If it’s true that ‘everything rises and falls on leadership’ (John Maxwell), then one of the best things we can do is help our leaders do the best they can – especially our parish vestries. Every year we welcome our best and brightest to serve on vestries, yet too often they could enjoy some basic [...]

You can’t cure cancer by putting on a new dress. Yet many of our churches amble along as if all they need to do is dress up in the latest trend to stem decline. Alban Institute Senior Consultant Dan Hotchkiss knows better.  He’s consulted with dozens of churches (even written a book called Governance and [...]

Sure, they’ve been going on for centuries, but Dr. Paul Westermeyer of Luther Seminary says today’s church arguments over music have rarely been this mean-spirited – or this simple to solve (note the difference between simple and easy…). Yes, liberating our congregations from the manipulative and emotion-based musical proclivities of the surrounding culture is our [...]

Enough with the ‘Jesus-Flavored Group Therapy’ – says minister, student, and podcaster Tripp Fuller – it’s the prophetic work of justice that defined Jesus and needs to define the Church. Tripp is on the ministry staff at a United Church of Christ church in Southern California where his experiences with families trying to fit into [...]

We’re all familiar with the numbers – there are fewer and fewer people in traditional church pews – yet how did it happen – and what can we do from here? Dr. Greg Smith is a popular blogger and teacher who says church decline is nothing new and there’s plenty that traditional churches have to [...]

More than 5,000 U.S. churches are using the Alpha Course to bring people to Christ, and AlphaUSA’s director says many of these churches are seeing significant growth. Gerard Long, an evangelist, author and speaker, heads up AlphaUSA and says that the number of churches using Alpha grew by 29% in 2011. In this interview Gerard [...]

Quit the copying and start dreaming! United Methodist minister, seminary professor, and leadership honcho Dr. Mark Fowler says the Church is past the days of program plug-ins and into uncharted waters where not only we can experiment, but thankfully, we can pray. Mark heads up the Institute for Transformative Leaders and Communities at Garrett Evangelical [...]

It wasn’t strategic planning or suburban demographics that led Pastor David McNitzky’s Alamo Heights United Methodist Church to open a satellite campus – it was the prayer team. David’s large congregation had hit a plateau and expansion north of town was where the Spirit seemed to be leading. In this interview, David explains how his [...]

If your church is in a neighborhood, reach out to the neighbors! That’s what energizes Norwood Baptist Church in Warwick, Rhode Island, which lacks a highly visible location. Neighborliness has paid off says pastor George Barclay, whose multi-generational congregation mirrors its context and is enjoying solid growth in discipleship, spirituality, and fellowship. In this interview [...]

It’s one of the most common problems churches face: how to interest, welcome, and incorporate younger people into their fellowship. Yet there are a lot of older congregations who’ve been able to ‘grow younger.’ American Baptist Pastor Steve Youd’s First Baptist Church of Hansen, MA is one of them. During his 13 year tenure he’s [...]

Bringing a deeper sense of community to the thousands who come to church isn’t just a mega-church lament. Fr. James Mallon, pastor of Saint Benedict’s in Halifax, Nova Scotia, yearns for a parish full of deeper connection, heightened spirituality, and more infectious outreach – and he’s getting there! Fr. James is a pioneer in the [...]

It’s our heritage, grace, and gift to the world, and Dr. Charlotte Kroeker of the Church Music Institute says church music is an invaluable way for congregations to remain healthy and reach the lost. I first heard about Dr. Kroeker when I came across her excellent book that profiles nine churches, telling the story of [...]

It all boils down to who we are and what we’re doing here. So says well-known consultant and author Gil Rendle who sees many congregations suffer because they put relationships over purpose. As we all know, the main reason for the church’s existence is God’s mission – a conviction many congregations need to recover. In [...]