Resources

Churches Renovate Their Building, On Average, Every 30 Years? Really?!

Uh… Wow.

Every 30 years?

Yes, those are the stats, according to a church renovation expert I heard at a recent conference.

By the time his company is called in to help a church renovate their sanctuary, lobby, exterior or anything significant, it’s been three full decades since any part of their facility has been updated in any meaningful way.

That’s. Too. Long.

I’m aware of how costly it is to update church facilities – especially in a smaller church that may not even be paying the pastor. But there’s an alternative to waiting thirty years to do anything, then breaking the bank to overhaul everything at once.

Churches Renovate Their Building, On Average, Every 30 Years? Really?! Read More »

Time, Not Money, Is The New Church Commitment Currency

The Sunday morning pass-the-plate offering has always been a reliable predictor of the commitment level of church members.

Long before they started leaving – often before many started complaining – people would express their dissatisfaction with a church by stopping or slowing down their giving. Sometimes subconsciously.

Like the canary in an old-time coal mine, a drop in giving patterns was always one of the best early warning signs that there might be something going badly that we, as church leaders, needed to be aware of.

While a drop in giving is still a concern, and can still be an early warning sign, it’s not as reliable as it used to be.

(This article is part of an ongoing series on Money and the Small Church, but it applies to churches of all sizes.)

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6 Reasons Many Pastors Don’t Need An Office Any More

The pastor’s office is a time-honored tradition whose moment has come and gone for a lot of us.

Over the last 35-plus years of ministry, I have spent thousands of hours in my office. Joyful, frustrating, heartbreaking, boring, wonderful, life-changing hours. Hours spent studying, praying, counseling, crying, laughing, discipling, planning, organizing and so much more.

I wouldn’t give them up for anything.

But I have given up my church office. And I doubt I’ll ever go back to having one again.

Some of that is because I’m now the teaching pastor, not the lead pastor. But even if that change hadn’t been made recently, I would probably have given up my office anyway.

If you have a church office and it works for you and the church, by all means keep using it. This isn’t about convincing anyone to give up your office. But if you don’t have one, or if you spend as little time in your office as I spent in mine in recent years, here are some reasons why you may not need one at all.

6 Reasons Many Pastors Don’t Need An Office Any More Read More »

6 Reasons Many Pastors Don’t Need An Office Any More

The pastor’s office is a time-honored tradition whose moment has come and gone for a lot of us.

Over the last 35-plus years of ministry, I have spent thousands of hours in my office. Joyful, frustrating, heartbreaking, boring, wonderful, life-changing hours. Hours spent studying, praying, counseling, crying, laughing, discipling, planning, organizing and so much more.

I wouldn’t give them up for anything.

But I have given up my church office. And I doubt I’ll ever go back to having one again.

Some of that is because I’m now the teaching pastor, not the lead pastor. But even if that change hadn’t been made recently, I would probably have given up my office anyway.

If you have a church office and it works for you and the church, by all means keep using it. This isn’t about convincing anyone to give up your office. But if you don’t have one, or if you spend as little time in your office as I spent in mine in recent years, here are some reasons why you may not need one at all.

6 Reasons Many Pastors Don’t Need An Office Any More Read More »

How I Overcame My Dread Of Talking About Money From The Pulpit

Pastors fall into one of three groups when it comes to money.

Pastors who hate talking about money at all
Pastors who talk about money obsessively
Pastors who have discovered a biblical balance

Most pastors I’ve met, maybe two out of three, are in the first group. We want to avoid any appearance of greed because we’ve seen how that can undermine the cause of Christ. But we back off too far.

The second group of pastors may get a lot of press for their excesses, but they make up a very small subsection of pastors. Easily less than five percent of us talk about money obsessively. Maybe less than one percent.

The final group of pastors, maybe one-third of the total, have found a healthy balance. They know that we need to talk about money in the same biblical way that we talk about prayer, ethics, compassion, and every other part of Christian life.

