Leading in Perpetual Crisis (10 Keys)

I received two notes yesterday from highly committed parishioners.  Both thanked me for effectively leading the church through “crisis.”  My first thought was “which crisis?”  Since 2016 or so, the church world has been in a perpetual state of crisis.  The tornados keep touching down and the tornados already on the ground never seem to

Strengthening What Remains (A Word to the Church)

I had breakfast with my dad recently. We were exploring what the Western church will look like on the other side of COVID-19. We agreed that even churches who have been open for months on-site are still running less than half of the live attendance they did a year ago. What will happen with the

Leadership in the Roaring 2020’s

Leadership in the Roaring 2020’s will continue to be an ongoing process of navigating a jagged series of unpredictable no-win scenarios. This is not an anomaly; it is the new normal. We are going to have to get used to it. Effective leaders will have to be: 1. laser focused on their mission 2. empathetic

Does Your Church Want a Future? (then “get” this!)

History will look upon the years that spanned our lifetimes and declare them to be a period of seismic cultural shift.  In the same way the Gutenberg Press changed the world in 1439, the advent of the personal computer and the internet has changed the world again.  We live in a time when the Norman

“We Want Out!” (the loudest voice the #UMC isn’t hearing)

  There is an increasingly resonant voice in the United Methodist conflict emerging from both congregations and pastors.   It is a voice not being heard.   It does not receive invitations to the negotiating table.   It is a voice becoming too loud to ignore.   “We want out!”   As the United Methodist

Following Up Your Big Christmas Week

Social Media is a great tool to keep up with what God is doing in churches far and near.  I love reading each and every glowing report! Many churches had great attendance for Christmas Week and I rejoice with them!  Clearly God was moving. Bam! However, failure to effectively follow up major “victories” (like a record

Why People Leave a Church

In the early days of my ministry, not many people left our church.  I was in a rural area, there wasn’t much competition and people were loyal to the institutions of their community.  They would no more leave our church than they would send their children to another high school, stop doing business at our

United Methodist Mania (And what we can do about it)

Were I to assign one word to American culture circa 2018, it would be manic.  Manic derives from a Greek word meaning “inclined to madness.”  The adjective refers to “characterizing, denoting or afflicted by mania.”  The noun is a person afflicted with mania and synonyms include “anxious, hysterical, worried, demonic, unhinged, unbalanced and feverish.”  I

Why I Really, Really, Really Like Millennials

We do an effective job at reaching Millennials at Christ Church.  We don’t do as effective a job as the churches designed to do nothing but reach Millennials but we do pretty well.  We are committed to being a multi-generational and racially diverse congregation and we are finding that many Millennials like that just fine. 

Things Growing Churches Understand (that dying churches do not)

There is a lot of stuff about “how to make your church grow”  flying about.  A whole lot.  Some of it is terrible.  Some of it is really good. Here are my thoughts: 15 Things Growing Churches Understand: Your mission statement is your best friend Pastors must be strategic leaders  National events affect local congregations