Tag «worship»

Seven Insights from Churches about the Recent Easter Weekend

We’ve done a lot of listening and learning the week after Easter. We at Church Answers are grateful for consulting and coaching clients and for the large community at Church Answers Central. Though our information is more anecdotal rather than data-based, it is nevertheless insightful. Here are seven key takeaways we gleaned from church leaders…

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Stop Beginning Worship with Boring Announcements

Jason Moore says churches should stop beginning their worship with boring announcements and instead give worshipers an overview of what’s coming and why it matters to them. Announcements can be reframed as action steps flowing from the theme of the sermon and presented at the end of the service. One common way we start worship […]

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Leading a Church When the Wrong People Hold Power

Can you lead a church without proper authority? Yes, but it is more challenging and complex. I’m assuming most church leaders would rather not step into a situation where they have the responsibility to shepherd without the corresponding authority. But there are churches with misaligned power structures in desperate need of good pastors. What if…

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Five Reasons Why the Disappearance of the Offering Plate Is So Significant for Churches

My childhood memories are vague. Still, I do recall with some surprising detail the passing of the offering plates in my first church. I never questioned its validity or efficacy. It was just something churches did. Most churches used an offering plate or its equivalent prior to the pandemic. Now, most churches do not. It…

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Five Reasons Why Decreasing the Number of Worship Services Might Be the Best Move

For years, the conventional wisdom has been that increasing the number of worship services is the best path to go. You rarely heard leaders advocating decreasing the number of services. The concern is that the reduction of choices results in lower overall attendance. So, don’t consider going from three Sunday morning services to two or…

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Hymns, Hymnody, and Hymnals: Five Significant Trends

Are the worship wars over? While the answer is not definitive, we see signs that the post-quarantine world may include an unexpected benefit: worship wars are waning. While our evidence is anecdotal at this point, it is still worth looking at five significant trends that have developed or accelerated since the pandemic quarantine. 1. More…

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6 Times to Talk to Your Guests

Let’s start with the basics: we should aim to talk to our guests all the time. When they show up on the weekend, they are our honored guests (that’s why we call ’em guests, and not the V-word). But there are strategic times during the worship service when we should especially address our guests. When…

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7 Things that Happen when Church Leaders Don’t Pray Much

My personal experience and anecdotal studies have shown that prayer is the most difficult spiritual discipline for many believers. It assumes dependence on God, and we simply don’t default in that direction; we default into independence and self-dependence even when we don’t want to. Here are some things that happen, though, when we church leaders…

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A Giant Step in Bible Accessibility

Approximately 12 million people over the age of 40 in the US have vision impairment. Glasses or contacts can help many in that group, but of those 12 million people, 4.2 million have uncorrectable vision and 1.02 million are blind. That is a significant portion of the population that is unable to read a traditional…

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Four Essentials of a Great Christmas Eve Service

Christmas Eve is the most likely time an unchurched person will walk into your worship space. It’s a huge opportunity. My fear is some churches go through the motions since Christmas Eve is the peak of the busy season and volunteers are short in supply. Your Christmas Eve service is worth the effort. Families are…

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