Why On-Line Church is Thriving (and how to leverage it forward)

I am reading a lot of articles, posts and blogs about how churches are reaching more people now than they did when actual humans were sitting in their pews. Our on-line numbers are way up as well.  I truly rejoice that so many people are joining us via the internet but we must be careful

Podcast; Navigating Change with Shane and Mike, COVID-19

A world without sports, going to the movies and eating out at restaurants; a government that orders people to stay at home; social distancing vs. social isolation. COVID-19 has changed the world in an instant. Shane and Mike discuss the complications and ways we can find a new normal. Click the link below to listen!

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

Does Your Church “Get” It? (10 things churches must “get” to have a future)

  We all know that most churches are in decline.  We also know that some churches are growing and some are growing exponentially.  There are clearly some things growing churches “get” that declining churches do not. Here are ten things churches need to “get” to have a future.   Get strategic A decreasing number of

7 Thoughts for those Discouraged in Ministry

Are you discouraged in your service to the Lord? It happens to all of us. As much as we would like life to move “up and the right,” we will all endure seasons of feeling inadequate, dejected and downright pessimistic. Sometimes we just want to become 10 years old again and “take our ball and

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

Vision 2020: What I See Coming

Vision 2020: What I See Coming We all know that our world not only has changed and is changing but we are beginning to realize that our world is change.  You see, change is no longer the obstacle around which the fish swims, it is the water itself.  Many years ago, a wise mentor named

The Unanticipated Upside of Capital Campaigns

 The Unanticipated Upside of Capital Campaigns Let me begin my stating my purpose.  I am not being compensated by a capital campaign company, nor do I “moonlight” for one.  I will make no money off of this article (though I am open to it).  Let’s face it; no one makes money writing anymore. I have

The Awesome Rev. Jones (Navigating Change)

The Awesome Rev. Jones (Navigating Change) All churches think they want to grow but the reality is that they don’t want a “catch so great their nets begins to tear.”  That is hard on everyone.  As God has given Christ Church massive catches over the years, I have discovered four things that are as painful

Does the Church Have a Future?

Fifteen years ago everyone was using the word “post-modern.”  Its definition centered upon the premise that the modern world was slowly crumbling (due to the advent of the personal computer) and a jagged new world was slowly emerging from the ashes (riding the momentum of the internet).  The time it would take to get from “there