Tag «Monday/Wednesday Featured»

How to Discern If a Church Member Is Guilty of Gossip

Gossip is a destructive force in the church. Once the rumors of gossip spread, it’s hard to correct if they are false. Even if partially true, gossip is always wrong because what is shared is inappropriate and hurtful. Gossip fosters an environment of distrust and suspicion. Instead of focusing on productive work or conversations, individuals…

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Five Hero Pastors

One of the greatest joys of my life is working with pastors. At Church Answers, we hear from tens of thousands of pastors every year. Most of these church leaders are unknown to the world except for their immediate church and, perhaps, their community. The pastors I know serve selflessly. Most of them are grossly…

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Five Hero Pastors

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Reflections on My First Sermon after Twenty Years of Ministry

I preached Philippians 1. After standing in the pulpit for a few awkward moments, I said, “Hi.” “Hi.” The congregation responded. It was a Sunday night service on a holiday weekend. My pastor was on vacation. The smaller crowd was the core. They knew what they were getting. I was twenty-three years old. Only now…

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Why We Need to Ask More Numerical Questions about Our Church

I’m well aware that it’s easy to get focused on numbers when evaluating church growth. Too many church leaders report “butts in the seats” and “bucks in the plate” more than anything else—without really evaluating even those numbers. For example, we might report a significant attendance increase without pointing out that most of that growth…

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The Death of Evangelism: Five Issues We Must Address

The issue may be the biggest surprise of my ministry. On the one hand, I am surprised at the decline of evangelism in most churches. But that is not the biggest surprise. The issue that perplexes and surprises me the most is that very few church leaders and members are even acknowledging the death of…

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Why Your Church Is Larger Than You Realize (And Pastors Are Busier Than Ever)

How big is your church? It’s a common question. The top metric of success in a church is worship attendance. Maybe it shouldn’t be. But average weekly worship attendance is the most common and most touted church health metric. This figure includes children, assumes each person is counted only once, and includes all worship services…

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Why Your Church Will Die within Five Years

I became fascinated with dead and dying churches about thirty years ago. I know. It’s morbid on my part. My fascination turned into somewhat of an obsession that I wrote a bestselling book on the topic, Autopsy of a Deceased Church, several years ago. It still has robust sales today. It obviously hit a nerve. …

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The Big Warning Signs Your Church Bylaws Are Working Against You and Not for You

Every church needs a good set of bylaws. Put simply, the bylaws are written legal documents establishing the governance of a church. Church polity and ecclesiology will have an impact on the contents of bylaws. The size and structure of a church will also affect bylaws. For example, multi-site churches will differ from single-site churches….

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8 Reasons Potential Pastors Would Rather Begin Ministry with an Internship or Assistant Pastorate

When I started pastoring more than 40 years ago, most of us called to pastoral ministry wanted to get started on the task quickly. Right or wrong, we typically leapt into ministry as soon as we could. Now, young leaders preparing for ministry are much more inclined to look for an “entry-level” position before stepping…

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