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Most of us have heard of the 80/20 rule, sometimes called the Pareto principle. It was named after its “inventor,” Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto who noticed about 20% of the peapods in his garden contained 80% of the peas. To put it more generally, it says that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. […]

This was originally published at The Biblical Recorder. We have all heard of the economic law labeled the Pareto Principle. According to Vilfredo Pareto, for many events, roughly 80 percent of the effects come from 20 percent of the causes. This principle has been applied to the fields of business, science, software and even criminology. […]

While social media and even traditional media are still preoccupied with mega churches and multi-site churches, the reality is that most churches in North America are quite small. The Barna group pegs the average Protestant church size in America at 89 adults. 60% of Protestant churches have less than 100 adults in attendance. Only 2% have […]

How to Calculate Seating Capacity for a Church Here are some ways you can calculate the seating capacity of your church, as well as some tips about how to make the seating arrangement from your calculations click with your unique space: 1. Safety DOES NOT equal comfort This is one of the most important things […]

I provide you these ten rules of thumb as a starting point. You can then wisely discern how well and specifically they apply to your situation. Number of acres needed for church site: one acre for every 125 in attendance. This ratio is based on useable acres. That number is affected by zoning requirements, water […]

I’ve heard it said that you don’t choose the books you read—great books choose you. In some peculiar way, I believe that is what happened in 1999 as I consumed Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcey’s How now shall we live? Never before had I planned to read a 600-page, non-fiction book, but once I devoured […]

I believe that the church is the hope of the world and is positioned like no other channel of influence to shape culture. Its people are called to be in the world. As John Stott puts it, “we find ourselves citizens of two kingdoms, the one earthly and the one heavenly. And each citizenship lays […]

Influence is a powerful thing. Every person both influences and is influenced by others in varying degrees. Jesus stressed the importance of godly influence when he compared his disciples to salt (Matt. 5:13). Paul also warned of the power of bad influence when he noted that “evil companionships corrupt good morals” (1 Cor. 15:33 ASV). […]

THE CHURCH IN SOCIETY TODAY The Church should be seeking to influence and change society. Unfortunately the general perception of the church in the media is that it is irrelevant and dying with just a few old ladies attending. Church leaders are generally portrayed as being weird, old-fashioned and stupid. Yet the Bible tells us […]