Helping Churches Thrive

A Ministry of Church Health Consulting

Twenty Ways (15 wasn’t enough) To Solve Our Pastor Shortage, Conclusion

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Over the past three weeks I’ve shared fourteen ways in which we might move towards solving our pastor shortage in the evangelical world. While I’ve done some bemoaning of our situation, your responses have been encouraging.  I have not felt like a “voice crying in the wilderness.” I’ve found that many of you share my […]

Twenty Ways (15 wasn’t enough) To Solve Our Pastor Shortage, Part Three

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For the past two weeks (see 15 Ways To Solve Our Pastor Shortage, Part One and 15 Ways To Solve Our Pastor Shortage, Part Two) I’ve been bemoaning our evangelical pastor shortage.  Like most of my readers, I didn’t much care about theologically liberal churches suffering their pastor shortage, but now that it’s closer to […]

Spatial Disorientation – Pastor: Do You Know The Condition Of Your Pastorate?

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My wife and I have been learning about spatial disorientation by listening to airline disaster podcasts.  The phenomenon occurs when pilots, unable to see the ground because of darkness or bad weather (pilots call it “goo”), become unable to determine their aircraft’s true position relative to the ground. Their senses tell them, for instance, that […]

Thirteen Challenges For The Retiring Pastor

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“I feel like a man without a country” – Recently retired pastor I’ve been writing about the challenges faced by soon-to-retire or newly retired pastors. Here’s a slightly amended paragraph from my posts: Lame Ducks Can Still Fly: Twelve Projects Retiring Pastors Can Work On and Twenty Ways To Redeem Your Pastoral Retirement. No other […]

Lame Ducks Can Still Fly – Twelve Projects Retiring Pastors Can Work On

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There’s something happening in a church near you: the pastor is moving toward retirement.  I’m told that the average age of pastors in America has risen to about sixty. While many pastors continue on in full-time ministry way past the typical retirement age of sixty-five, pastors at sixty are usually at least thinking about it. […]

Taking On The Crowd: 23 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Rebuking Your Congregation

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Sooner or later, most pastors will sense that it’s time to “take on,” confront, rebuke or correct their congregation. Some combination of (1) his people’s words or behaviors (2) a compelling teaching of the Bible (3) the constraint or leadership of the Holy Spirit, or (4) the pastor’s own impassioned spirit, will convince him that […]

The Advantages Of Getting Old And Tired

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I don’t want to sound pathetic.  I’m not that old and I’m not that tired either, but I’m older than I used to be (and so are you) and I’m less energetic than I used to be (and you probably are too). This world which we all live in views this as tragic.  Youth is […]

Exposing Ten Church Revitalization Myths, Part Two

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In my last post I launched into exposing ten myths about the revitalization of churches.  I began with this “googled” definition: Revitalization is the “action of imbuing something with new life and vitality”. In light of this, admittedly, secular definition, instead of asking if every church needs revitalization, maybe we should be asking if any church doesn’t need […]

Exposing Ten Church Revitalization Myths, Part One

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rēˌvīdələˈzāSH(ə)n,rēˌvīdlˌīˈzāSH(ə)n Noun – The action of imbuing something with new life and vitality. “The city has seen revitalization of its economy” Thanks to Mr. Google for the above. The idea of church revitalization assumes that at some point in time the congregation in question was teeming with life. While this is clearly not the case with every church, […]

“I trust that everything’s okay with you?”

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Just between you and me, I hate that question. It’s almost as thoughtless as the “How ya doin’?” question you get on the way into the convenience store from perfect strangers who have no intention of waiting to hear your answer. Worse yet, “I trust that everything’s okay with you?” – usually spoken with more […]

“Pastor: How’s Your CHURCH Doing?”

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I have many conversations with pastors which include this question.  We talk about lots of other things, from illnesses to children to football, and then I invariably get around to the “How’s your CHURCH doing?” question. Some pastors have the privilege of leading churches which are building the Kingdom of Christ with some real God-given […]

Models of Board Member Ministry – Brian’s Notes

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Two weeks ago, in a post called, Models of Board Member Ministry, I wrote about the endless variations in expectations and assumptions among incoming board (council, consistory, session, elders, deacons) members. Working through my post – as a group exercise – can be a helpful way to movefrom board confusion, disunity and dysfunction to clarity, […]

Testimonials

Brian A. Thorstad

Call: 651-319-1953

Email: churchwhisperer@gmail.com

1931 Cook Avenue
Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54494

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