2018
![8 Benefits Of Investing A Lifetime Of Ministry Into One Congregation 8 Benefits Of Investing A Lifetime Of Ministry Into One Congregation](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/85431.jpg?h=168&w=300)
Pastors seem to be staying in their churches longer now than they did in previous generations.
That’s on purpose.
I know, because as of this month I’ve been ministering at Cornerstone Christian Fellowship for 26 years. When our family arrived here, our prayer was that ...
![7 Advantages Of Long-Term Church Membership 7 Advantages Of Long-Term Church Membership](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/85406.jpg?h=168&w=300)
Sometimes it seems like everyone is leaving the church. But that’s not the case.
While we’re right to be concerned about church-hoppers and church-droppers, people don’t typically go to a church with the plan of leaving soon. Most want to put down roots and ...
![8 Principles To Consider Before Leaving A Church You (Used To) Love 8 Principles To Consider Before Leaving A Church You (Used To) Love](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/85392.jpg?h=168&w=300)
It’s hard to leave a church you used to love – and maybe still love.
In previous articles I’ve written from the pastor’s perspective about how hard it is when people leave the church you’re pastoring, and what to consider before leaving a church ...
![Understanding The New Apathy About Church Attendance Understanding The New Apathy About Church Attendance](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/85370.jpg?h=168&w=300)
Why are fewer people going to church? And what can we do about it?
This may be the main topic of conversation among pastors today.
For example, while scrolling through my Facebook feed last weekend, I came across multiple posts with sarcastic takes on how sad/interesting/ridiculous ...
![This Year, Rediscover The “Why?” Behind Your Church’s Christmas Traditions This Year, Rediscover The “Why?” Behind Your Church’s Christmas Traditions](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/85360.jpg?h=168&w=300)
More than any other time of the year, Christmas is filled with traditions.
It’s one of the many reasons we love the holiday season.
It’s also something our churches need to pay closer attention to. Before a church holds any event, program or service, we should always ...
![The Only Way To Promote And Sustain Necessary Change In The Church The Only Way To Promote And Sustain Necessary Change In The Church](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/85331.jpg?h=168&w=300)
There are a lot of bad reasons churches want to change.
- To keep up with trends
- To get bigger
- To have more available funds
- To appeal to a different group of people
- To break from tradition
- Because we’re bored
- Because we’ll die if we don’t
Some of them seem like good ...
![How Can You Tell If A Church Is On Offense Or Defense? How Can You Tell If A Church Is On Offense Or Defense?](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/85311.jpg?h=168&w=300)
There are two types of churches.
Those on offense and those on defense.
In recent years, I’ve been in hundreds of rooms with thousands of pastors from both types of churches.
Churches on offense are not different from churches on defense in any external way.
They and their ...
Are there any two words more likely to send an audience running for the exits than “PowerPoint presentation?”
That’s why, even though I use PowerPoint almost every time I speak, I don’t do PowerPoint presentations.
I teach. I preach. I talk. I illustrate. ...
![One Simple Step To Create A Year-End Giving Bump In Your Church One Simple Step To Create A Year-End Giving Bump In Your Church](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/85218.jpg?h=168&w=300)
A lot of churches get a nice year-end bump in their finances.
During the Christmas season even casual attenders come to church more often, churches hold annual events like Christmas Bazaars that bring in funds, and the week of Christmas often attracts huge crowds – and ...
![If There’s No Church Growth Guarantee, Does It Even Matter What We Do? If There’s No Church Growth Guarantee, Does It Even Matter What We Do?](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/85208.jpg?h=168&w=300)
There’s nothing anyone can do to guarantee that any particular congregation will grow numerically.
No, I’m not being pessimistic, I’m being realistic.
There are simply no absolutes in church growth. At least not for the numerical increase of an individual congregation. ...
![Your Results May Vary Your Results May Vary](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/84339.jpg?h=168&w=300)
You know those commercials where clients or patients had amazing results, only to hear a hurried voice at the end telling you “individual results may vary”?
It might be helpful if church growth books, blogs, podcasts and conferences had that, too.
The reason those ...
![Be The Church Or Make Way For Something Else Be The Church Or Make Way For Something Else](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/84233.jpg?h=168&w=300)
Why does the church exist?
It’s not to get people together for meetings. Or to keep our theology pure. Or to defend our traditions. Or to look cool and appealing to the unchurched.
But it’s easy to fall into one or more of those traps if we’re not constantly ...
![What Is Appropriate To Wear In Church? (2 Reasons It Doesn't Matter And 3 Guidelines) What Is Appropriate To Wear In Church? (2 Reasons It Doesn't Matter And 3 Guidelines)](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/84229.jpg?h=168&w=300)
Really?
Is this still a thing? People aren’t still arguing about what we wear to church, are they?
Yes. Despite the much more relaxed approach most people have, the debate about appropriate church attire still rages in some circles. So I’m going to weigh in on it.
Where ...
![Narrow Your Focus, Widen Your Scope, And Increase Your Ministry Effectiveness Narrow Your Focus, Widen Your Scope, And Increase Your Ministry Effectiveness](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/84166.jpg?h=168&w=300)
Oh, the funnel.
That simple, but immensely valuable piece of human engineering.
With it, you can take massive amounts of material, data or (using the visual funnel we call a lens) visual information and channel it in a way that makes it so much more valuable than when it was random, ...
![No, Pastor, We’re Not Always Right No, Pastor, We’re Not Always Right](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/84141.jpg?h=168&w=300)
Pastors have a special place in my heart.
My father was a pastor, as was his father. And I have been in active pastoral ministry all my adult life – for almost 40 years, now.
One of the most important lessons I have learned in all those decades is that there’s nothing ...
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![Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of under 250 Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of under 250](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41AU9uOZQAL._SL500_.jpg)