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Author: Brian Thorstad

Keeping The Band Together: Maintaining Unity As Your Church Grows, Part Three

A wise, young pastor whose congregation is experiencing healthy growth put this question to me: “I love the unity we have in our church right now.  How can we maintain it as we continue to grow?”  Here are the answers I’ve shared so far: (Read the first full post here and the second post here.)…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization

Keeping The Band Together: Maintaining Unity As Your Church Grows, Part Two

Sometimes our success can be our own undoing.  Oh-so-happy is the experience of the small, united church!  Such congregations tend to grow spontaneously: “Come and check out our wonderful little church!  I think you’ll love it.” And they do come, and they do love it, because we’re all looking for love, and this kind of…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Leadership

Keeping The Band Together: Maintaining Unity As Your Church Grows

Would that every church leadership team would be faced with the challenges of significant church growth! A pastor who is dealing with that happy situation put this question to me: “I love the unity we have in our church right now.  How can we maintain it as we continue to grow?”  Again: wouldn’t it be…

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Filed Under: Church Boards And Staffs, Church Health/Revitalization, Leadership

This Old Church: Begin Your Revitalization With An Assessment

I heard it again on Sunday, described a little more eloquently this time than in the past. The homeowner and contractor told me how he had remodeled several homes, each time living in them during the process. He was grateful to have had the same wife with him throughout the whole adventure. As I had…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Consulting Help

Pastors Turning Inward: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

“Now go out and encourage your men. I swear by the LORD that if you don’t go out, not a man will be left with you by nightfall.”  Secretary of Defense Joab, to King David, in II Samuel 19:7 “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at…

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Filed Under: Healthy Pastors, Leadership

Don’t Be Bashful: Most People Are Still “Lost In America”

“I am not ashamed of the gospel…” Romans 1:16 Back in 2001, Tom Clegg and Warren Bird gave us great encouragement with their book, Lost In America. The subtitle was “How You And Your Church Can Impact The World Next Door.” Before you change channels because I’m reviewing an “old book,” give this post a…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Disciple Making

Jesus’ Bride Is Not A Building

It’s time to just stop it. It’s time to stop referring to buildings as churches.  As evangelicals, we know that they’re not, of course.  Every pastor explains this once in a while in a sermon: “We talk about our church building, but of course we all know that in the Bible, churches aren’t buildings, they’re…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization

To Get The Best Pastor Possible, Part Two

Periods of transition between senior or solo pastors are crucial for churches. This seems to be the case in all sizes of churches and in almost all denominational “tribes.” We wish it wasn’t so, but most of us know that the calling/accepting of a new pastor can make or break a congregation. This being the…

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Filed Under: Pastoral Search Teams, Pastoral Transitions

To Get The Best Pastor Possible

Looking for a new solo or senior pastor for your church can be a stressful, fearful, experience.  We know that we should just “trust God” of course, but we also know, all-too-well, how important this process can be.  The right pastor can greatly bless your church.  The wrong pastor can all but destroy your church….

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Filed Under: Pastoral Search Teams, Pastoral Transitions

Eight More Helpful Hacks For Beleaguered Pastors

The Super Bowl is history.  As usual, the team that won the “time of possession” battle won the game – not by much, but they did win it. The Bible gives us plenty of excuses for using the language of military conquest and athletic competition.  We are to endure hardship, to storm the gates of…

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Filed Under: Healthy Pastors

Seven Helpful Hacks For Beleaguered Pastors

After sending you Seven Ways To Get On Offense last week, I sensed a need to get more specific and down to earth with my suggestions. Our big, challenging subject is the need for pastors to be able to transition from a reactive, back-on-your heels type of ministry, to doing the kind of proactive, intentional…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Healthy Pastors, Leadership

Grace Doesn’t Indulge Sin

I’ve heard stories like these again and again: The obnoxious deacon literally poked his finger in the chest of the new pastor in the church foyer and told him – in no uncertain terms – what he could and could not do. The overbearing old accountant spoke harshly to the young financial secretary, telling her…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Seriously Troubled Churches

Reversing The Church’s Supply Chain Crisis

Last week I wrote about Pipelines, Pathways And The Church’s Supply Chain Crisis. It wasn’t about computer chips, potato chips, toilet tissue or gasoline, it was about the lack of new attendees, and much more importantly, new converts to Christ, coming in our church doors.  This paragraph was the heart of the post: Even in…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Disciple Making

Pipelines, Pathways And The Church’s Supply Chain Crisis

Everybody knows that we have a supply chain problem in America in 2022.  It’s irritating.  It’s frustrating.  And it’s hard to put a finger on exactly what the problem is.  All I know for sure is that there are a lot of items “missing” when I go to the store. After twenty-two months of the…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Church Structure, Disciple Making

The Pastor As A “Player’s Coach”

I’ve really been enjoying football lately. The fact that I’m from Wisconsin probably has something to do with this, but I promise that I won’t say anything more about that. But Sunday evening, a couple of broadcasters were singing the praises of Matt LaFleur as a “player’s coach.”  They went on to describe a player’s…

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Filed Under: Church Boards And Staffs, Church Structure

Wanted: The Pastoral Flight Simulator

An old friend and I were having one of those conversations that old friends (or married couples)  repeat regularly: Brian: “It’s so hard to be a young pastor!  There are so many landmines, so many ways to get in trouble!” Old Friend: “The young guys have all the energy; the old guys have the wisdom…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Healthy Pastors

