How does a church with only two clergy host 5,000 people each Sunday, run a 1,300 student youth ministry, and keep 8 choirs in check? Fr. Paul Williams of St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Dalton, Georgia says it’s all about letting the people lead. Catholic parishes, which are often this large and often this [...]

Too many church leaders get caught up in the ‘administrivia’ of their congregations, says Dr. David Gortner from Virginia Theological Seminary, and it keeps them from getting out and involved in their neighborhoods, which harms both their faith community and the community at large. David, who is the professor of evangelism and congregational leadership at [...]

Progressive Eric Elnes, who splashed onto the national scene with a walk across America and the popular Phoenix Affirmations, is keeping a step ahead with a new ministry in his church called Darkwood Brew. It’s an online TV show that’s got music, interviews, and Bible talk to help others in their walk with Jesus. Eric [...]

Keeping 180 year old Calvary United Methodist Church vibrant takes more than one person – pastor Todd Outcalt says it takes a caring community that will uphold an atmosphere of hospitality and welcoming.  This Brownsburg, Indiana congregation has moved 5 times in its history, and under Todd’s leadership, has seen Sunday attendance double. I first [...]

‘The community is my congregation!’ says pastor Edgar Vann, whose involvement in civic as well as church affairs is legendary in his home town of Detroit, Michigan. Under his leadership Second Ebenezer Church has grown from 66 people to more than 5,000 people. Bishop Vann, who spends a lot of time mentoring younger ministers, says that getting [...]

The problem with most of America’s churches (which are declining) is that they’re too focused on empire building and not kingdom building, says church planter Nick Warnes.  If congregations would simply take the risk of giving their power away the Church would be a more vibrant, relevant force. Nick’s intentional church plant with the Presbyterian [...]

When do you lead by majority and when do you lead because you feel it’s what the Lord wants?  It’s a balancing act all church leaders face, and Episcopal priest and scholar Gary Hall knows it well. Gary has seen attendance and involvement increase at his large mainline congregation, Christ Church Cranbrook,by rediscovering the church’s [...]

Few things can handicap a church like a directionless, overstaffed, and disengaged church board. Alban Institute senior consultant Dan Hotchkiss, who’s consulted with 27 different denominations (and counting…) says ineffective church boards are too common, but the good news is that many of them can be fixed. I first heard about Dan’s work when someone [...]

Most congregations don’t have good websites, says Scott Swoboda, a seasoned website designer, consultant, and CEO of churchsites.com.  Many are clumsy, lack important information, and are hopelessly out of date. But the biggest reason, Scott says, is a lack of continuity, from year to year, in keeping the site up and running in a consistent [...]

50% of the resources at Cornerstone United Methodist Church are spent on people who are not there says pastor Brad Kalajainen. He started the Grand Rapids, Michigan church with 25 people in his basement, and today hosts 2,000 worshipers each Sunday. Brad’s heart is for those who are not Christians as he takes quite seriously Jesus’ words [...]

“It’s about mission not survival,”says Steve Pike the head of the Assemblies of God’s Church Multiplication Network that is on track to plant 365 churches in North America in 2011. Steve is an experienced church planter and dynamic leader whose hunger for starting new churches is infectious. I called Steve because Pentecostalism remains one of, [...]

It’s become common for many churches – to offer the same church experience in many sites – even partnering with declining congregations of the same tradition to instill new life through new ministry. That’s the creative idea lead pastor Jorge Acevedo is putting into action with Grace Church in South Florida, a United Methodist congregation. [...]

When Kevin Martin’s St. Matthew’s Cathedral saw European-Americans leaving the neighborhood and a cadre of vibrant Latinos moving in, it became clear that the church had to change.  Over the last decade that’s meant welcoming a new Latino population that’s produced a wonderful success story – and brought attendance back to the church’s heyday. I [...]