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…

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….

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…

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…

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….

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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,…

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…

“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,…

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…

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…