Nearly every other industry has its own online learning component – now it’s the Church’s turn. Join me and a bevy of e-Formation pioneers as we try to figure this thing out at a ground-breaking conference at Virginia Theological Seminary.  It’s called e-Formation: Faith Formation for a Digital, Connected World. It’s taking place at VTS [...]

The popular vision of monastics may include ancient religious observation in drafty, stone chapels – is this hardly a place of innovation? Jamie Coats works for the Society of St. John the Evangelist near Boston. He helps this community of 20 monks, who are devoted to preaching and teaching, get the word out in some [...]

One of the advantages to leading a church in a country where few people go to church is that you can be creative. That’s what’s behind the Fresh Expressions movement in the U.K. – where David Male has the job of training ‘pioneer missionaries.’ These are folks are entrepreneurs and innovators who listen for the [...]

Gone are those church planting days of door to door questionnaires and neighborhood polling. Anglican Church of Canada minister Ryan Sim is starting his church with an iPhone app. It will be called ‘Redeem the Commute’ – and it’s stage one of a process to introduce Christianity to unchurched residents of Ajax, Ontario. Enjoy the [...]

It’s been said of one mainline denomination that its average member brings a friend to church once every 27 years. Think of the impact that denomination would have if that number was doubled, or tripled! Sharing our faith can be so uncomfortable that we avoid it – yet we know that there are people in [...]

Sure, it’s a cheeky way of putting it – but Wycliffe College Evangelism Professor John Bowen has some very serious things to say about how Christians witness to their faith. His helpful definition for evangelism is: ‘Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, helping people take steps toward discipleship.’ In this interview, this seasoned academic [...]

Megachurch pastor Doug Schmidt of Woodside Bible Church in Metro Detroit pioneered a novel way to advance the Gospel: by merging with struggling congregations and investing in them with the intention of turning them loose. It’s not a takeover plan aimed at building a new denomination, rather a way to help declining congregations re-tool and [...]

23 books and 53 recordings later, 0ne of Contemporary Christian Music’s pioneers, John Michael Talbot, is still going strong. The 58 year old Talbot tours most of the year, allowing the Spirit to breathe through his heart-touching gift of meditative music. He does it out of obedience to a Francis-esque call to ‘rebuild God’s Church.’ [...]

It may be the best kept secret in North American Christendom… The Congregational Resource Guide.  It’s a 10-year-old publication packed with thousands of useful articles – a free gift, says director Martin Davis, for your church. The CRG is a Lilly Endowment sponsored venture that amalgamates every useful church article, program curriculum, worship guide – [...]

Reports on the death of the Church of England are greatly exaggerated, says the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Missioner, Bishop Graham Cray. The bishop is the C of E’s head church planter – and leads a movement called Fresh Expressions, which consolidates the evangelism efforts of several UK denominations into a united front that majors on [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Are you ‘up a Willow Creek without a Hybels?’ Trying to carbon copy the modus operandi of another church is just one of the stupid things veteran pastor and author Geoff Surratt warns those of us interested in building healthy congregations. Sure, it was the catchy book title that caught me, but Geoff’s deep passion [...]

Do you want a congregation filled with people who routinely invite others to church?  Who doesn’t?  Veteran church growth pastor and author Elizabeth Geitz explains what she means by motivation and invitation as she outlines a program that had her adding dozens of new families to her church every year. Elizabeth is the author of [...]