I have a friend who swears that drinking water and walking is the key to optimal health. He walks 50 miles a week and is in great shape. I have another friend who does CrossFit four times a week and claims his Paleo eating plan is the best way to stay fit. He too has the physique to prove it. I have yet another friend who claims that eating a purely vegan diet and … [Read more...]
Leadership Evangelism: How Your Church Can Double In Three Years (or Less)
What I am about to share with you is the single most important church growth principle I have ever learned for Senior Pastors of churches under 1,000 in size. I call it Leadership Evangelism. Leadership Evangelism is the process by which Senior Pastors single-handedly ignite a movement within their church that will cause it to double in size in three years or less. Here’s … [Read more...]
Why Consensus Is Killing Your Church
If your church has plateaued it could be because you have tried to lead everything by consensus. There’s a colossal difference between pseudo-leadership (leading everything by consensus) and biblically-based, godly, unifying, strong, decisive, servant leadership. The Consensus Trap In Smaller Churches I see this occur most often in smaller churches where a leader has … [Read more...]
How To Break The 100 Barrier
If your church has been stuck at 25, 45, or 75 for more than three years and God has laid it on your heart to reach lost people in your community, you have two choices that lay before you: take massive action or find another job. There is no third option. Trying to break the 100 barrier is more akin to making it through Navy Seals basic training than any other ministry … [Read more...]
How Your Building Is Killing Your Growth (and what to do about it)
Senior Pastors typically underestimate the impact their building has on their church’s future growth. Building Too Late Church planters believe the lie that they don’t need a building to grow, ignoring the fact that your chances of survival begin to plummet drastically after year six outside of a permanent facility (whether owned or leased). We will always find growing church … [Read more...]
28 Tips, Tricks, Apps and Hacks for Senior Pastors
If you‘d like to get more done in less time, here are a number of my favorite time saving tips, tricks, apps and hacks for Senior Pastors in the trenches. Brian’s Productivity Rules 3 Sentence Email Rule – Except in rare circumstances, I never respond in email with more than 3 sentences. If something warrants a longer response I’ll say, “See me Sunday” or “Bring this up at … [Read more...]
Criticism Is The Price Of Growth
If you are going to attempt to lead your church in growth, you will be criticized. Period. If the Apostle Paul was ruthlessly criticized at every step of his journey, you can pretty much assume that you will be too. What I tell Senior Pastors that I coach is that the good news is that criticism and leadership pretty much go hand in hand, so no matter what you do you’ll be … [Read more...]
7 Must-Do Items For Your Church Growth Calendar
One of the essentials for leading an outreach-focused, growing church (and likewise RARELY present in a stagnant one) is a detailed 12-month church growth calendar created six months before that calendar year begins. What I mean by this is the Senior Pastor and team must create a roadmap for the congregation to follow, which, when executed, will ignite church growth. I … [Read more...]
How Churches Actually Grow
If you’re at a loss as to why the church you serve is no longer growing, you’re in good company. Every week I hear from highly gifted Senior Pastors whose churches have grown in the past, but for some reason have stalled. When I get permission to look under the hood and poke around a bit, asking questions and analyzing data and trends, I tend to hear the same response to … [Read more...]
8 Things To Keep In Mind When Budgeting
Recently a Senior Pastor friend of mine attempting to lead his church of 180 in growth asked if I had any thoughts I could share with his governing board about crafting an effective budget for their church. Since I know this is something many of you are thinking about right now, I thought you might appreciate listening in on the conversation. Here goes… Dear Governing … [Read more...]
The Difference Between Amateur And Professional Senior Pastors
Amateurs wait to write their sermons until they feel inspired. Professionals work on their sermons on a schedule, focusing on creating consistent writing habits that lead to inspiration. Amateurs take criticism about various aspects of the church they serve personally. Professionals seek feedback, even if it is negative, and view it as necessary to growth as an … [Read more...]
Three Ways To Increase Staff Meeting Effectiveness
Here are three thoughts for making staff meetings work better for your team: 1. Know that the larger your church gets, the smaller your staff meetings must become. At first, all new or smaller churches are like start-up companies in someone’s garage. The problem is Apple would have never become the organization it is today by staying at that stage. Each stage of church … [Read more...]
Why Churches Should Never Advertise To Christians (Like In The “Christian Yellow Pages”)
Since the first day we started CCV, until now, we’ve faithfully abided by one enduring value: we will grow our church through conversion growth only. Never transfer growth. The Mission of the Church To us the reason is simple – Jesus came to earth, lived, died, and was resurrected to send the Church out into the world to reach people who aren’t Christ followers yet. That’s … [Read more...]
7 Ways To Keep Church Hoppers From Staying At Your Church
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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
