2018
![How To Give Money Less Power Over Your Church How To Give Money Less Power Over Your Church](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/82029.jpg?h=168&w=300)
Money is in charge of too many of our churches.
So many good congregations want to do great ministry, but their limited finances cause them to make too many decisions based on what they can or can’t afford, instead of what God is calling them to do.
It’s a trap that ...
![9 Common Social Media Tactics That Never Draw Anyone Closer To Jesus 9 Common Social Media Tactics That Never Draw Anyone Closer To Jesus](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/82021.jpg?h=168&w=300)
Social media has no moral component to it – except the ones we give it. It's just a tool.
A very powerful one.
And we’re only beginning to grasp its impact.
When used well it can connect, inform and entertain us. But when it’s used poorly, as it so often is, ...
![Churches Renovate Their Building, On Average, Every 30 Years? Really?! Churches Renovate Their Building, On Average, Every 30 Years? Really?!](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/81975.jpg?h=168&w=300)
Uh… Wow.
Every 30 years?
Yes, those are the stats, according to a church renovation expert I heard at a recent conference.
By the time his company is called in to help a church renovate their sanctuary, lobby, exterior or anything significant, it’s been three full ...
![Time, Not Money, Is The New Church Commitment Currency Time, Not Money, Is The New Church Commitment Currency](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/81957.jpg?h=168&w=300)
The Sunday morning pass-the-plate offering has always been a reliable predictor of the commitment level of church members.
Long before they started leaving – often before many started complaining – people would express their dissatisfaction with a church by stopping ...
![Church Attendance Patterns Are Changing And We Have To Adapt Church Attendance Patterns Are Changing And We Have To Adapt](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/81889.jpg?h=168&w=300)
Church attendance is changing.
As recently as 20 years ago, if ten people became church members (either formally or informally) the average attendance grew by eight or nine people.
Not any more.
Today, if ten people become church members, average attendance grows by five or six. ...
![The Growth Gap: How The Megachurch Phenomenon Has Unintentionally Isolated Small Churches The Growth Gap: How The Megachurch Phenomenon Has Unintentionally Isolated Small Churches](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/81856.jpg?h=168&w=300)
Sometimes it seems like the divide between big and small churches is so vast it’s almost insurmountable.
And it’s increasing, not diminishing.
Why is that happening? And why has the divide has become especially large in the last few decades?
I think it has to do with ...
![The Mission Deserves Margin: Minister To The Church You Have, While Preparing For More The Mission Deserves Margin: Minister To The Church You Have, While Preparing For More](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/81823.jpg?h=168&w=300)
A church of 50 people needs to be pastored like a church of 50 people.
You can’t act like a church of 500. Or even 100. The systems, methods and relationship dynamics simply won’t fit.
So how can a church grow, either in its size or effectiveness, if we’re only ...
![A Friendly Reminder: “Come To Jesus” Is More Important Than “Come To Our Church” A Friendly Reminder: “Come To Jesus” Is More Important Than “Come To Our Church”](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/81770.jpg?h=168&w=300)
Here’s a sincere question for my fellow pastors and other church leaders.
What if the members of our churches started sharing their faith, but it wasn’t in a way that brought more people to our specific church? Would we celebrate and encourage that?
If not, we may ...
![Want More Church Leaders? Look For A Servant’s Heart Want More Church Leaders? Look For A Servant’s Heart](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/81764.jpg?h=168&w=300)
It’s hard to find people who will step up and lead in the church today. Especially young people.
That’s what I keep hearing.
But I also see many churches that are the exceptions to that supposed rule. Including the amazing congregation I get to serve.
What are healthy ...
![5 More Reasons To Go To Church In Person: Sight, Sound, Touch, Smell, Taste 5 More Reasons To Go To Church In Person: Sight, Sound, Touch, Smell, Taste](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/81681.jpg?h=168&w=300)
If we want to get everything we can from our church experience, we need to start by showing up in person.
That may seem obvious to most churchgoers, but there is a large and growing number of people who think that watching a service online is all the church they need.
And no, ...
![6 Reasons Many Pastors Don’t Need An Office Any More 6 Reasons Many Pastors Don’t Need An Office Any More](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/81648.jpg?h=168&w=300)
The pastor’s office is a time-honored tradition whose moment has come and gone for a lot of us.
Over the last 35-plus years of ministry, I have spent thousands of hours in my office. Joyful, frustrating, heartbreaking, boring, wonderful, life-changing hours. Hours spent ...
![How I Overcame My Dread Of Talking About Money From The Pulpit How I Overcame My Dread Of Talking About Money From The Pulpit](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/81645.jpg?h=168&w=300)
Pastors fall into one of three groups when it comes to money.
- Pastors who hate talking about money at all
- Pastors who talk about money obsessively
- Pastors who have discovered a biblical balance
Most pastors I’ve met, maybe two out of three, are in the first group. We want ...
![Money And The Small Church: Job One – Don’t Spend More Than You Bring In Money And The Small Church: Job One – Don’t Spend More Than You Bring In](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/81602.jpg?h=168&w=300)
When it comes to the issue of Money And The Small Church, (or money and big churches, money and family finances, money and business, etc.) there is one principle that stands high above all the others.
It’s so basic, I almost feel silly having to write it. But it is Job ...
![Money And The Small Church: 3 Reasons We Must Talk About It (New Series) Money And The Small Church: 3 Reasons We Must Talk About It (New Series)](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/81576.jpg?h=168&w=300)
Many people have a love/hate relationship with money.
Including me.
I don’t like thinking about it, talking about it, teaching on it or worrying about it.
And I really don’t like asking for it. (No, this article isn’t me asking for it.)
I don’t like what ...
![Love God, Love People, Make Disciples – Everything Else Is Scaffolding Love God, Love People, Make Disciples – Everything Else Is Scaffolding](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/81570.jpg?h=168&w=300)
When a building is being repaired or erected, scaffolding is the temporary structure that is built around or inside it to give workers access to the construction site. But when the building is completed, the scaffolding is removed.
Every church program, building, denomination ...
Read More from Karl
![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)