Church Health/Revitalization Archives - Page 6 of 9

“In Defense Of Playing Defense”

Okay, I might as well admit it. I’m the guy (or one of the guys) who’s always talking about playing offense, not defense, in the ministry of the church. “I love playing offense,” some of you have heard me say, “I don’t like playing defense, and I hate punting.” I’m not really talking about football,…

Heaven Help Our Church!

My guess is that some of you reading these words today feel just like the title; you have been crying out to God to come down and rescue a church which you dearly love. I would like to be the instrument of God today to give you some hope for the healing of your church. …

Heaven Help Our Church! Study Guide

For a free copy of the Heaven Help Our Church! Study Guide, created to be used with my book, Heaven Help Our Church!, send me an email and I will email you the document. Find me at www.churchwhisperer@gmail.com

Interim Pastor-Proof Your Church

Leaving your church is probably okay; leaving a mess behind for an interim pastor or somebody else to try to clean up is not okay. While I love what I do, I don’t want to have to come to your church.

When Good People Do Bad Things

Over the past few years, several television networks have broadcast reality shows with names like, “When good pets go bad,” “When animals attack,” or “When nice dogs bite.” The common denominator in these shows is the perplexing problem of seeing normally docile, loveable animals turn mean and ugly. In my work as a redevelopment…

“When Good People Do Bad Things, Part Two”

Note: Elsewhere on this website is an article called, “When Good People Do Bad Things.” The following is part two (to be followed by a part three). I was in the sixth grade and it was my eleventh birthday, November 22, 1963. As we were ending our physical education class, the next roomful…

When Good People Do Bad Things, Part Three

(Note: This is the third of three articles on the subject of “When Good People Do Bad Things.”) A wise individual once said that “Renewing your church is like remodeling your house…” If you’ve ever remodeled or attempted to remodel a house you can guess what’s coming… “Renewing your church is like remodeling your house: it will…

Traditions or Trends: Which Should We Follow?

Most of the readers of this blog know about the dangers of traditionalism. Yale University professor Jaraslov Jan Pelikan has been credited with saying that “Tradition is the living faith of those now departed. Traditionalism is the dead faith of those now living” [emphasis mine]. A “dead faith,” I’m sure Pelikan meant, because the traditionalist…

When Church Members Leave

For many of us, the very mention of the subject of church members leaving knots up our stomachs faster than a phone call from the IRS. Painful memories flood my mind as I sit down to write – and I thought I’d gotten “good at” letting people go. Not that we really want to get…

Letter To a Hurting Church

The following is a letter (with names removed) I sent to a church which was on the brink of splitting in two. I’m sorry to say that I think the letter probably has application to many other situations. I wrote it – and am placing it here – in hopes that God will use it…

Slaying The Big Fat Anxiety Elephant

Some of you know that I’m big on slaying elephants. Elephants in the room, that is. You can read my “old” post on the subject here. “Elephants in the room” are subjects that many people are thinking about, distracted by or troubled by, but nobody’s talking about. They disturb and derail our thoughts, making it…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…