articles

Here’s one of the most effective ways to get noticed by local media and generate positive press coverage: continue reading.

David Murrow has written a controversial article I must say I agree with – churches with boring preaching don’t grow: Common story: First ________Church gets a new minister – Pastor Joe. He’s not a very good communicator. People start leaving. Within two years attendance has dropped by half. Giving is…

CNN reports on the rift between the two megachurch pastors: Andy Stanley walked into his pastor’s office, filled with dread. The minister sat in a massive chair behind an enormous desk. He spread his arms across the desk as if he were bracing for battle. His secretary scurried out of…

From the Mars Hill Church resource website: Artists are like ants. Ant / artist colonies send out scouts to scope out new territory and report back their findings. If you squash the scouts or have nothing for them to sink their teeth into, they move on. Identify and create opportunities…

Rick Muchow on having too many musicians in your ministry: The question here is really about stewardship. Why is God giving us all this talent? This is a common predicament for those who find themselves in a position of great wealth. Believe it or not, there are some people who…

Thom Rainer on Megachurch trends: The fascination with megachurches is, at least to some extent, related to the sociological impact on the community in which it resides. Outreach magazine, in partnership with LifeWay Research, just released its annual “Largest and Fastest Growing Churches in America” issue. In addition, the magazine…

Ron Edmondson on church burnout: This is a hard word for some pastors, but after a recent post I was asked about how I protect my Sabbath. That’s a great question, because many pastors struggle in this area. In fact, many pastors I know who would teach their church to…

Building and maintaining good, useable websites are a struggle for churches of all sizes. Large and small alike have websites that don’t accurately represent who they are and don’t help people better connect with their church. There are many reasons why websites don’t reach their potential, but here are three…

Scott McClellan on worship planning: Churches everywhere should be thinking carefully and critically about how their local bodies worship week in and week out because, according to the triple-lex, our worship practices and patterns have lasting affects on individuals, families, and communities. But maybe, instead of thinking first about what…

There isn’t a worship leader in the world who doesn’t struggle with regular, persistent, frustratingly silly (but still dangerous) moments of doubt/fear/anxiety/self-consciousness/jealousy. We start to believe myths that tell us we should be different, or we aren’t talented enough, or we shouldn’t uphold certain principles. These myths weaken our ministry…

Recently I was visiting a church with a non-musical friend and he commented the music wasn’t that great. It wasn’t – and I explained to him why. The band was good – above average, actually, but the problem wasn’t musicianship – it was worship flow. The praise team led three…