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

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

Staying Effective as an Aging Leader

What if you don’t HAVE to get less effective as you get older? What if you just have to CHANGE?  I don’t know about you but I am not getting any younger.  After playing softball for decades, I now find it painful to bend over to pick up a bat, much less scoop up a

Supporting Leaders (And Leading Supporters)

Can’t sleep tonight.  It happens.  Not very much but it happens. Praying for Christian leaders. My heart is heavy. Leadership circa 2020 is SO difficult. Pandemic. Churches closed. Cultural upheaval. Election cycle. Throw the devil (yes, I believe in such stuff) into the mix and the task can seem overwhelming. I know some great leaders

7 Things to Think About Before Responding to Criticism

If you are a leader you are going to be criticized.  And if you are a significant leader you are going to be significantly criticized.  It honestly doesn’t matter if you are a good leader or not.  That is just how it is.  People criticize leaders.  Always have.  Always will.  It is a cost of

A Baker’s Dozen (Quick Hitter) Leadership Lessons

  I was appointed to a congregation of just over 200 in 1997.  We averaged almost 2,400 in 2017.  Here is what I have learned about leadership in these twenty-one years in one place: Thirteen (Quick Hitter) Lessons in Leadership State Your Mission: We exist to connect people to Jesus Christ.  It is our language for everything.

I am Joining WCA (but I am not in a bad mood about it)

For years now, I have been standing in the middle ground of the United Methodist Church.  Right-middle to be sure but middle none-the-less.  My plan was to batton down the proverbial hatches, keep Fairview Heights Christ Church growing (we have grown for twenty consecutive years) and hope the denominational storm would pass.  When asked about

Leadership Needed in the United Methodist Church (and quickly please)

I was not reared in the United Methodist tradition. Melissa and I were loved into the United Methodist church when I was teaching and coaching in Louisville, Illinois in the mid-80’s. It was only then I began to take a serious look into historical Methodism. In Methodism I found a theological tradition to call my

Stress

If you are going to give God all the glory…let Him carry all the stress. -Rev. Shane L. Bishop  

Ten Things Pastors Think are True (that I don’t think are true)

I like Social Media. I really do. Over the course of a day I can keep up with huge numbers of people in the time it would take to complete a single phone call. I also like the fact that people read my stuff and listen to my sermons while I am doing other things.