We know, in an emerging culture, people are less institutional-oriented and more relational-oriented. They are more interactive and more engaging. So what can your church do to enhance this?
I’m working with a church today that has a nice sanctuary that has been historically set up with chairs, but in more of a classroom-type of setup. […]

Many people get upset when new, young families come in with kids, start worshipping at the church, but don’t always know how to act–at least in the eyes of the old guard (seasoned Christians). Instead of focusing on the thrilling reality that the church is actually reaching these people, people get hung up that […]

I was recently in the Pittsburgh area working at a church. Once again, I’m faced with a church that has a dilemma: it has been plateaued in worship attendance for ten years. There’s nothing overtly bad about this church that anybody can put their finger on. They have gained some members, but about equal to […]

I was at a church in California, preaching and speaking at a Rally on a Sunday evening. This church has great worship! One of the elements of worship that really caught my attention was that each week in the church, they “pray through the previous week’s headlines.” They read a headline and a few key […]

Churches often think their name is “too sacred” to change.
I worked with an independent church for years and watched them grow and change their name THREE times in the last 10 years. And, I first met them just after they changed their name from Grace Baptist to Grace Bible Church. Then, during […]

It seems like I see this all the time. Today I’m at a church in the northwestern metropolitan Detroit area and I see this again: active members are defined by those who have worshiped once in the past year. Inactive members are those who are not in the army or college and have not worshipped […]

How is the ministry at your church among teenagers? Student ministry is frequently a challenge in congregations. All too often, adults feel like they have to dream up activities to “entertain” the youth in a “Christian environment.” Increasingly, I see a good trend among high school students. They are open to […]

Perhaps you saw Outreach magazine’s annual report of the 100 fastest growing and 100 largest churches in America (October/November 2007 issue). We are all indebted to Outreach for the effort they make to provide us with this amazing information on an annual basis.
We must continue to work, as Christians, to come to the day when we […]

Call me Mr. Scrooge or the Apostle Paul–your choice. What were they thinking at the contemporary worship service on Christmas Eve? They sang songs like “Joy to the World, the Lord is Come,” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem” with the word “Thy” throughout. To top it off, they sang “Gloria in Excelsis Deo…”–it’s Latin!
Don’t […]

For 30 years I have prayed for revival in North America. Consulting over 1,000 churches, I have come to the conclusion that, generally speaking, there are five major areas of roadblocks keeping the Christian movement from reaching its potential. Here they are:

The inability to deliver the Gospel in forms indigenous to 21st Century, unchurched Americans.

The […]