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...]
What To Do When You Lose Confidence In Yourself
Notice I did not say IF you lose confidence in yourself. I said WHEN you lose confidence in yourself. It’s going to happen. You WILL lose confidence in yourself. Multiple times over the years in fact. It is not a matter of IF but WHEN. The question is why? In my experience, Senior Pastors lose confidence in themselves when they are unable to lead their congregations … [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...]
8 Ways Senior Pastors Can Prevent Burnout
I’m seeing a disturbing trend. As of late a number of highly gifted Senior Pastor friends of mine leading smaller to medium-sized churches have come perilously close to burning out. Now, there has always been burnout in ministry as long as there have been Senior Pastors. But my read on this is that the stress placed on the shoulders of leaders in the trenches is … [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...]
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...]
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...]
11 Ways Senior Pastors Can Re-Ignite Evangelism In Their Congregations
It’s not by hiring staff. It’s not by starting building projects. And it’s definitely not by doing direct mail and advertising. I believe in advertising, but in the same way publishers know that great marketing will only make a bad book fail faster, evangelistically passionate Senior Pastors know marketing will only give a false sense of excitement and growth. … [Read more...]
If The Senior Pastor Doesn’t Evangelize, Eventually No-One Will
Evangelism and church growth begins with you. When we first started Christ’s Church of the Valley in the suburbs of Philadelphia we quickly had seven families start attending from our street alone. When it came to evangelism, I walked the talk. Unquestionably. Since we made a commitment to God to grow through conversion growth only, waking up every day and desperately praying … [Read more...]
