One of the Biggest Reasons Why Churches Decline

November 5, 2009

My wife and I are in San Diego this week at the National Outreach Convention. It’s been a great convention thus far. I had the opportunity to lead a discussion group this morning …at 7:15AM! I think most of the attendees were on central or eastern time :). A person in our group asked a great question: How do you define and assess church health? We spent the next hour discussing this issue, but let me share with you one point of our discussion that is perhaps one of the most neglected church health Read more [...]

The Amiable Autocrat

October 25, 2009

I found myself last week in a friendly exchange with a ministry team leader about one line item in their budget. Then I realized I was micro-managing. Even though my intentions were good, and my tone pleasant, I was still acting like an autocrat. Nice dictators exist, at least in the leadership sense. I refer to these types of leaders in the church as amiable autocrats. Friendly church dictators rule from their positional authority. They order everyone around because their title enables them to Read more [...]

How Different Generations View the Bible

October 22, 2009

The Barna Group recently released research that reveals how attitudes about Bible usage are changing across generations. They interviewed over 1,000 people in five separate studies. They defined each generation in the study: the Mosaic generation (ages 18 to 25), the Busters (ages 26 to 44), Boomers (ages 45 to 63), and Elders (ages 64-plus). You can read the full report here, but below are some of the differences they found between generations: Less Sacred – While most Americans of all ages identify Read more [...]

Avoiding the Awkward Wedding Question

October 19, 2009

Perhaps nothing is both joyous and awkward like being asked to perform the wedding ceremony of a couple you do not know well. If you’re a pastor and like me, you want to rejoice with the couple, but you can’t commit on the spot without asking personal questions. In order to prevent the inevitable uncomfortable questions, I’ve written a form letter to give to every couple that asks me to perform the ceremony. The purpose of the letter is to provide a filter for me and also to keep me consistent Read more [...]

Church Inertia

October 12, 2009

In a recent WSJ blog, Gary Hamel posted about the killer of organizational inertia. His thoughts on the forms of change are well-stated: In most organizations, change comes in only two flavors: trivial and traumatic. Review the history of the average organization and you’ll discover long periods of incremental fiddling punctuated by occasional bouts of frantic, crisis-driven change. The dynamic is not unlike that of arteriosclerosis: after years of relative inactivity, the slow accretion of Read more [...]

Leading by Asking

October 5, 2009

BusinessWeek recently published an article on question-based leadership. It was a good reminder that leaders do not have all the answers. And if leaders do not have all the answers, then they must ask questions of others in order to gain insight to make the best decisions. In the church, autocratic leadership is especially dangerous. A senior pastor or ministry leader that commands and controls without regard for other people’s insight creates a volatile environment. Most pastors are not extreme Read more [...]

The Pastor as Manager

September 28, 2009

A dialogue continues among researchers about the differences between managers and leaders. It is clear that there is overlap between the two roles. It is equally clear that some managers do not lead, and some leaders do not manage. A helpful (but ultimately inadequate) distinction is that managers deal with maintaining consistency in the here and now, while leaders work to change the future. Pastors of congregations hold both roles (among many others). They lead. They manage. There is an overabundance Read more [...]

A New Kind of Suburban Church

September 20, 2009

Almost half of the U.S. population lives in the suburbs. And sprawling suburbia is changing. The WSJ recently reported that the place where people grew up will change as they grow old. The suburbs are graying, and there is a movement to make them more compact. While large tracts of single-family homes are not being demolished, struggling shopping centers and vacant land in the suburbs are being converted into dense, mixed-use neighborhoods. In short, the ‘burbs are getting a retrofit. The goal Read more [...]

The Importance of Vision

September 13, 2009

During my transition to FBC Murray, I have the opportunity to worship with a few churches before making the move up to Kentucky. Today my wife and I worshiped with First Baptist Orlando. We thoroughly enjoyed our experience. Every time I pass through Orlando, I cannot help but think of the grand vision of Walt Disney. The common sermon illustration sums it up: When Epcot Center was finished in 1982, Walt Disney had already passed away. Disney executives asked Walt’s wife to cut the ribbon Read more [...]

How Popular are House Churches?

September 6, 2009

It depends – according to new research conducted by the Barna Group. I’ve heard several opinions, anecdotes, and estimations on the popularity of house churches. While Barna’s study is by no means conclusive, it does help clarify some the guesswork about the number of house churches in the United States. Barna’s estimates range from a minimum of 4% of the adult population to a maximum of 33%. Of course, the wide range represents the varying definitions of “house church:” When a question Read more [...]