Dr. Chanon Ross says they’ll stay if we just tell them why they should. Dr. Ross, who’s a youth ministry expert at Princeton Seminary, says most churches do a poor job articulating why the church matters to young people and, as a result, we see very few college age – 20′somethings in church. In this [...]

Our pastors take care of us, that’s their job – but should my job also be to take care of them? Retired Presbyterian pastor, author, and consultant Stephen McCutchan says, ‘Absolutely!’ He is deeply involved in the Pastoral Care Network whose litany is: Healthy Clergy, Healthy Church, and he’s devoted his life to coming alongside [...]

While there are more women in the pews, there are still lots more men in the pulpit. And this can lead to ill-informed preaching and community formation that can be offensive to women and even drive them from the faith. Feminist Erin Lane knows this well, she’s the editor of an upcoming book on women, [...]

Just a few months into his new position at First Presbyterian Church of Charlotte, NC, Pendelton (Pen) Peery is doing a lot of listening. This dynamic pastor, and leader of the PCUSA renewal movement called Next Church, Pen has learned to listen for the unique gifts his new congregation possesses, with plans to first begin [...]

Ministry in real-life Mayberry has its blessings and challenges..Steve Lindsley, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Mt. Airy, NC, says it’s great to be involved in such a loving community, however the financial struggles take a toll. In this interview, Steve tells us how the laying off of the church music director has actually invigorated [...]

‘Exegete’ means to interpret – and long-time Presbyterian pastor and consultant Tom Tewell says this is what congregations need to do in their neighborhoods – to interpret what God is doing there. Tewell, who heads Macedonian Ministries of the CF Foundation (here’s a link to some of their recent work), says that the simple act [...]

Moving from a 400 member church to White Memorial Presbyterian Church, which is several times larger, has been an exciting adjustment for Pastor Christopher Edmonston. He’s found out what many church leaders discover when their ministries grow: the skills needed to run larger churches are markedly different from those of smaller congregations – yet the [...]

Average sermon length is now over 17 minutes these days – signalling the first increase in average American sermons in 200 years – says Thomas Long, Candler professor and preaching expert. There are several reasons, says Long, one of them is that people are looking for ‘useful’ sermons – that take longer to unpack. This [...]

The dust is beginning to settle from the failed experiment behind youth/adult worship segregation in many U.S. churches – and what’s left? Old fashioned approaches like mentoring, that youth minister Jaimie White is happy to recover. White, and her youngsters at Mt. Olympus Presbyterian Church in Salt Lake City, Utah, are finding that mentoring is [...]

Three decades ago John Wimberly came to Western Presbyterian Church and found 70 people near the age of 70. 3o years later that number is around 350 – and growing younger. No, there’s no silver bullet, just a great combination of preaching, pastoral care, and commitment to study – to name a few. Hear this [...]

Does our brain react differently to a sermon than any other kind of verbal communication? What makes sermons memorable? And how can we preach more memorable sermons? These are questions that psychologist, theologian, and preacher Dr. Richard Cox explores in a new book called Rewiring Your Preaching in which he gives pointers to preachers about [...]

Sure the surveys say they don’t pray, go to church, or read much of the Bible – but Katherine Douglass says research also shows most young adults are interested in God and growing their faith. Katie is a PhD candidate at Princeton Seminary where she’s discovering how the arts resonate with young adults. She’s identified [...]

Sure, it may not sell in many church circles today – but Margot Starbuck’s invitation to discomfort for the sake of others has invigorated her ministry and the thousands she addresses. Margot, an author, speaker, and Presbyterian minister, just moved with her family into a community being formed around young adult friends with disabilities. In [...]

Stan Ott, seasoned consultant with the Vital Practices Institute, says helping leaders get past the tyranny of the immediate is the most common challenge he sees in today’s churches. Ott and his team pull together groups of churches and walk with their leaders for three year stretches. During that time he says most leaders can [...]

A sleepy, suburban parish has been awakened. Pastor Rebekah Maul, at First Presbyterian Church of Brandon, Florida, arrived 16 years ago to what she describes as a congregation that had trouble believing in itself – then she began giving permission. In this interview, Rev. Maul describes how this liberation has transformed First Pres, bringing out [...]

It’s the most important aspect of church leadership today, says Pittsburgh Theological Seminary‘s Susan Kendall: listening. As a graduate school instructor she sees listening, in its three aspects of congregation, context, and God, as standard equipment for today’s effective leaders. Susan also has a passion for Reformed Christian Spiritual Formation, which cuts to the core [...]

It’s one of the Church’s biggest mistakes: over-reliance on one person to do the bulk of the work (planning, visioning, preaching, organizing, cleaning gutters… you name it). In this new, inventive, age, the PCUSA’s Landon Whitsitt, author of the book Open Source Church, thinks that the day of the ‘super-pastor’ is way over – and [...]

What are we called to do? It’s a pervasive question that author, blogger, counselor, and pastor of Calvin Presbyterian in Pennsylvania, Graham Standish just keeps asking. He credits an emphasis on discernment, in various levels, with the  substantial growth his congregation has seen. In this interview Graham tells us how he created a culture of [...]

It’s our age’s big missional question – and one Mark Lau Branson of  Fuller Seminary says is at the heart of preparing Christian leaders to effectively shape faith communities. Mark’s work, in the field of practical theology, helps ready Christians for the work on the ground that the Spirit is cultivating. In this interview, Mark [...]

Let’s face it, for many churches today’s generation gap looks more like a chasm.  So how do older churches go about welcoming young adults? After much research, and the popular book Tribal Church – Carol Howard Merritt has a few ideas. I first heard about Carol after reading her popular blog, and was inspired by [...]

The Stained Glass Ceiling is being raised… And that’s thanks, in part, to the work of gifted female clergy who are finding support and encouragement in the Body of Christ. The Rev. Melissa DeRosia is a dynamic young clergy woman who’s written a book on the subject – to help female clergy survive and thrive [...]

Breathing new life into a 150 year old mainline congregation takes a lot of things, and letting go is one of them. Noted blogger, writer, and associate pastor at St. John’s Presbyterian Church in San Francisco Theresa Cho says letting go is also a metaphor for what she sees on the regional and national levels [...]

Opening church doors to everyone in the community is what brought Brian Clark and Edwin Andrade together at Riverside Presbyterian in Sterling, Virginia. The community’s increasing Hispanic presence caused Brian and the church to respond with a welcome mat – and build one church in two languages. Be inspired by this story of Christian hospitality.

The Barriers, that is. Presbyterian Church (USA) church planter Graham Baird says his congregation grew from 25 to 2,000 in 6 years because it makes church-going open, accessible and exciting. You’ll find both flip-flops and cowboy boots at  Highlands Church in Paso Robles, CA where the bagpipe playing pastor preaches a well-choreographed message to a targeted demographic. [...]

Tripling in size did not come overnight for Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church (USA) in Austin, Texas, says pastor Larry Coulter. Much of the important work happened one by one – in the newcomer’s class. Larry says his heavy investment in newcomer incorporation (he teaches every class) has paid big dividends in building a [...]