanent solutions to temporary problems. This quote grabbed my attention: “The more structures we have to navigate in order to do our work, the more difficult it is to do our best work. [...]
Recently, I shared the dream of Joe Sangl for all of the people in our churches to become debt free. Check out the post. I asked him to share some stories of churches where he has taught the “Financial Learning Experience (FLE)”, an interactive part of his ministry, I Was Broke, Now I’m Not. Here’s a [...]
An article in USA Today’s “Faith and Reason” section caught my attention recently. The article is entitled “Believers Reluctant to Evangelize Family or Friends.” Writer Cathy Lynn Grossman makes two powerful observations: Churches are not creating new believers, they are just attracting more Christians. Becoming a parent does not change attitudes towards spirituality–which reverses the assumption [...]
Last week’s conversation about declining churches was a good reminder of having clarity when it comes to vision. Just having a vision statement hanging on a wall doesn’t count. The statement itself is just a small portion of vision. Real vision involves clearly defining the unique contribution that your church intends to make and then [...]
Over the last year or so, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a number of great churches throughout the country. I’ve had the chance to provide training to staff teams and consulting on a variety of topics including staffing, structure, volunteer strategy, discipleship strategy, weekend service environments and more. Along the way, I’ve connected [...]
Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to talk with a denominational leader in a different part of the country. Over the last few years, he’s personally been involved in consulting engagements with about 60 declining churches within his denomination. That grabbed my attention. Honestly, I don’t have a lot of experience working with churches [...]
Many people who attend our churches are struggling with money. Based on statistics gathered by the US Census in 2009, we know that Americans are currently carrying $2.5 trillion in consumer debt — nearly $8,100 per man, woman, boy and girl. It is estimated that 40 to 70% of our church attendees are struggling with [...]
This Friday, July 9 is the deadline for applications for two new coaching networks. One of the networks will be in Atlanta. The other one will be in Dallas. Just as a reminder, here are the details: My friends at Fellowship Technologies have agreed to host the Dallas network. I will be there for all the sessions. [...]
There are certain common refrains I hear as I’m talking with growing churches across the country. This is one of them. I’ve heard many leaders in recent months acknowledge that they’re trying to shift the ministry to volunteers rather than continuing to hire more staff. Likely, the economic challenges have precipitated that shift in strategy. Whatever the [...]
Change is difficult. Change when we think it’s a permanent change is even more difficult. Fortunately, thanks primarily to the companies that develop software and web solutions, we’ve all come to know and embrace the role of the beta version. The beta version allows us to test drive a solution and make sure it does [...]