I used to be in the first group of pastors. I hated talking about money. So I did it seldom, poorly and apologetically. Not exactly a recipe for a financially healthy church.

In the last few years, I have been able to turn a corner on that. I now have no problem teaching on finances. Therefore, I’m doing it in a more healthy, balanced, biblical way. It’s also a far more joyful experience, both for me and for the congregation.

How I Overcame My Dread Of Talking About Money From The Pulpit Read More »

Money And The Small Church: Job One – Don’t Spend More Than You Bring In

When it comes to the issue of Money And The Small Church, (or money and big churches, money and family finances, money and business, etc.) there is one principle that stands high above all the others.

It’s so basic, I almost feel silly having to write it. But it is Job One for faithful financial stewardship.

Don’t spend more money than you bring in.

That’s it. There is simply no financial principle more important for a church to observe than that.

Money And The Small Church: Job One – Don’t Spend More Than You Bring In Read More »

Money And The Small Church: 3 Reasons We Must Talk About It (New Series)

Many people have a love/hate relationship with money.

Including me.

I don’t like thinking about it, talking about it, teaching on it or worrying about it.

But do you know what I really hate about money? When I don’t have enough of it.

How’s that for one of life’s crazy little ironies? Money may be the only thing in my life that I both dislike intensely, but I want more of. Love/hate.

Not having enough money is a huge problem in life and in ministry. Yet it’s just the way things are – especially in a small church.

But helping those who are in even greater need than we are is one of the primary callings of the church of any size. Which makes this one of the challenges every small church has in common: how do we do more ministry with so little money?

Because of my intense dislike of money, I have written very little about it, but it’s one of the subjects I am asked about most often.

So, despite my misgivings – or maybe because of them – today is the first of several blog posts on the subject of Money And The Church in the next few weeks and beyond.

Money And The Small Church: 3 Reasons We Must Talk About It (New Series) Read More »

Don’t Let Bad Methods Undermine Good Theology

Have you been struggling in your church, but can’t understand why?

Maybe you’re doing what you believe God is calling you to do and you’re taking wise counsel from others, but there doesn’t seem to be any progress made?

This post might be for you.

I’ve been travelling and talking with a lot of church leaders over the past few years. In that time, I’ve seen four very distinct kinds of pastors:

1. Those who do the right thing in the right way

2. Those who do the right thing in the wrong way

3. Those who do the wrong thing in the right way

4. Those who do the wrong thing in the wrong way

Only one of those combinations produces a healthy church. Let’s take a look at all four and see what happens with each one. They’re not as obvious as you might think.

Don’t Let Bad Methods Undermine Good Theology Read More »

Don’t Let Bad Methods Undermine Good Theology

Have you been struggling in your church, but can’t understand why?

Maybe you’re doing what you believe God is calling you to do and you’re taking wise counsel from others, but there doesn’t seem to be any progress made?

This post might be for you.

I’ve been travelling and talking with a lot of church leaders over the past few years. In that time, I’ve seen four very distinct kinds of pastors:

1. Those who do the right thing in the right way

2. Those who do the right thing in the wrong way

3. Those who do the wrong thing in the right way

4. Those who do the wrong thing in the wrong way

Only one of those combinations produces a healthy church. Let’s take a look at all four and see what happens with each one. They’re not as obvious as you might think.

Don’t Let Bad Methods Undermine Good Theology Read More »

Does Attracting A Crowd Make Discipleship Harder?

I used to believe that method was the best way to build a strong church. I’m finding it harder to believe with every passing day.

Drawing a crowd may not just be unhelpful in discipleship, but possibly counter-productive to it.

When a person’s first encounter with the gospel (and their second, and their one-hundredth) is as a member of a crowd, they can get a twisted perception of what discipleship means. They start to think that Christianity is about being a passive observer, consumer and judge of religious content.

That perception, once established, is almost impossible to dislodge.

Does Attracting A Crowd Make Discipleship Harder? Read More »