Two of the most dangerous influences any church faces are: (1) Spiritual leaders who have lost their first love and (2) the onslaught of church hoppers. Having wavered before in my faith and flirted with losing God as my first love, I know firsthand how dangerous the first one can be. But that's something we spiritual leaders have control over. The second one...not so … [Read more...]
6 Differences Between Vision Casting And Manipulation In Fundraising
In our previous capital campaign, I personally met with over 40 “legacy givers” in our congregation for breakfast, lunch, dinner, coffee, sushi, etc. These people were folks who consistently and sacrificially gave above and beyond their tithe and who might have had the potential to do the same for our building’s fund-raising effort. Once that campaign was over, I had a … [Read more...]
Advice For Aspiring Senior Pastors
I was recently approached by a sharp young guy who asked if I would be willing to coach him, even though he isn’t a Senior Pastor right now. Since there weren’t many doors open to him as a young, inexperienced leader, he took a job as a youth pastor. Our conversation took us to exploring what he could do right now, in his current role, to prepare him for being a Senior … [Read more...]
Forget Mission, Vision, Values, And Strategy (and all the things “experts” say you need)
I’ll never forget sitting down with a seasoned church planter from another denomination who received my direct mail and offered to take me out to lunch for extra encouragement. I proudly laid before him my mission, vision, values, strategy, and a host of other things people told me I needed at church growth conferences. Mid-way through lunch he smiled and said, “Please … [Read more...]
You Can Only Offend One
If forced to make the decision, our church from day one has decided that we will offend the self-seeking Christian before the spiritually seeking non-Christian. I tell Senior Pastors that I coach, that I personally believe you can only strategically choose to offend one of those groups. Some churches are purposely designed to offend the spiritually seeking non-Christian, … [Read more...]
10 Questions To Ask Senior Pastors Who Have Led Through The Attendance Barrier You’re Facing
In my last post, I mentioned that I’m spending this summer interviewing Senior Pastors who have led their churches through the 1600 attendance barrier. I thought you might like to see the questions I’m going to ask each of them. Knowing what you know about me, and the church I serve, how would you answer the following questions… 1. If I died tomorrow and you became the … [Read more...]
5 Keys to Breaking the 600 Barrier
More Senior Pastors give up trying to grow in the 400 to 700 range than any other spot along the growth spectrum. That's because: Many Senior Pastors feel that having led a church to the 400-700 range is "enough" to prove they have been successful in ministry. They feel like they can retire knowing that while they would have liked to grow more, they are content not … [Read more...]
How To Keep Critics From Messing With Your Head
A few years ago a couple approached me with clenched fists after a sermon. I thought, this can’t be good. All weekend people thanked me for teaching on a topic that had frustrated them for years. I worked tirelessly on the message and felt that God had honored the time on my knees and at my computer. It was a good weekend. Then, this couple, ironically both … [Read more...]
The Three Buckets: The Key To Reigniting Growth
If you are trying to restart your congregation, or jumpstart growth, what I'm about to share with you is hands down the single most important thing you need to understand. I call this principle "The Three Buckets." The Three Buckets Picture before you three buckets. The bucket on the left is called the "Sunday Bucket." The Sunday bucket represents … [Read more...]
3 Church Attendance Shifts Troubling Senior Pastors
In the last 5-8 years a subtle, but profound shift in church attendance behavior has begun to change the way ministry is done in North America. The problem is some Senior Pastors don’t realize what has been happening, or at least have been taken off guard and haven’t fashioned a response yet. I know because I'm still trying to find my bearings. Here are 3 church … [Read more...]
10 Ways To Increase Baptisms
Recently a friend in ministry shared that he was frustrated by the lack of baptisms the church he is serving has experienced. He asked for advice, and since I get asked this question a lot, I thought I’d share my response here: Hi Jason, by God's grace we see quite a few people get baptized here at CCV, just under 1,900 in 15 years in fact. I’m not sure there are any secrets, … [Read more...]
10 Reasons You Shouldn’t Quit The Ministry
Some days I can act like low attendance doesn’t affect me. This past Sunday wasn't one of those days. It was beautiful outside and the seats were empty. After third service I went back to this little electrical closet in the back of the auditorium - one that I re-made into a sermon and prayer room by squeezing a tiny table and chair into it - and just sat there silently and … [Read more...]
13 Senior Pastor Mistakes That Flatline Growth
Here are 13 common mistakes Senior Pastors make that contribute to sluggish growth, or even decline. Fix these and watch what happens. 1. You Are Afraid To Fire Staff Bill Hybels once said that the time to fire someone is the first time you think of it. In other words, once you’re convinced they're not the right person for the job, you either have to move them to another seat … [Read more...]
Why Churches Should Euthanize Small Groups
As Senior Pastors, one of the most important questions we need to ask ourselves on a regular basis is, "Are we actually making disciples?" We must evaluate everything we do with that question in mind. No program or initiative can be kept if it does fulfill the objective of making more and better disciples. Asking this question, and taking action, can be quite painful. But it's … [Read more...]
The #1 Secret Of Church Growth
When I was pastoring a church that took off like a rocket from 150 to 150 in four years, I wrote every pastor of a growing vibrant congregation over 1,000 I could find. I asked them for their best advice on how I could lead my congregation to become a healthy, growing, outreach-focused church like theirs. I purposely sought out people who had led their church through my exact … [Read more...]
4 Reasons Why Increasing Your Easter Attendance Matters
If there's one thing we know about Easter, it's that many Senior Pastors go to great lengths to mobilize their congregations to get new people to attend on this day. Many think this is a wasted attempt to pander to "Chreasters." I completely disagree. Increasing your Easter attendance is important, but not for reasons commonly thought. Here are four reasons why doing … [Read more...]
5 Steps To Writing Excellent Sermons In 8 Hours Or Less
If you're going to lead your church through the next growth barrier, you can't squander the most precious personal resource you have: time. This includes wasting time on unfocused sermon preparation. I’ve always been a bit suspicious of how long Senior Pastors spend in sermon preparation anyway. The leaders I run in circles with throw around numbers like 15 to 20 hours a … [Read more...]
4 Changes Senior Pastors Must Make To Break The 200 Barrier
If your church is under 200 in attendance every weekend, you’re in good company. Every study out there suggests that more than half of the 300,000 churches in the United States are in the same boat. The bad news is that the 200 barrier is where congregational and pastoral dreams for evangelistic impact come to die. The challenges that stand before you are extraordinary, but … [Read more...]
You Must Believe You Can Lead Your Church To Grow
Not only must you believe your church can grow in order for it to happen, you must believe you are the person to make that happen. The problem is it is a whole lot easier for we Senior Pastors to believe that our churches will make it through the desert to see the Promised Land than it is to believe that we'll be the ones to get them there. For instance, it snowed again this … [Read more...]
You Must Believe Your Church Can Grow
Whether you’re trying to break 100 or 1,000, you have to believe three things before your church will go anywhere. The first is the hardest: You must believe your church can grow. Like seriously-deep-down-inside believe it can happen. Trust me, if you don’t believe that it can, it won’t. I know that from first-hand experience. The "Yeah, But" Syndrome A strange thing happens … [Read more...]
