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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…
You’ve heard a lot about how the pandemic hurt church attendance. Yeah. Me too. It’s true, but it’s becoming a bit tiresome. We can watch online. We can study the Bible digitally. “Going to church” is no longer needed. Yep, I’ve heard them too. How many times have we heard the overused pseudo-explanation, “the church…
The post Five Metaphors That Describe Why In-Person Attendance at Churches Will Grow in Importance appeared first on Church Answers.
Teresa Stewart has faith in the future of small congregations because she has faith in a God who shows up even in small and forgotten places. She believes that small churches are critical learning laboratories as the church navigates a future far too complex for one-size-fits-all patterns of ministry. Let’s start with this fundamental agreement […]
The post Why Small Congregation Worship Matters appeared first on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.
How can preachers keep their preaching fresh? Doug Powe of the Lewis Center staff interviews Professor of Preaching, Teresa Fry Brown about preaching familiar texts for different generations, preaching for in person and digital audiences, as well as sermon preparation for bivocational pastors. Listen to this interview, watch the interview video on YouTube, or continue reading. […]
The post How to Keep Preaching Fresh: An In-Depth Interview with Teresa Fry Brown appeared first on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.
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…
The post Don’t Divorce Christ appeared first on Church Answers.
In June of this year, our Church Answers team will be releasing “The Hope Initiative,” a simple, reproducible strategy utilizing this tool by Thom Rainer to turn a church outward toward its community. One of the reasons I love this strategy is that it clearly connects prayer with evangelism. Many evangelism tools only assume prayer…
The post 5 Reasons Why Prayer Must Accompany Evangelism appeared first on Church Answers.
David Manner says that many churches attract new attendees with the lure of Easter but then quickly leave the subject. He asks, if Easter really is the foundation of our faith, why do we limit its celebration to just one Sunday? This article was originally published March 29, 2022. We’ve all seen social media hyperlinks […]
The post Why Limit the Celebration of Easter to Just One Sunday? appeared first on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.
Many churches today lament worship attendance numbers that have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Lovett H. Weems Jr. says this is an unhelpful comparison. He recommends that churches turn their attention away from the past and focus on a bold and future-oriented goal to reach new people in your community. Churches continue to celebrate […]
The post Pre-Pandemic Worship Attendance: Not a Helpful Measure appeared first on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.
In the rush to offer online worship, many churches have focused primarily on technical and programmatic concerns. Heidi Campbell says it’s more important to consider what people need from church now and how digital technology can meet those needs. To celebrate the Lewis Center’s anniversary, we are highlighting Leading Articles — some of our most […]
The post 6 Traits People Value in Online Faith Communities appeared first on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.
The trend toward smaller gatherings was slow but perceptible prior to the pandemic. That trend is much more noticeable now. Church worship gatherings are getting smaller. Two major factors are contributing to this trend. The obvious factor is an overall attendance decline in churches. Many congregations have fewer members and attendees each year. The second…
The post Five Questions for Churches as Worship Gatherings Become Smaller appeared first on Church Answers.