The parsonage was empty…again… This time it was left a little dirtier and messier than it was a year ago. It looked like somebody had departed in a hurry, and they had. The rookie pastor’s first year with the church turned out to be his last year with the church. He loaded the moving truck […]
Why Did Our Good God Send Us A Bad Pastor? (Part Four)
Here’s the last “bad pastor” horror story I’ll share for a while: Even before I completed the interim pastorate, Donna and I were beginning to have concerns about the new long-term pastor who had taken my place. He had expressed anger with our church members for not hosting him as enthusiastically as he thought they […]
Why Did Our Good God Send Us A Bad Pastor? (Part Three)
I’ve heard my share of horror stories about bad pastors. Very few of them are as unfortunate as one I was involved in personally. Near the end of an interim pastorate, when we were just getting our pastoral search team organized, our church was approached directly by a young man who seemed like God’s special […]
Why Did Our Good God Send Us A Bad Pastor? (Part Two)
One week ago, we began wrestling with this painful question. While I’ve seldom had it put to me as bluntly as my title, I’ve heard little speeches like the following, several times: “We prayed and worked through our pastor search process but the guy we got was not what we were looking for or expecting […]
Why Did Our Good God Send Us A Bad Pastor? (Part One)
I confess that no one has ever put it quite that bluntly as my title, but I’ve heard a number of softer versions of it over the years. It usually sounds something like this: “We prayed and worked through our pastor search process but the guy we got was not what we were looking for […]
The Kind Of Prayer That Downloads Church Revitalization, Part Two
Last week’s post, The Kind Of Prayer That Downloads Church Revitalization, Part One, focused on five, big, surprising conclusions on the subject of church revitalization. The best way to reintroduce my subject might be to reintroduce myself. I began attending and fell in love with a small evangelical church at age twenty, one year after […]
The Kind Of Prayer That Downloads Church Revitalization, Part One
I don’t pretend to be the authority on the subject of church revitalization, and I’m not sure that anybody else is either, but I think I’m on to something. I’ve studied the subject seriously and I’ve listened to great stories from great people. In two posts I’m going to briefly share five of my most […]
“Playbook” Chapters I Need To Add: Welcome Young Families And Children
Just a note: In 2025 we launched “The Revitalization Playbook.” The “Playbook” is similar to the ones used by football coaches on the sidelines. The coach’s playbook contains all the plays that the coach is confident that his team can run. Conditions on the field determine which play he chooses next. In my “Playbook,” knowing […]
“Playbook” Chapters I Need To Add: Help Your Church Process Its Pain
Just a note: In 2025 we launched “The Revitalization Playbook.” The “Playbook” is similar to the ones used by football coaches on the sidelines. The coach’s playbook contains all the plays that the coach is confident that his team can run. Conditions on the field determine which play he chooses next. In my “Playbook,” knowing […]
“Playbook” Chapters I Need To Add: Embrace The Strengths Of Your Small Church
“There are no little people and no little places.” Francis Schaeffer Just a note: In 2025 we launched “The Revitalization Playbook.” The “Playbook” is similar to the ones used by football coaches on the sidelines. The coach’s playbook contains all the plays that the coach is confident that his team can run. Conditions on the […]
The Ideal Pastoral Handoff
I don’t want to be guilty of promising too much, so I should say up front that there’s no one perfect way of doing a transition from one pastor to another. As Gary Smith put it in his book, Pastoral Transitions: “The cardinal rule [in pastoral transitions] is that there is no cardinal rule.” Or […]
“Playbook” Chapters I Need To Add: Return To Some Serious Celebration
Note: In 2025 we launched “The Revitalization Playbook.” The “Playbook” is similar to the ones used by football coaches on the sidelines. The coach’s playbook contains all the plays that the coach is confident that his team can run. Conditions on the field determine which play he chooses next. In my “Playbook,” knowing that every […]
“Playbook” Chapters I Need To Add: Begin With A Pastoral Revitalization
Just a note: In 2025 we launched “The Revitalization Playbook.” The “Playbook” is similar to the ones used by football coaches on the sidelines. The coach’s playbook contains all the plays that the coach is confident that his team can run. Conditions on the field determine which play he chooses next. In my “Playbook,” knowing […]
“Playbook” Chapters I Need To Add: Help Your Congregation Discover Their Riches In Christ
Just a note: In 2025 we launched “The Revitalization Playbook.” The “Playbook” is similar to the ones used by football coaches on the sidelines. The coach’s playbook contains all the plays that the coach is confident that his team can run. Conditions on the field determine which play he chooses next. In my “Playbook,” knowing […]
Seven Ways You Can Trust Your Church Board
Trust in authority figures in the United States is probably at an all-time low. I can’t prove that, but I doubt that any of you will challenge my assertion. I’ve recently been the victim of a very clever scam artist and a big corporation which seems to not care a whit that it was complicit […]
A Christmas Story
Christmas of 1978 was turning out to be a tough one. My dad had died suddenly in April. My wife Donna had been “found to be with child” in September; bad news at first, but we got over it quickly, suspecting, in fact, that Donna was “with” 2 children, not just one. As fall fell, […]
Pastoral Succession: “Nailing” The Handoff
Good handoffs can be hugely important. Witness the muffed handoffs that happen on the football field every week. Then there’s the infamous story of the 4X100 meter men’s relay at the 2008 Olympic games, when the American team – expected to win the event handily – literally dropped the baton on a handoff. In the […]
Crisis Succession Plan Template For Church Boards
Scripture clearly indicates that no pastor – except Jesus – is a “permanent pastor.” As many have put it, “every pastor is an interim pastor.” Jesus went to great lengths – throughout the gospels but especially in the “Upper Room Discourse” of John 13-17 – to warn his leaders-in-training that He would be leaving them […]
An Extremely Helpful Leadership Initiative Which Any Pastor Can Take Right Now
“Extremely helpful” – “Really?” “Any pastor” – “I don’t think you know me!” “Right now” – “There must be a catch here!” Let me explain. I’ve been doing a lot of research lately on the subject of pastoral transitions, a.k.a., pastoral succession. It’s a big important subject that most pastors and churches avoid most of […]
Ten Ways To PREVENT A Perfect Storm From Destroying Your Church
“But you, keep your head in all situations…” The Apostle Paul in II Timothy 4:5a In meteorology, a perfect storm is a rare occurrence in which a combination of circumstances creates an unusually destructive weather event. In ecclesiology (churches), a perfect storm happens when conflict occurs in an unhealthy church atmosphere and is handled poorly […]
GOD’S GRACE In The Perfect Storm
“I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.” The Apostle Paul in II Corinthians 7:4b In meteorology, a perfect storm is a rare event in which a combination of circumstances creates an unusually destructive weather event. In ecclesiology (churches), a perfect storm occurs when one or more conflict scenarios occur, […]
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