I wanted to be DC Talk’s chaplain. In the 1990s, DC Talk hired a pastor to travel with them when they went on tour. He led a daily bible study for the band and crew, held them spiritually and morally accountable, and was available for pastoral counseling when needed. I congratulate any band or sports […]
What Will People Think? The Truth About Numbers, Status and What Really Matters Read More »
“The reason your church stays small is because you’re making Small Church choices.” That quote has been repeated many times as an undisputed Church Growth Movement truism. But it’s inside-out. My church isn’t small because I make Small Church choices. I make Small Church choices because my church is small. And I plan to keep
Small Church Choices – Make More of Them Read More »
Pastoral ministry is hazardous work. Study after study shows the burnout rate for people in full-time ministry is high and growing. Tim Peters tackled this issue with a very helpful post, 10 Real Reasons Pastors Quit Too Soon. As I read it, I noticed something missing from his list. And it may be the most
The 11th Reason Pastors Quit Too Soon Read More »
We don’t measure the things that matter. We measure the things we manage. That’s the essence of a comment I made this week in response to a short blogpost written by Artie Davis, entitled Disciples? If You Mean It, Measure It! UPDATE: Check out the gracious response to this post from Artie, below. Artie’s blogpost
How Do We Measure the Things That Matter? Read More »
All my life I’ve heard preachers talk about a coming worldwide revival. But it’s never happened. There have been pockets of excitement, from the Jesus Movement of the 1970s, to the church growth movement of the 1980s. The 1990s brought local spiritual outbreaks in places like Toronto and Florida, along with controversy over their genuineness
Is the Era of the Megachurch Over? Read More »
Impact. It’s what every pastor wants from their Sunday sermons (or talks, messages, homilies – take your pick). We want to have impact. We want the message, as Larry Osborne might put it, to be sticky. We want the words we speak, not just to make people feel good when they’re in church on Sunday, but to
3 Words That Can Make Your Sermons Sticky Read More »
Quick quiz – name an expert on big churches or church growth. There are probably several that come to mind immediately, right? There are plenty of well-known authors, speakers and academics, some of whom are pastors themselves. Now name an expert on Small Churches… I’m waiting… If you can think of one, it was probably
Where Are All the Small Church Experts? Read More »
We want numbers to verify our successes. There are two huge problems with that sentence – and they’re found in the words “numbers” and “our”. First, not all successes have numbers to verify them. Second, the successes of the church are not our successes. We need to start getting comfortable, in the first instance, with
Could You Be OK Giving Your Success Away? Read More »
Are you a small church pastor? Seems like an easy question, right? But it doesn’t have an easy answer. Many Small Church pastors don’t know they’re Small Church pastors. I’ll tell you why in a minute. But first, here’s a short quiz you can take to find out if you’re a Small Church pastor. 1.
You May Be a Small Church Pastor and Not Even Know It Read More »
Earlier this week, I wrote a couple mini-rants in the comment sections of two ministry websites. The authors of the blogs weren’t the targets of my frustration. They actually brought up some good ideas. But the underlying issues got me going, so I jumped in. Here’s what the blogs posted about, followed by what I
Can Measuring a Church Hurt It? Read More »
