Tag «Membership & Assimilation»

5 Reasons Why Non-Denominational Churches Are Growing

While we continue to see reports of denominational decline in America, we see fewer reports of the growth of non-denominational churches. It is actually an amazing story. Two denominations that receive a lot of attention are the Southern Baptist Convention and the United Methodist Church. These two denominations have historically been the two largest Protestant…

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Christmas Eve Is a Sunday This Year (The Big Opportunity)

The holiday season is demanding. Pastors and church leaders must move from one event to the next in rapid-fire succession. The whirlwind lasts from Thanksgiving to Christmas Day. Most pastors get a small break between Christmas and the New Year, and then it’s time to launch again. Ministry is a grind. The deadlines never end,…

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The Top Ten Misaligned Priorities in Struggling Churches

Churches decline for two main reasons—both having to do with a shift in priorities. First, they lose passion for the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. Second, as a result, they no longer give God glory. When a church no longer pushes outward with the gospel, the people will no longer look upward to God’s…

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An Urgent Plea to Churches

I admit it: I’m pleading with church leaders with this post. I’m pleading on behalf of 19 million people in the United States. This past weekend, I led a collegiate conference at a local church. Every time I speak to college students, I’m reminded of two things: (1) they bring enthusiasm and potential to a…

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5 Surprising Approaches Churches Are Using to Increase Attendance

I like outliers. Outliers are, by their definition, exceptions to the rule. They are different from others. Our Church Answers team closely watches church attendance, especially attendance since the pandemic. Most churches had a decline in attendance. Since many of these congregations are intentional about recovering from the decreases, we note what approaches these churches take. …

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Seven Tips to Make Sermon Points More Memorable

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….

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How to Recover from a Toxic Church and Bounce Back Even Better

When the church causes hurt, it pollutes God’s calling and creates a toxicity that works against the gospel. The goal is to minimize church hurt and maximize church unity. Here is reality. Something will happen in almost every church because ministry includes people. In some cases, the pastor is the cause of the hurt. In…

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The Megachurch Movement Is Fading. What’s Next?

Once a church reaches two thousand in weekly attendance, its sheer size becomes a self-generating attraction. Massive facilities, a sprawling campus, and numerous attendees give these large congregations more prominence than other churches. Megachurches receive more media attention than smaller churches. Their physical campuses can dominate their surrounding community. Megachurch pastors tend to have charisma,…

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It’s Time to Release Churches from the Myth of Infinite Expansion

Every church has limiting factors. No church grows exponentially every year. Infinite expansion isn’t possible. Even the largest churches stay at the top of the list for only about twenty years. Each generation has its own group of biggest congregations or fastest-growing congregations. Compare any lists of the largest churches from the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s,…

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The Church That Could in a Town of 714 People

Bardwell Baptist Church is located in Bardwell, Kentucky, a town of 714 people. Twenty years ago in 2020, the population was 799. Bardwell is, for the most part, an unknown town in a rural area of Kentucky. But God knows where Bardwell is. Jason Burnette became the pastor in 2021. Worship attendance was around 100…

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