I’m convinced that beneath the dusty veneer of every mainline denomination is the bud, the glint, and the breath of something new, important, and dynamic the Spirit is birthing.  Tom Brackett, an incredibly gifted blogger as well as church planting exec with the Episcopal Church, says renewal begins by reconnecting clergy and leaders with our first [...]

Imagine a church where creativity, imagination and a ‘what if?’ attitude ruled? 11 years ago serial inventor Doug Pagitt set about dreaming up a new way to ‘do’ church that can teach us plenty. Solomon’s Porch bills itself as a ‘holistic, missional Christian community’ that goes to great lengths to value and include everybody, for example [...]

“If you’re over 40,” mega-church pastor Steve Andrews tells his congregation, “your job is to train the next generation of Christians.”  It’s leadership advice like this that’s seen Kensington Church in Troy, MI grow from 40 people to 12,000 in that last two decades. Steve’s heart for the Gospel and for keeping the message relevant [...]

Jesus welcomed everyone, so why do His followers have such a hard time doing it?  Episcopal priest Stephanie Spellers of an emergent congregation called ‘The Crossing’ in Boston says the key is listening. Steph’s ministry first caught my eye when everyone around me began raving about her book Radical Welcome.  In our interview Rev. Spellers [...]

Invite them to serve and they will come. The United Methodists are growing their congregations (40,000+) though an innovative campaign aimed at 18-35 year olds that highlights service.  Larry Hollon is the exec in charge and he says young people are hungry to give back so many of them are turning to well-equipped United Methodist [...]

Adapting to an increasingly diverse world is one of the biggest challenges facing today’s congregations.  Eric H.F. Law has written extensively on how churches can open themselves to the new and different because, he says, it’s imperative that we do so. I first encountered Eric in Los Angeles where hisKaleidoscope Institute offers a variety of [...]

Twenty years ago donations to religion made up 60% of all charitable giving.  Today it’s about half that.  Dr. J. Clif Christopher says the church is being left in the dust by other non-profits – and we’re in need of a big turn-around.  But during our interview he not only outlined the causes (and our [...]

If you’re like me you spend a whole lot of time designing worship, coordinating ministries, and minding pastoral care.  That doesn’t leave much time left for doing what Dallas Theological Seminary professor, noted author, and congregational development consultant Aubrey Malphurs says is arguably the greatest need for today’s churches: developing leaders. I first heard of [...]

If you’re like me you’re passionate about seeing the church grow. However, Princeton Seminary’s Darrell Guder says our best and only hope is to forget about the growth, and concentrate on the mission. I was first drawn to Prof. Guder when I read his book, The Continuing Conversion of the Churchand just had to have [...]

Perhaps the only thing more challenging than growing a young adult ministry may be growing a young adult ministry in secular England…  Yet college chaplain, author and theologian Maggi Dawn has done just that. A musician by background, liturgist at heart, and writer of growing renown, Maggi tells us how she found and engineered growth [...]