This is going to be a different sort of Helping Churches Thrive blogpost. It’s about a character trait, a fruit of the Spirit, or call it a “grace,” if you prefer. It’s about meekness and meekness is actually a vital quality for thriving, Godly churches. It’s a big subject that I’m diving into today and […]
Your Seniors Are Frustrated, But You Can Help Them: My Grumpy Conclusion
Seniors have a bad reputation today. They have become known for their grumpiness. Come to think of it, maybe they’ve (“we” actually, since I am one myself) always been seen as grumpy. Charles Dickens had lots of grumpy old people in his wonderful stories, and we know that his characters were based on real persons […]
Your Seniors Are Frustrated, But You Can Help Them, Part Three
At the risk of sounding like a politician or a spokesperson for a politician, “Let me make this perfectly clear.” I’ve been writing about frustrated seniors and how you can help them. But I’m not doing this because I feel sorry for seniors. I’m doing this because I eat, sleep, think and breathe church revitalization. […]
Your Seniors Are Frustrated, But You Can Help Them, Part Two
It sounds like everybody’s frustrated. Last week I started writing about actual statements and questions I’ve heard over the past few years from seniors who are frustrated about the prospect of change in their churches. Believe me, I’ve gotten an earful. This week I’ve been getting another earful from pastors and others who are frustrated […]
Your Seniors Are Frustrated, But You Can Help Them
Everywhere I go I meet older church members who are seriously frustrated with their churches. Since becoming a senior myself, I think I’m learning to understand them. These are mostly very good people. Some of them, in fact, are great people. Some of them are amazing people. Those of us who are younger than they […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Return To Real Discipleship
We’re working on a revitalization playbook, a compendium of initiatives which church leaders can choose from, under the Holy Spirit’s guidance, in their efforts to see their congregations returned to vibrant, Great-Commission health. My final suggestion for you – and by no means am I saying that I’ve given you these in the order of […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Make Good Use Of Membership
Wait a minute! Don’t touch that dial! “Membership” doesn’t have to be as unexciting as a new vaccine. I know that many churches don’t have an actual membership. If that describes your congregation and this is a conviction for you, then it’s okay if you change the channel. I’ll understand. I’m not going to use […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Create A Great Culture
My father was the manager of a small-town, bottled gas plant. One year, the large corporation which owned the plant came up with a new campaign to squeeze a little more out of their beleaguered managers. It was called IADOM. My hard working, loyal but laid-back dad was forced to wear his own IADOM button. […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Measure Your Progress
To count or not to count: Churches have been debating the wisdom of measuring “nickels and noses” – now known as “metrics” – for a long time. I’m sure I’ll never convince everyone, but I’m going to make a case for keeping track of a few metrics as part of the process of revitalizing a […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Encourage Real Worship
Since my post on March 8th, I’ve been writing a revitalization playbook, a church leader’s resource for helpful, timely, turnaround strategies. The first three plays were “scripted,” in the sense that I strongly recommended that they should be implemented in this order: Help your people face the true condition of their church, Help your congregation […]
The Revitalization Playbook: The Value Of Hands-On Projects
I can’t entirely explain this, but there is something about a hands-on project that is very helpful to churches undergoing a revitalization process. By a “hands-on project” I’m talking about efforts that involve physical tasks undertaken by a large number of people, or a large percentage of the members of a small church, which have […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Address Your People Problems
In some congregations it’s just one person: one controlling Diotrephes (III John 12), one harmful Alexander (II Timothy 4:14), one willful, rude, thoughtless bully, somebody who wants to be a big fish in a small pond. In other churches, it’s one family which thinks that First Church is their own personal piece of property, like […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Build A Supportive Coalition
Last week I wrote about building a unified leadership team as an important step in seeing a heaven-sent revitalization of your church. If you are the pastor (or lead pastor) in a congregation which is on the downside of the church lifecycle, you’re going to need a cooperative – if not an enthusiastic – board/council/consistory/session, […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Build A Unified Leadership Team
You can’t do this yourself. David had his mighty men (I Chronicles 11). Jesus chose twelve men, “…that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons…” (f/Mark 3:13-15). I’m assuming, for the moment, that you are a pastor. If you’re not, […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Missional Realignment
It’s that time of year again. At least here in the Midwest, it’s pothole season. And for drivers, potholes mean front end alignments. Churches need periodic realignment as well. They just naturally get all bent out of shape. Among other problems, they tend to forget what their mission was. Missional realignment is often needed to […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Bold, Serious Preaching
“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction.” II Timothy 4:2 “Break up your unplowed ground, and do not sow among thorns.Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, Circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem…” F/Jeremiah 4:3,4 Six weeks ago, […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Give Your Congregation A Simple Dream Of A Revived Church
I used the word “dream” in my title instead of the more popular, “vision” because I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I’m not talking about anything grandiose here: You know: 20 thousand people, 40 acres of land, etc. I’m talking about something which is far more accessible than that: A dream for […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Play #3 – Persuade Your Congregation To Pray For Revitalization
I know full well that I just used two, sometimes scary, words in that title. The word “persuade” means that I’m going to be talking about leadership, and leadership is challenging for many of us pastors. The word “pray” zeros in on one of the hardest aspects of the Christian life for many believers. The […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Play #2 – Help Your Church To Take Responsibility For Its Condition
Two weeks ago I began sharing a revitalization playbook. It’s not a step-by-step manual for church renewal, for I don’t believe that creating a universally applicable revitalization plan is possible. But it is going to be a playbook, like that of a football team which has a couple dozen plays it has practiced extensively. And […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Play #1 – Help Your Church To Face The Facts
The human capacity for self-delusion is amazing, isn’t it? People who “can’t carry a tune in a bucket” enter singing competitions. Some of us try to squeeze into shirts or pants that are several sizes too small. Couples without carpentry skills take on remodeling projects that would make the best You Tube DIY-ers give up […]
The Revitalization Playbook: The Possibility Of Revitalization
The need for church revitalization – we used to call it, “church turnaround” – is all-too evident. BC, that is, “before Covid,” we typically heard that sixty-five to ninety percent of American protestant churches were plateaued or in decline, at least as far as their Sunday morning attendance numbers. In our post-Covid era, those numbers […]
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