Why Lay People Can (and Should) Plant Churches

The desire to plant churches using laypeople is not new, but it is finding a renewed emphasis. This is partly because we’ve found that when we primarily go the Bible college/seminary route to find all our church planters, we don't naturally develop bi-vocational paths to plant churches, which are also necessary for us to reach the world for Christ.

Roland Allen, a well-known Anglican missiologist in the last century, wrote some books on the issues associated with certain models of missiology. The titles give away the point of his books.

His first book was called Missionary Methods, St. Paul's or Ours. It’s subtle, I know.

He dealt with the idea that missionaries in China, for instance, would send future missionaries off to England to attend college and seminary, then years later they would come back as pastors. By then, they were more English than they were Chinese, so they would say that they were useless for the work.

He also wrote a book called The Case for Voluntary Clergy. Again, subtle.

One more book to consider, from the title alone, is The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church and the Causes that Hinder it, which suggested that educational attainment and missiological engagement were, at times, inversely proportional.

So, the titles make the case: We need a path to raise up church planters from outside of educational institutions.

Now, to save some time in the Twitter conversation that always follows these article.... Read More

Why Is Our Church Stagnating, and What Do We Do?

When we hear the term “stagnating,” it likely elicits a response from us of something unhealthy and functioning poorly. Although it is sometimes the case that something stagnates for bad reasons, it is also true that stagnation is not necessarily a bad thing, depending on what we are talking about. When it comes to churches, there can be many reasons for a church to stagnate. Not all of them are bad, and not all are under the church’s control.

Let me share four scenarios, and where we go from here. Read More

3 Not-So-Obvious Reasons Church Visitors DON’T Return to Your Church

There are 3 not so obvious reasons that church visitors don’t return to your church. All pastors know the feeling. A new couple visits on a Sunday morning. Maybe they just moved to the area and they are looking for a church, or a friend invited them, or they decided to give church a try. They seem really sharp, exactly the demographic you are trying to reach. You have a great conversation in the lobby.

They promise to be back next week, but they’re not. They never come back.

Another family comes three weeks in a row. Each weekend you see them in the lobby after church and it seems like they are really connecting. They miss the fourth week, but they’re back on the fifth. And then they never come back.

What happened? Why didn’t these families connect? Why do so many people flow through your church without sticking?

You’ve read the books, been to the conferences and tried everything you can think of, but the back door of your church is always wide open. What is going on?

While I haven’t been to your church, or if I have let’s pretend I haven’t, I have visited scores of church across the country and I know why many people don’t stick.

Sometimes the music is really bad or the preaching is really boring or the children’s ministry is really awful, but there are other, less obvious, reasons church visitors don’t return.... Read More

Five Ways Designated Giving Can Get Your Church in Trouble

Designated giving can be an incredible blessing for your church. It allows, for example, church members to give to such areas of passion as missions or facilities. But far too many churches are handling designated giving in ways that can get them in trouble. That trouble can range from morale problems among members and staff to losing your non-profit status with the Internal Revenue Service.

I’ve had many conversations with church leaders about this issue. Designated giving questions are common at Church Answers. Over the years I have seen five ways designated giving can get churches in trouble. Read More

The Unseen Covid-19 Risk for Unvaccinated People

The country's declining covid-19 case rates present an unrealistically optimistic perspective for half of the nation - the half that is still not vaccinated.

As more people receive vaccines, covid-19 cases are occurring mostly in the increasingly narrow slice of the unprotected population. So The Washington Post adjusted its case, death and hospitalization rates to account for that - and found that in some places, the virus continues to rage among those who haven't received a shot. Read More

Also See:
Vietnam Detects New Highly Transmissible Coronavirus Variant
COVID-19 cases and deaths are down but rate of infection is the same as it was in December for unvaccinated
CDC loosened mask guidance to encourage vaccination—it failed spectacularly
I Won’t Be Taking My Mask Off — But Not For Any Of The Reasons You’ve Probably Heard
After Its Superspreader Rehearsal, A Community Choir Struggles To Sing Together Again

In Remembrance

In remembrance

of the fallen,

of those who gave their lives in the service of their country

of those who made the ultimate sacrifice

O day of peace that dimly shines
Through all our hopes and prayers and dreams,
Guide us to justice, truth, and love,
Delivered from our selfish schemes.

May swords of hate fall from our hands,
Our hearts from envy find release,
Till by God's grace our warring world
Shall see Christ's promised reign of peace.

Then shall the wolf dwell with the lamb,
Nor shall the fierce devour the small;
As beasts and cattle calmly graze
A little child shall lead them all.

Then enemies shall learn to love,
All creatures find their true accord;
The hope of peace shall be fulfilled,
For all the earth shall know the Lord.

                           --Carl P. Daw, Jr.

