Church Growth and Church Transformation
The following is an excerpt from the upcoming book 21st Century Strategies for Church Growth One of the consistent messages we hear during onsite consultations is that the church is committed to reach those beyond the church walls. One of the realities these churches have to face is that there are a limited number of [...]
The following is an excerpt from the upcoming book 21st Century Strategies for Church Growth. The Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have done unto you” has been the hallmark of the church for nearly two millennia. However, the rule has been lately misapplied to mean, “We’ll do unto others as we would have [...]
According to the American Religious Identification Survey (from Trinity College, Hartford, CN) the fastest growing “religious” affiliation growing in North America is the unaffiliated. Called the church of the nones by scholars, these are people who were once affiliated with the Christian faith, but have “opted out” of faith. Although many, perhaps even a majority, [...]
The church was soooo proud. Their choir loft was shoulder-to-shoulder with sopranos, altos, tenors, baritones, and basses. And so they didn’t see the “divide into two choirs” recommendation coming. They sounded so good and full and wasn’t that the purpose of the choir? But the choir was so overgrown that it could no longer achieve [...]
This post is Part 2 of bridging the generational technology gaps. The first part (here) examined the different generations. In this post we’ll look at some specifics on bridging the gaps. Before I start, it bears reminding you that there is more to targeting the generations than just tweaking your technology. And though this post [...]
The first technological breakthrough may have been a sharp stick by Homo erectus and it seems to have served them well for a couple hundred thousand years, but when it comes to worship in the 21st Century technological breakthroughs barely last a generation. In today’s church there are effectively four adult technology generations: The Radio [...]
I was asked what a church’s leadership covenant should include. I’ve done a training on that for the Conflict CPR Training Set, but here are my thoughts. A 100% commitment to supporting the congregational DNA (Mission, Values, Vision) A commitment to intentional adult spiritual development by participating in a small group or a micro group [...]
Only the pastor knew I was coming to spend Sunday morning with the church. As a secret shopper, my job was to experience the church as a first-time guest. I knew what time the services started and I had the address of the church. My GPS got me to the church without issue, but what [...]
The following post is a rough draft of a section in the book 21st Century Strategies for Church Growth that I’m in the midst of writing. Your feedback is appreciated. Build Some Alliances If you’re with me so far, then I’m guessing you’re pretty serious about growing your church. One might think that everyone in [...]
In the Introduction of 21st Century Strategies for Church Growth, my primary purpose is helping a pastor decide whether or not they can handle the heat in the kitchen of church growth. The following excerpt challenges each reader to question themselves about why they’re in ministry in the first place. It comes across as a [...]
