Pastoral Search? Take Your Time!

Selecting a new pastor can be difficult. For many churches, the search committee feels lost because the spiritual leader (former pastor) has left and now they have big shoes to fill. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of “how to select a new pastor” training programs out there. If there were one piece of advice I …

3 Ways Your Church Facilities Communicate “You’re Not Welcome”

Growing up, anytime guests were coming to visit, we would “clean house” to get ready. The more important the guest, the more we cleaned up. Every church (no matter the size, median age, location, or resources) can quickly communicate a lack of concern for visitors by the way they keep their facilities. Here are three …

4 Tips for Welcoming Visitors to Your Group

When was the last time you were a visitor in a Sunday school class or Small group? For most, it has been a while. That’s why it is hard for “regulars” to see what might be glaring to visitors. The truth is that many groups and classes who believe that they are hospitable, warm, and …

5 Tips For Creating Effective PowerPoint Slides

Many churches spend thousands of dollars on projectors, screens, and equipment to project video, lyrics, scripture, and sermon points. But rarely does a church spend time learning to maximize the technology through quality design principles. In other words, why spend thousands on a projector if your slides look worthless (ie. People complain because they are …

Is Your Church Being a Good Steward of Leadership?

As a former pastor of a small church, I can relate to church leaders who wish they could get more help without adding another expense to the budget. Many pastors have wished they could clone themselves. That way, one of them could visit members, another could write sermons, another could develop new mission initiatives, while …

Game-Changing Church Leadership

In the sports world, there are no perfect teams. Every roster has a weak link. Everyone loves to see a coach transform a group of athletes into a team of winners. That’s part of the fascination with sports. Likewise, there are no perfect churches. Yet, in God’s wisdom, He has chosen to accomplish Kingdom work …

Should Small Churches Plant Churches?

Church planting is a popular topic these days. It’s easy to find examples of large churches planting networks of congregations across a geographical area. Similarly, it seems that there is an influx of church planters teaming up with sending agencies to help plant churches anywhere and everywhere. But the one thing you rarely see is …

Your Church is Worth More Than a Few Pennies

Who invented the “need-a-penny-take-a-penny-got-a-penny-leave-a-penny” cup? I’m not sure the world will ever know. But thanks to him or her, we all live with a little less fear of being a few cents short of correct change at the convenience store or accidentally pumping an $10.02 worth of gas instead of $10 even. I’ve often wondered …