I shared a meal with a pastor of a recovering church recently. The church had gone through a long decline, watching long time members pass or move away. Its financial support became fragile and its future uncertain. The one thing that we both agreed on was that it...
Pastors and leaders all want to see their congregations grow. This is a primary reason why leaders read certain books, go to certain seminars and work on certain skill sets. Deep down, leaders measure their effectiveness in ministry by their church’s ability to make...
A pastor of a church which had been at over 500 asked me to help him understand why his congregation was declining. They were culturally relevant in how they sowed the gospel in their community and had many good things happening. As we explored the Healthy Church...
Shirley and I once visited a church whose pastor I had coached (poorly, as it turned out) in the Connection System. We were greeted extravagantly at the door, personally escorted to the refreshments, handed great brochures about the church’s ministries and led to our...
I was visiting the gathering of a church where my daughter and her husband were attending to see why they found it so compelling. The church met in an out of the way unfinished warehouse of a building on the wrong side of the tracks (which literally ran through their...
I was singing at the top of my range during the worship time. By the end of the third song, my throat was rebelling, but dropping an octave made the lower notes too low. So I mumbled my way through the rest of the worship like many of the people around me. Did I...
