Thursday's Catch: "Seven Essentials for an Effective Church Vision" and More

Seven Essentials for an Effective Church Vision

A clear compelling vision is an essential foundation for every ministry to be effective for the long-term. For pastors and other church leaders, it requires seeing into the future your church’s Kingdom role. And for a season, the leaders will point the people toward the vision until it is reached or expanded. The church’s mission is the Great Commission, but a specific church’s vision will clarify and inspire their unique role as they live out their own Great Commission journey. The vision clarifies what the church should do or not do. It sets the agenda, priorities, and budget for the future. It guides the leaders during their season of leadership. Read More

How to Become a 4 Generation Church

What does an ideal church look like in your mind? My version has the perfect blend of four generations, like most nuclear families do. A 4G church will have great-grandparents and toddlers loving each other without any trace of pretense. Read More

10 Things You Should Know about Catechesis

This is a guest post by Joe Carter, author of How to Argue like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History's Greatest Communicator, and anticipates the release of The New City Catechism: 52 Questions and Answers for Our Hearts and Minds. Read More

For North American Anglican clergy and congregations that stand in the tradition of "Reformation Anglicanism" The New City Catechism is an excellent resource for catechizing new believers, adults and children, in the Christian faith. The New City Catechism is thoroughly Biblical and Reformed in doctrine, unlike the Anglican Church in North America's To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism, which takes unreformed Catholic positions on key doctrinal issues such as salvation and the sacraments. 

J. I. Packer on Why Your Church and Family Need Catechesis

Historically, the church’s ministry of grounding new believers in the rudiments of Christianity has been known as catechesis. It is a ministry that has waxed and waned through the centuries. Read More

Six Ways To Preach Better Sermons And Enjoy It

Delivering a sermon is like delivering a baby only to wake up and realize you are pregnant again on Monday. It is amazing how Sunday comes with such regularity! Every seven days people are counting on you to deliver a fresh and powerful message. Read More

Churches, Social Media, and Customer Service

I recently came across the infographic below at Entrepreneur.com in an article related to the recent customer service woes of Cracker Barrel and United Airlines that I mentioned last week on the blog. While many of you may see the principles and stats in the infographic relating to the business side of customer service, there are several items applicable and translatable to local churches. Here are just four of them.... Read More

Steve Fogg On Building An Online And Social Media Ministry For Your Church From Scratch [Podcast]

How do you build an online and social ministry for your church…from scratch? Read More

7 Reasons to Ask Others about Themselves Every Day

Let me get right to the point. Church leaders (laity or clergy), I’m convinced you’ll lead your small group or congregation better if you follow these two simple steps each day.... Read More

We Need More "Parlour Preachers"

Do you have a burden for people to know and love Jesus more? If you are a Christian the answer here is certainly, “yes.” This is the great cry of our hearts. Though, we admit, the cry is often muffled and not attended with appropriate zeal. For a host of reasons, we find ourselves negligent in the work of speaking of Christ and his gospel to others. Read More