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I’ve worked with students and graduates in their first pastorates for almost three decades. Over the years, I’ve often asked them, “What’s most surprised you about the work of pastoring?” In no order of priority, here are some of their responses: “How hard it is to prepare a sermon week after week.” What was so…
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One of the most common challenges we hear from church leaders, particularly pastors, is the need for more leaders in the church. The vacuum seems the greatest among elders, deacons, and teachers. Many churches lost not only members in this post-pandemic world, but they also lost leaders as well. Of course, it is likely that…
The post The Great Leadership Shortage in Churches: Five Ways to Address It appeared first on Church Answers.
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…
The post How to Discern If a Church Member Is Guilty of Gossip appeared first on Church Answers.
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…
The post Five Hero Pastors appeared first on Church Answers.
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…
The post Five Hero Pastors appeared first on Church Answers.
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…
The post Reflections on My First Sermon after Twenty Years of Ministry appeared first on Church Answers.
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…
The post Why We Need to Ask More Numerical Questions about Our Church appeared first on Church Answers.
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…
The post The Death of Evangelism: Five Issues We Must Address appeared first on Church Answers.
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…
The post Why Your Church Is Larger Than You Realize (And Pastors Are Busier Than Ever) appeared first on Church Answers.
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. …
The post Why Your Church Will Die within Five Years appeared first on Church Answers.