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My wife recently found a box of old church bulletins with notes from my previous sermons. She is a prodigious note-taker. These old bulletins contained thousands of sermon points. How many of them did she remember? I didn’t ask. Only a few congregants will remember specific points I make in a sermon several years afterward….
The post Seven Tips to Make Sermon Points More Memorable appeared first on Church Answers.
Most of us have entered the twilight zone of worship announcements at some point. A person approaches you with awkward determination three minutes before the start of a worship service. A piece of paper unfolds multiple times. If there was a way to collect all these scraps of paper, we pastors could create an epic…
The post Why Your Church Needs More (Often) Announcements in Worship appeared first on Church Answers.
I’ve had the privilege of learning from Christian leaders—clergy and laity alike—for almost 50 years. As a seminary professor who teaches courses in leadership, I pay attention when I see leaders who seem uniquely gifted. I offer this list of characteristics today (1) to push myself to evaluate my own life and (2) to challenge…
The post 6 Unique Characteristics of the Best Christian Leaders I’ve Known appeared first on Church Answers.
Each year, I post on my personal site a list of possible ways to show your pastor gratitude during October (Pastor Appreciation month). Even with that list in mind, here are some things I would love to receive from members if I were pastoring again: Regular, intentional prayer. In our Church Answers’ Know Your Church…
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God’s mission travels in one vehicle: the church. In the same way that different kinds of vehicles travel our roadways, many different churches share the good news message. No congregation has a corner on the Kingdom, and every Bible-believing church has the potential to be an asset in the Kingdom of God. The neighborhood will…
The post Eight Ways Any Church Can Get the Attention of the Neighborhood appeared first on Church Answers.
Greeters make a difference in a church, and some of the strongest churches I know have them everywhere from the parking lot to the welcome center to the hallways to the small group rooms. Here are some things greeters can do in the parking lot: 1. Be a smiling face as people enter the lot. Some…
The post 12 Ways Parking Lot Greeters Can Serve appeared first on Church Answers.
Most pastors, staff, and active church members have a good idea when attendance will drop on a given Sunday. Churches develop a discernible pattern that is repeated each year. We asked over 400 people, mostly church leaders, to identify their lowest attended Sundays on a recurring basis. Though our study was not scientific (comments and…
The post The Top Ten Lowest Attended Sundays in U. S. Churches appeared first on Church Answers.
In a post-information and internet age, it is becoming increasingly difficult to sift truth from lies. You can find anything online to affirm, or deny, your feelings, your theology, and even your motives. With so many competing voices and endless truth claims, it’s no wonder so many feel disoriented. And perhaps the enemy is seizing…
The post Did God Really Say? Wrestling with Doubt and Finding Freedom in Truth appeared first on Church Answers.
It’s a massive change that few church leaders are noticing. For decades, the conventional wisdom was simple: younger generations flocked to bigger churches with contemporary music, better tech, and full-service programming. That assumption may now b…
AI. Robotics. Work-from-anywhere. The disappearing middle manager. The stress of blue-collar and service workers. Gigs and side gigs. The headlines state the obvious. Work is changing. The pandemic accelerated the change. Workers are adjusting. Companies are adjusting. The marketplace is adjusting. I am concerned, however, that most churches are not adjusting. The most common question…
The post The Future of Work in Church: Ten Realities You Might Not Know appeared first on Church Answers.