Encouragement

Is Your Church Resisting Necessary Change? Try This Helpful Strategy

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What does a pastor do when change is needed in order to reach a changing community – or simply to keep the current congregation alive – but we’re met with resistance from the very church members whose support and energy are needed to get the job done?

My most important advice to pastors facing this dilemma is easy to state, but very difficult to do. Don’t attack their comfort zone, ease their fears.

Don’t attack their comfort zone, ease their fears.
It’s easier to get someone to move from something familiar to something new by helping them see the advantages of the new idea than by attacking a familiar idea. And the first step in doing that is to make the new idea more appealing by making it less frightening.

When Church Members Keep Second-Guessing Your Pastoral Decisions

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What do pastors, politicians and major league coaches have in common? A whole lot of people who’ve never done their job are convinced they could do it better.

The less experience they have the more certain they are, because those who’ve actually done it know how hard it is.

I can’t speak to how it feels as a politician or coach to constantly be second-guessed by everyone who’s ever watched a game or (not) voted in an election, but I do know how pastors feel when we’re constantly criticized by people who don’t have enough information, but still give lots of advice.

In fact it may be harder on pastors because, unlike politicians and major league coaches, most of our critics aren’t strangers in the stands, they’re people we know very closely.

If this is something you’re experiencing as a pastor in your church today, let me offer a few words of comfort and advice.

Why We Stopped Taking Attendance At Our Church For A While

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For many years, I kept track of church attendance numbers very carefully. As the church grew, I calculated growth patterns, percentages, demographics, you name it. I found that counting wasn’t just important and helpful, it was fun. When we were growing.

Then we stopped growing.

Soon we started shrinking.

So we stopped counting and did what we could to douse the fire before we lost everything.

And we didn’t start counting again for a long time after we corrected the slide and got things stabilized. By then, I was just grateful to be balanced and healthy. The numbers didn’t matter any more.

No, A God-Sized Vision Doesn’t Need To Be Big And Scary

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Does God’s vision for our life, church and ministry have to be big to be real?

I keep hearing that it does. Sayings like “if your vision isn’t big enough to scare you, it’s not from God” have been popular for quite some time now. Apparently we’re all supposed to have a BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal – an acronym popularized by Jim Collins in his book Built to Last) if we’re walking in faith and greatness.

I’m just not sure that’s a necessary part of faith or obedience.

Sometimes our desire to chase one big vision after another is more about being addicted to the adrenaline rush of our own oversized passion than following the simple commands of God.

The 3 Most Common Challenges Small Church Pastors Face – And How To Help

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Small church pastors are some of the hardest-working, most passionate and sacrificial people anywhere. They serve without fanfare, helping in ways most people will never see. And they face challenges that many will never experience. In over five years of writing, speaking and talking with thousands of small church pastors of virtually every denomination and …

The 3 Most Common Challenges Small Church Pastors Face – And How To Help Read More »

Small Church Pastors: A Tribute To The Forgotten Heroes

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Where did we get the idea that small churches are small because there’s something wrong with them and/or their pastors?

There are millions of small church pastors doing great, kingdom-building work with little or no budget, little or no facilities and little or no salary. Yet every day they bear as much, if not more pastoral burden as their full-time big church counterparts. All without recognition for the extraordinary sacrifices they make (not that they’re expecting any).

They teach the Word, pray for the sick, comfort the hurting, visit the forgotten and more. Often while putting in 40 or more hours at another job to pay the bills.

Small church pastors are not the failures among us, they are the heroes among us.

Bigger? Or Better? Yes, Your Church Has A Choice

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Better churches become bigger churches. Right?

Maybe not.

It turns out that’s been the rule of thumb for businesses, too. And it’s no more true there than it is for us.

Constant growth doesn’t work for the majority of churches or businesses. Yet they can still be successful at what they do.
This week, I finally got around to reading Bo Burlingham’s Small Giants: Companies That Choose To Be Great Instead Of Big (how could I resist, right?). Written more than ten years ago, it followed 14 companies that chose to limit their growth for a variety of reasons.

Some limited their growth to keep it more personal and intimate, some because a smaller size fit the skills and goals of the leadership, some because they felt it was the best way to maintain quality control, and so on.

But they all had one thing in common — an obsession with making their business better, combined with the belief that staying small was the best way for them to do that.

Bigger? Or Better? Yes, Your Church Has A Choice

/ 1 minute of reading

Better churches become bigger churches. Right?

Maybe not.

It turns out that’s been the rule of thumb for businesses, too. And it’s no more true there than it is for us.

Constant growth doesn’t work for the majority of churches or businesses. Yet they can still be successful at what they do.
This week, I finally got around to reading Bo Burlingham’s Small Giants: Companies That Choose To Be Great Instead Of Big (how could I resist, right?). Written more than ten years ago, it followed 14 companies that chose to limit their growth for a variety of reasons.

Some limited their growth to keep it more personal and intimate, some because a smaller size fit the skills and goals of the leadership, some because they felt it was the best way to maintain quality control, and so on.

But they all had one thing in common — an obsession with making their business better, combined with the belief that staying small was the best way for them to do that.

5 Ways Your Church’s Impact Can Become Bigger Than Its Footprint

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Small churches can have a big impact.

Especially today, with the power of social media and other new ways of communicating.

But also, because so much of our lives are lived online, people are having a renewed longing for more personal, tactile, face-to-face experiences. These are the very aspects of life that small churches can and should excel at.

The congregation where you serve, worship or lead may have a small footprint – as in a tiny building, no building, or too few people for your large building, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a big impact.

Here are five steps every church can take to increase their impact for the cause of Christ in their communities and their world.

Leading A Church Through Difficult Times: A Lesson From “The Most Bombed Hotel In The World”

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Leading a church is often a lesson in managing and overcoming frustration. Hopefully not all the time. But there are those seasons…

This week I’ve learned a great lesson about triumphing over extreme difficulty and frustration from a very unlikely source – a hotel my wife and I are staying at that’s known as “The Most Bombed Hotel In The World.”

If you Google that phrase (or click here where I’ve done it for you), you’ll find out a whole lot about the Hotel Europa. We’re staying here courtesy of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland who we’ve come to encourage this week.

The hotel hasn’t been bombed since 1994, and it’s a beautiful building in the heart of downtown Belfast. It’s an unexpected blessing to stay in such a nice hotel. And it’s always great to learn something new, too.

First, let me give you a little history of this hotel, then I’ll share what it can teach us about managing difficulties as church leaders.