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

A Dozen Things I am Seeing in Churches (Post Resurrection 2021)

I don’t think anyone knows what the church world is going to look like in the immediate future.  It is not that “things have changed” and we need to adjust.  It is that things won’t quit changing.  Most of what I read concerning the future is what writers “hope happens” (extinction of the mega-church, collapse

Bricolage, COVID-19 and the Future of the Church (Part I)

Bricolage has become a wide term that was previously and more narrowly applied in the architectural, building and design trades.  The big idea is this; you often don’t have access or can’t afford the materials you wish you had to design or build something.  Bricolage is the creative use of materials already on hand to

Know What You are Going to Do! (2020 Edition) #UMCrapstorm

  I have played competitive softball since I was fourteen years old at every imaginable level.  Up to a handful of years ago, I played over a hundred games each season and now in my late fifties, I still play twenty or thirty.  For much of that time I was a shortstop.  The shortstop is

Following Up Your 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 rebounded from 2020 attendance for Christmas Week and I rejoice with them! Clearly God was moving. Bam! However, failure to effectively follow up major “victories” (like a

Musings on the UMC and the Wesleyan Covenant Association

For years, I stood in the middle ground of the United Methodist Church.  Right-middle to be sure but middle none-the-less.  My plan was to batten down the proverbial hatches, keep Christ Church growing (we have grown for twenty-one consecutive years) and hope the denominational storm would pass.  When asked about my lack of denominational positioning,

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. 

Hopeful Signs for United Methodists Abound in Len Wilson’s 2017 “Top 25 Fastest Growing Large Church Report”

I am thankful to Len Wilson for compiling his Top 25 each year but even more grateful for his analysis of the statistics. http://lenwilson.us/top-25-fastest-growing-large-umc-2017/ Here are a few statistics Wilson reported that I find very encouraging as a United Methodist: 1) 13 of the 25 have joined the list in the past two years! We have

Does the American Church Have a Future?

Does the American Church Have a Future? Fifteen years ago everyone was using the word “post-modern.” I used it a lot. Made me feel like a hipster preacher before there were hipster preachers.  I had more hair back then.  It was an easier sell. The definition of post-modern generally centered upon the premise that the modern

The Essence of Church Leadership

The Essence of Church Leadership Know Where You Are Realism Know Where You Are Going Vision Have a Plan Strategy Move the People Motivation STEP ONE: WHERE WE ARE           Where We Are: The real disasters I see in leadership occur when leaders do not have a realistic sense of where the congregation truly stands concerning