The challenge of turning an inwardly focused church into a vibrant, externally focused mission to its community is formidable. It’s no accident then that the same writers who gave us The Externally Focused Church, Eric Swanson and Rick Rusaw, felt led to follow it up with The Externally Focused Quest. It is a quest, and […]
Six Characteristics of Pastors Who Deserve to be Followed
I received some pushback regarding a couple of blog posts I wrote about allowing pastors to lead their churches. I argued that most churches which are actually making devoted followers of Christ out of the raw material of lost people have pastors who are expected to actually lead. Actually leading means that these privileged pastors […]
Six Marks Of A Genuinely Loving Pastor/leader
I’ve seen it repeatedly. When church members are surveyed regarding what they want in their church’s next pastor, the attribute most frequently mentioned is “a loving caregiver” or “a loving shepherd.” However we may feel about the level of Christian maturity reflected in these results, this is reality and it’s not lost on pastors. Pastors […]
The Anesthesia That Makes Church Surgery Possible
I love to use the medical model for church revitalization. It is so blessedly simple. Anybody can remember that the process is going to involve a few weeks of diagnosis, followed by approximately a year of surgery, followed by about another year of recovery. Diagnosis, surgery, recovery. A fifth grader can understand it. After explaining […]
Encountering Dysfunctional Church Systems
In the 1962, Western classic, “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” Jimmy Stewart plays a fresh-faced young lawyer, Ransom Stoddard, determined to bring law and order to the wild west town of Shinbone. Before he even makes it into town he is robbed and brutally beaten by the outlaw bully, Liberty Valance. As much as […]
The Problem With Exciting Church Growth
“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 […]
Demystifying The “Vision Thing”
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 […]
Book review: 5 Gears: How to be present and productive when there is never enough time
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 […]
Four Ways To Be Stupid With Your Smart Phone
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, […]
Four Elephants Which Can Hurt Your Church (and how to kill them)
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 […]
Three Reasons Why Board Members Should Let Their Pastors Lead
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 […]
More Reasons To Let Your Pastor Lead
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. […]
Seven Ways To Get On Offense
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 […]
Models for Elder Ministry
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 […]
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.
Do We Have To Have These Business Meetings?
Many pastors enjoy church business meetings as much as root canals. A trip to a proctologist or a funeral for a thither is a more welcome event on the calendar. “Do we have to have these business meetings?” they groan to no one in particular. Far too often these necessary-but-evil events turn out too long, too boring […]
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 […]
Gaining Restoration Authority
Where do strategic (or “restoration” or “redevelopment”) interim pastors get the authority to change so much so fast in the churches they lead? A church-health expert once told me that “all an interim pastor can do is to give a church a good slap in the face.” As one who has been doing interim pastoring […]
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 […]
Giving Thanks For The Future
The last year and a half has been a challenging time for most of us. I don’t think I’m going to get any argument there. And I’m not going to tell you to be thankful. But I am going to depart a tad from my usual “helping churches thrive” theme and give you some good […]
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 […]
