Tag «Membership & Assimilation»

The One Big Reason Church Attendance Is Declining (and Most Church Leaders Are Unaware)

This one data point might be the most important information on the church and faith I have heard this year. We at Church Answers have done a pretty good job of explaining the “what” of attendance decline: the frequency of church attendance has declined, and people have simply left the church altogether. What we have…

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The Best Metric to Determine Evangelistic Health in Your Church

I fear too many churches are sitting still and becoming apathetic with evangelism. Unfortunately, this apathy means fewer people are hearing the gospel. It’s time to move outward again. The Conversion Ratio It’s helpful to diagnose the degree of the problem in your church. One way of determining evangelistic health is through a metric called…

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Why I’m Excited about “THE HOPE INITIATIVE”

If you haven’t checked out The Hope Initiative, that will begin next month, I encourage you to do so. Here’s why: First, it’s a strategy focused on getting believers re-focused on the Great Commission in their community. Most churches—including those started with an outward focus—eventually turn inward. This strategy seeks to reverse that direction in…

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Don’t Divorce Christ

I love the local church. From Acts 2 to Revelation 3, the Bible is about the local church, written to the local church, or written in the context of the local church. God gave us the local church as his plan A for his mission on earth, and he did not give us a plan…

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Shifting Your Church Out of Survival Mode and into Hopeful Optimism

Many churches are barely hanging on, but there is hope. Churches are simultaneously both fragile and resilient. They hang on by their fingernails, but those fingernails are surprisingly strong. Every Sunday seems to have the potential to be the last one. Yet the same church survives year after year, decade after decade. Struggling churches tend…

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The Life Cycle of a Pastor (Updated)

For almost 30 years, we have tracked the tenure of pastors. Though some of the categories are the same, the time periods and the descriptions of the periods continue to evolve. We are now in a post-pandemic, post-Christian era. The changes are significant. Of course, these cycles are generalizations. There will always be exceptions and…

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Is Gen Z More Likely to Attend Church Than Millennials? The Surprising Answer

Are the trends reversing? Could younger people return to church in greater numbers? Perhaps. It’s too early to tell, but one researcher gives a little hope. Ryan Burge reported on data indicating Gen Z is more likely to attend church than Millennials and Gen X. While almost a third of this younger generation does not…

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Five Solutions for the Weary Pastor: A Personal Note to Church Members

Pastors are tired. Many pastors are tired because of all the work they did leading to Easter Sunday, But it’s really bigger than that. Pastors are tired because culture is no longer friendly to churches and to church leaders. Pastors are tired because of internal church conflict. Pastors are tired because of the barrage of…

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Predicting Your Worship Attendance for the Next Year

Can you really predict your church’s worship attendance for the next year? Our answer is “maybe.” I know such certainty gives you a lot of comfort! Here’s the reality: the answer is in God’s hands. His Spirit can move as He pleases. So why would we even attempt to project worship attendance? It’s a fair…

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Seven Reasons We Preachers Don’t Always Know What Our Church is Thinking . . . and a Reason to Get a “Know Your Church Report”

I can’t remember how many times I was surprised by what my church members were thinking, even though I was their pastor. What I thought was the case wasn’t always so. How does that happen? 1. We assume we hear everything in the course of ministry. We know we don’t, but we act as if…

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