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Change The Values – Change The Church

June 11, 2016 By Brian Thorstad Leave a Comment

I still believe in the importance of having good, simple, understandable, non-obtrusive, biblical, church structures. Top notch constitutions, by-laws, covenants, ministry descriptions, guiding principles, can’t, by themselves, produce healthy churches. Bad ones, however, can make healthy churches almost impossible. But structure doesn’t count for much compared to the values in the hearts and minds of…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Strategic Planning

The Problem With Exciting Church Growth

May 23, 2016 By Brian Thorstad Leave a Comment

“Problem? What? Are you kidding?” Most of us find the growth of our churches to be exhilarating, exciting, heady. Especially if this growth follows an extended period of little or no growth. New people walking in every Sunday! Favorable comparisons to your newbie’s former pastors! Long dormant ministry slots finally being filled! Except for a…

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

Can Ordinary Pastors Become Revitalization Pastors?

May 17, 2016 By Brian Thorstad Leave a Comment

The short answer is a happy “Yes!” I should define my terms.  “Traditional” pastors preach sermons, teach classes, pray, give pastoral care and do administrative tasks. Those are all important. The revitalization pastor does all of those things and is also able to provide the visionary and strategic leadership which can take a willing (key…

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

Five More Excuses For Our Gossip

May 11, 2016 By Brian Thorstad Leave a Comment

Everybody knows that gossip is both wrong and harmful. It ruins reputations. It separates the best of friends (as in Proverbs 16:28 and 17:9). It allows us to “wimp out” of the important face-to-face conversations which we need to have. It sullies our consciences. It demeans those whom we talk about, those of us who…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Seriously Troubled Churches

The Top Ten Excuses For Our Gossip, Part One

April 23, 2016 By Brian Thorstad Leave a Comment

Here’s a concise definition of gossip: Saying negative things about a person which the hearer does not need to hear. Everybody knows that gossip is wrong. Almost everybody knows that gossip is harmful to individuals and organizations. Almost all of us indulge in gossip in one way or another at one time or another. It’s…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Seriously Troubled Churches

Demystifying The “Vision Thing”

April 16, 2016 By Brian Thorstad Leave a Comment

Vision is like the weather: everybody’s talking about it but nobody’s doing anything about it. If nobody’s doing anything about it, it’s because practically everybody is confused about it. Demystifying the “vision thing” has become a passion for me. It doesn’t have to be painfully confusing. And a single, unifying vision really is vital, not…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Leadership, Strategic Planning

Book review: 5 Gears: How to be present and productive when there is never enough time

April 5, 2016 By Brian Thorstad Leave a Comment

Most of us have used figures of speech derived from the experience of shifting the gears of a car or a bicycle. “On my way home from work I try to shift gears so I’m ready to interact with my family.” “While doing lunch with my co-workers I have to change gears and remember to…

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Healthy Pastors, Leadership

The Everlasting Gossip Stopper Can Change Your Church’s Culture

March 22, 2016 By Brian Thorstad Leave a Comment

Every human organization has a problem with gossip. It follows the association of people with people as night follows day. I’m not talking about the innocuous version of gossip which is simply talking about people. “In Bible times, women met at the village well to exchange the latest gossip.” I’m talking about the harmful kind…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Seriously Troubled Churches

Four Ways To Be Stupid With Your Smart Phone

March 8, 2016 By Brian Thorstad Leave a Comment

Okay. I finally did it. After years of cajoling from family and friends, I finally bought a smart phone. Now I have to learn how to use it. More importantly, I have to learn how not to use it.  As usual, our advances in technology have outdistanced our manners, our ethics. On a global scale,…

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Filed Under: Healthy Pastors, Leadership

Four Elephants Which Can Hurt Your Church (and how to kill them)

February 23, 2016 By Brian Thorstad Leave a Comment

I can just imagine the faces of the people in the Philippian church. One of their leaders was reading a letter from their church’s founder. Except for a couple of gentle hints about “the unity thing,” most of it had been positive, affectionate and encouraging. Suddenly they heard the words, “I beseech Euodia and I…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Leadership, Seriously Troubled Churches

More Reasons To Let Your Pastor Lead

February 17, 2016 By Brian Thorstad Leave a Comment

In an earlier blog (“Three reasons why board members should let their pastors lead”) I spoke directly to board members and made a case for allowing your “lead” pastor to actually lead your church: to be the one who comes down from the mountain with both a vision and a ministry strategy for your church….

