Revitalize Your Church

My blogger buddy, Todd Rhoades, recently shared the Top Ten Reasons Pastors Get Fired , in a post at his blog, Monday Morning Insight. 1. Control Issues (Who should run the church) 2. Poor People Skills 3. Church's Resistance to Change 4. Pastor's Leadership Style (too strong) 5. Church Was Already Conflicted When Pastor Arrived 6. Decline in Attendance and/or Conditions 7. Pastor's Leadership Style (too weak) 8. Administrative Incompetence on Part of the Pastor 9. Sexual Misconduct 10. Conflict with Other Staff

Jason Dukes gets it! I've just finished reading his wonderful book, Live Sent: You Are a Letter, and found myself saying, "That's so true! Amen brother!" the whole way through. Dukes, who describes himself as a follower and a leader, a learner and a teacher, a writer and a dreamer, a pastor and an entrepreneur and someone who tries to live sent daily, has captured the heartbeat of what the church ought to be. Church is not a "what", Duke declares, It is a "WHO!" Church is not a place and time on Sunday morning. Church is the people of God -- sent into the world as letters of grace. Church health is not measured by how many people show up on Sunday morning -- but how the people show up to bring God's love everywhere they go. Dukes advocates a decentralized approach to ministry -- encouraging people to LIVE the mission every day. This does not mean trying to find time in your schedule to fulfill God's mission -- your WHOLE schedule IS God...

Thought provoking article byStephen Gray: Ten Deadly Sins of a Dying Church

Thom Rainer, president of Lifeway Christian Resources, and former church consultant, shared four observations me made from his 500 consultations: First, our consultations focused much attention on matters of leadership . We found that many church leaders were in trouble because of poor leadership skills and poor interpersonal skills. Most of these leaders were well trained theologically and biblically, but they weren’t prepared to lead an organization or deal with people issues. Second, our team was often perplexed at the weak evangelistic endeavors of churches. It seemed in many congregations that the Great Commission was not taken seriously. It wasn’t that evangelistic efforts were done poorly; they weren’t done at all. Third, we saw that church leaders needed the eyes of an outsider . One of the most common components of our consultations was "the first-time guest." Someone on our team would make his or her first appearance at the church at a worship service. That person ...

A great survey for churches in small towns and rural communities to assess congregational health: ASSESSING THE HEALTH OF CHURCHES IN LOW-DENSITY POPULATION AREAS (By Dr. Harold Longenecker) May Be Reproduced With Their Permission

My Aussie friend, Wayne Field, wrote a great review of God Size Your Church , written by my blogger buddy John Jackson. Good stuff!! John's insights are very helpful (I wrote an endorsement in the front of the book) and Wayne's perspective is particularly enlightening. I think it's really cool that the three of us pastors from Reno, Nevada (John), Australind, Western Australia (Wayne), and Hayward, Wisconsin (Me) consider each other friends -- even though we've never met! Purchase God Size Your Church Here.

The flu bug declared war on our house during the last few days -- five of the six Wilson soldiers fell. Only one strong warrior remained unscathed - Cathy. One of my kids came into the room where I was resting and said, "Tag, you're it!" The UPS man arrived late morning with three wonderful books from Amazon. I tore the box open and dug right in to Craig Groeschel's IT: How Churches and Leaders can Get It and Keep It. Awesome book! I couldn't put it down! Page after page, I kept saying, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" The bottom line is having a true heart full of love for God and others. It's a great follow-up to Ablaze for God -- and written for today. I want all my leaders to have IT! By the way, Life Church, where Groeschel pastors, is one of the most innovative churches in the country. They have made many of their creative resources available to other church leaders for FREE! Good stuff Available Here.

Gary Lamb, who pastors a thriving church in Canton, observed that there are two types of growing churches: Those who are consumed with doing church in a cool way Those who are consumed with doing church that reaches lost people They both end up doing similar things -- but with a different motive. I'd like to adjust it a just little bit and say, there are two types of churches in general: Those consumed with doing church Those consumed with BEING the church

Church Metrics is a new free resource to help churches keep tabs on attendance, giving, salvations and baptisms. Of course, these statistics, in themselves, do not show the whole picture. For instance, it is difficult to measure the depth of love, the strength of prayer and the heart of missional service. However, it is wise for church leaders to keep an eye on the measurable "dashboard indicators." If attendance, giving, salvations and baptisms are all going down, there's probably an issue somewhere that ought to be addressed.

A great article by Chuck Colson: Ties That Bind: Brotherhood of Belief

My blogger buddy, Chuck Warnock, recently posted on Three Things Churches Must Do in 2008 : 1. Tell The Story 2. Invite Others 3. Bless the World

Church consultant, George Bullard, has a fascinating chart, which shows the stages of a church's life. You can find it here. (You'll have to scroll down a few posts on the page.) Thought provoking!

George Bullard's Life Cycle and Stages of Congregational Development.

When a parishoner decides to leave a church, it's never an easy decision -- particularly if the relationships run deep. It's painful, and often, there's a lot of misunderstanding (usually on both sides, much like a divorce.) Sometimes folks are "stuck" at a church in a relational quagmire, need to get out, but don't know how to exit gracefully. This lady discovered a perfect way to do it without offending anybody. In fact, they had quite a gathering to honor her departure. Maybe I'll try that someday. I wonder if they'd let me preach my own funeral.

The Church Health Profile, created by our Evangelism Department, is a great tool for Wesleyan Congregations. It's similar to the Natural Church Develpment Survey -- but better -- because it's free!

poison in his brain a volcanic couldron boiling beneath the pastoral toil. one cannot force bitterness down. it erupts sooner or later violently to the pity and slight suprise of those around, who shake their heads in dark dismay. cluck their tongues and sadly say, he saved others, but himself, he cannot save.