The Three Keys To An Effective Church Revitalization

Most evangelical congregations in America need some degree of revitalization in that they are on the downside of the church lifecycle. This means that there was a time in the past (near or distant) during which the congregation was more effective than it is currently, at making devoted, growing, followers of Jesus out of the…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Leadership

Nickels And Noses: Better Ways To Measure Church Effectiveness

Are we really getting anywhere?  Are we actually making disciples, or just going through the motions, doing what we’ve always done while getting what we’ve always gotten? These are hard but important questions for church leaders to ask. I’m assuming that you agree with me that the church’s #1 “job,” its mission, is to make…

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Filed Under: Church Boards And Staffs, Church Health/Revitalization, Disciple Making

Welcoming Our Post-Apocalyptic Guests

I concede that my title might be a bit wonky, but there’s method in my madness. Everybody knows that most churches lost people by way of the COVID shut down. Some folks decided that if it’s okay to just “watch church” on a screen at home during the shutdown, it should be okay to continue…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Disciple Making

Elders And Congregationalism: Seven Ways To Make It Work

As a seminary student I was taught that there were three types of local church governance (“ways in which decisions are made,” is a good way to explain it): Episcopalian – From the Greek word, episcopos (An overseer or manager as in Acts 20:28). This is church government from the top down, as in the…

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Filed Under: Church Boards And Staffs, Church Health/Revitalization

Giving Thanks For The Future

The last year and a half has been a challenging time for most of us.  I don’t think I’m going to get any argument there. And I’m not going to tell you to be thankful.  But I am going to depart a tad from my usual “helping churches thrive” theme and give you some good…

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Filed Under: Healthy Pastors, Leadership

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Testimonials

Elder Jim I wanted to let you know that we have really made some huge changes in the last few months.  We are seeing new people every week and we had a leadership meeting with 23 in attendance. Pastor ______ is doing well and God is doing amazing things.  Thanks for your support, prayers and love for the church!
Elder Jim
A New Church-Goer ...thank you for your messages at [our church] over the past weeks.  I just started going to _____________ while you were there and hadn't been to church in decades.  Your messages kept me coming back...  Thank you for helping me find my way back to God.
A New Church-Goer
Pastor Trey Turner "Brian is an experienced and insightful investigator of church systems.  He has real skill in looking at and diagnosing some areas needing attention.  I benefited greatly from his insight.  As a result, our church is benefiting greatly.  The process Brian took us through gave it the encouragement it needed to begin coming out of the 2020 difficulties.  We will work on the insights Brian provided as a roadmap back to better health."
Pastor Trey Turner
Pastor Greg Lund I've appreciated so much Brian's very practical coaching as he's guided me and the leadership of our church as we've sought to become more effective for God's kingdom. His extensive experience in assisting churches navigate a variety of issues makes him highly qualified to help lead churches through congregational change.
Pastor Greg Lund
Pastor Bruce Jahnke
"Our church is extremely grateful for the insight, adaptability and wisdom Brian so graciously contributed to our needs as we transitioned.  Our pastor transition was from Father to Son, which is by definition, difficult.  Yet Brian was able to foresee issues, feelings and responses with high accuracy.  Brian is personable, yet can direct when he needs to help us be reasonable and vision-oriented."

Pastor Bruce Jahnke
Andy Shanholtz I had the privilege of co leading a pastor’s training group with Brian. Brian’s wealth of knowledge and practical experience was an asset to all of us. The interaction with the group and the relationships built was a great value. I highly recommend having Brian facilitate a group to provide invaluable resources and practical knowledge.
Andy Shanholtz
Pastor Jed Manders
Leadership development within cohorts and peer groups has become increasingly popular, and rightfully so. Being involved in Brian’s leadership training group allowed me the opportunity to work through challenges, develop strengths and learn from both reading and peer development.


Pastor Jed Manders
Pastor Mark Pitroff "I have been so privileged and encouraged to be ministered to by Brian Thorstad as I have served as an Interim Pastor here in central Wisconsin.  He has been such a help and encouragement to me and especially, to this church I have served - Faith Community Church of Waupaca.  His leadership in helping us develop the “Journey Wall” enabled us to look back on the church’s history, the high points as well as the difficulties faced, especially in recent years.   Brian has helped FCC recover from a very difficult time…  Brian was such an encouragement to us, especially in the early months of recovery and preparation."
Pastor Mark Pitroff
Pastor Dan Norman “I enjoyed getting to know the guys in the group [and] I appreciated the thought, mind and spiritual challenges presented… I found many things that I was able to immediately apply, and I am still developing next steps that much of the discussion and training of this class helped to build a foundation for. [The handouts on strategic planning] will continue to be helpful in trying to guide our church to being more intentional. This [was] exactly what I was looking for at exactly the time I needed it.”
Pastor Dan Norman
Pastor Steven Boyd  "This course showed me that I, as a solo pastor, have to do things that don’t come naturally to me and has given me some tools to do the hard things.”
Pastor Steven Boyd 
Pastor Brian Schley “I found value in our meetings and am grateful you invited me to be part of it as a ‘future senior pastor.’ I enjoyed being able to be part of the conversations and glean from those beyond me. Thanks for your leadership with the group and your heart for pastors!”
Pastor Brian Schley
Pastor Todd Sauve "It was a privilege to have been a part of a pastors group led by Brian Thorstad. It's always great to learn from other pastors, and someone needs to provide leadership to make that happen. I'm thankful that Brian was willing to do that, and to share from both his successes and failures in ministry. He's honest, humble, and cares about people."
Pastor Todd Sauve

Brian A. Thorstad

Call: 651-319-1953

Email: churchwhisperer@gmail.com

1931 Cook Avenue
Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54494

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