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

Three Reasons Why Board Members Should Let Their Pastors Lead

February 17, 2016 By Brian Thorstad Leave a Comment

I want every board member reading this to know that I greatly respect you. I’ve walked miles in your moccasins. I know how smart you are, how knowledgeable you are, and how much you’ve invested in your churches. Nevertheless, you need to let your church’s “lead” pastor lead the church that you have poured so…

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

Seven Ways To Get On Offense

November 26, 2015 By Brian Thorstad 1 Comment

Okay, I might as well admit it. I’m a typical football fan. I’m mostly interested in offense. I know the birthdays and blood types of the offensive players, especially the so-called “skill positions,” and don’t know much about the defensive players. Shame on me. But my football watching habits also have something to do with…

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Filed Under: Healthy Pastors, Leadership

The Two Greatest Occupational Hazards of Christian Ministry

November 26, 2015 By Brian Thorstad Leave a Comment

At the Bible college and seminary which I attended, more than one chapel speaker told us in no uncertain terms that the greatest occupational hazards in the ministry were “money and women.” This was usually expressed with some vehemence, as if money and women were evils, in and of themselves. Of course, they didn’t really…

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Filed Under: Healthy Pastors

Sample Secret Seeker Form

April 5, 2015 By Brian Thorstad Leave a Comment

  Sample Secret Seeker Form   Date visited _______________                                     Name of church__________________________________________   Preacher/speaker_______________________    1. Was the secret seeker an individual, couple, family?  (Please describe)    2. If you had any experience with learning about the location/service times etc. from a phonebook, web site, sign, newspaper ad or other means, tell us about it:…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Strategic Planning

Models for Elder Ministry

April 5, 2015 By Brian Thorstad Leave a Comment

There are many models for how elders "do" their work and what is expected of them. This tool is for pastors and elders to work through together.  It will help you talk through your different understandings and come to agreement on what kind of elder meetings and expectations you want to have.    Download Elder…

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Filed Under: Church Boards And Staffs, Church Structure, Leadership

The Church Life Cycle

January 31, 2013 By Brian Thorstad Leave a Comment

    A Brief Explanation of the Church LIfe Cycle Birth (1) – Being a part of this brand new church is one of the most exciting things I've ever been in on. Everybody is helping; spirits are high; everybody is having fun.  Many are inviting new people to come for we have nowhere to…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Seriously Troubled Churches, Strategic Planning

The Parable Of The Headhunter

January 29, 2013 By Brian Thorstad Leave a Comment

Note: I first wrote this parable to help pastor search committees to move in the direction of realistic expectations for pastors.  Even if your church is not searching for a new pastor, this little story may help you to understand and bear with the pastor you already have.  The senior pastor search committee of First…

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Filed Under: Pastoral Search Teams, Pastoral Transitions

The Surprising Secret To Church Growth OR The Sign On The Roof

January 29, 2013 By Brian Thorstad Leave a Comment

     The church classroom in which the afternoon workshop session was being held was filled to capacity and beyond: the front row seats were unexpectedly taken and the back wall was lined with conference attendees who were willing to stand for fifty minutes to get in on this session.  Many in the room had…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Seriously Troubled Churches

Is There Hope For The Congregational Church?

August 23, 2011 By Brian Thorstad Leave a Comment

My impression is that increasing numbers of pastors of evangelical churches today (2011) have “just about had it” with congregationalism, that form of church government which invests every member with the right to speak up, vote and get involved in decision-making processes.  Pastors – not just those who lack patience, but those who want their…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Church Structure, Seriously Troubled Churches

“Playing Twenty Questions”

March 3, 2011 By Brian Thorstad Leave a Comment

Elsewhere on this site (“Gaining Restoration Authority) I’ve written about the value of conducting listening sessions at the beginning of a change-oriented interim pastorate.  We have found this to be so valuable that we (Donna and I) would do this in any new pastorate that we would undertake, interim or long-term, no matter what the…

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Filed Under: Church Health/Revitalization, Interim Pastoring, Strategic Planning

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Testimonials

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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