All Hallows Evening Prayer for Sunday Evening (May 30, 2021) Is Now Online

All Hallows Evening Prayer is a service of worship in the evening for all pilgrims on the journey to the heavenly city.

A caim, or encircling prayer, for Trinity Sunday, the First Sunday after Pentecost—

The mighty Three
my protection be
encircling me
You are around
my life, my home
encircling me
O sacred Three
the mighty Three

The reading appointed for this Sunday evening’ service is John 3: 1-17 Nicodemus Visits Jesus.

The homily is titled, “Born of the Spirit.”

The link to this Sunday evening’s service is—

https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2021/05/all-hallows-evening-prayer-for-sunday_29.html

Please feel free to share the link to the service with anyone whom you believe might benefit from the service.

If an ad plays when you open a link to a video in a new tab, click the refresh icon of your browser until the song appears. If the video begins playing partway, pause, move the track slider back to the beginning, and then play. An ad may follow a song so as soon as the song is finished, close the tab.

Previous services are online at

https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/

May this service be a blessing to you.

Reaching and Revitalizing Rural America: Overcoming Misconceptions, and Answering the Call

We live in a world of paradoxes.

As in Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, it is the best of times and somehow also the worst of times. It appears to be the age of information and knowledge yet proves to be an age of foolishness. It is an era of belief and a time of faithlessness, a season of light in a world of complete darkness, a spring of hope amidst the winter of despair. This seems to be the narrative of many churches in America, but especially in rural America.

The story of rural America is one of grit, resourcefulness, independence, craftsmanship, and sheer determination. It is the story of community, lifelong relationships, and family bonds. This image holds a nostalgic place in many hearts.

Those who live in, or have spent significant time in, rural areas may have witnessed its endurance — the warm-heartedness of neighbors, the firmness of family values, the closeness of relationships and community. There are still examples of this today throughout rural America. It is a wonderful narrative to embrace and catalyze in ministry and mission, an idea worthy of aspiration.

But it is not the full picture.

There is another story of rural America, and it is much more troubling. Read Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Large or Small? What Is the Ideal Church Size, Anyways?

The title of this article is a trick question, of course. The “ideal size” when it comes to churches is whatever God calls you to be. That said, whether large or small, congregations of different sizes offer both challenges and blessings to all involved. Being aware of these strengths and weaknesses is more important to the health of churches than one might initially realize.

Although we may not always think about it, our physical spaces can have a significant impact on the ministries in our churches. However, if we are aware of the strengths and challenges that come with our church sizes, then we will be more likely to intentionally plan to address areas of weakness and play our strengths to their fullest potential. Read More

The Neglected Tools of Evangelism, Part 2

Useful tools for the ongoing task of witness into the world; prayer, listening, and thanksgiving.

In the first part of this three-part series, we considered prayer as being a neglected tool for evangelism. In this second part, we will explore another practice all too often neglected in our witness to the world: listening. Read More

Also See:
Why Christians Should Listen Carefully and Speak with Kindness

Saturday lagniappe: "The Gospel in Suburbia" and More

The Gospel in Suburbia: Living on Mission in a “Soul-less” Place We are called to be missionaries to wherever God puts us. The challenge is breaking out of the isolation in which we find ourselves.

5 Key Questions You Should Ask If Your Church Isn't Growing These five questions will help you to size up whay your church is not growing. I hope that they will start you thinking about what you can do to change that.

The Importance of Volunteers in the Church Ed Stetzer offers some very good ideas about volunteers.

How to Pastor a Mob Pastors are increasingly leading divided congregations. The task is not an easy one. Carey Nieuwhof offers four strategies can help.

12 Vital Reasons Each Of Us Should Be Part Of A Church Following Jesus is really not something that we can do by ourselves. If we are to fully live what Jesus taught and exemplified such as loving each other as Jesus loved us, we must follow Jesus with others. We must share the journey with companions and not walk the pilgrim's way alone.

The Growing Anti-Democratic Threat of Christian Nationalism in the U.S. Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry offer an appraisal of what may be the leading anti-democratic movement in the United States, one which does not bode well for the future of Christianity and democracy in the country.

All Hallows Evening Prayer for Saturday Evening (May 29, 2021)

All Hallows Evening Prayer is a service of worship in the evening for all pilgrims on the journey to the heavenly city.

In the fifth and final homily in the series on prayer, I take up the question of speaking in tongues. I examine Paul’s teaching on the practice and share what I have learned over the past four decades.

The Scripture reading for this Saturday evening is 1 Corinthians 14: 1-25 Gifts of Prophecy and Tongues

The homily is titled “Pray with the Spirit, Pray with the Mind ”

The link to this Saturday evening’s service is—

https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2021/05/all-hallows-evening-prayer-for-saturday_28.html

Please feel free to share the link to the service with anyone whom you believe might benefit from the service.

If an ad plays when you open a link to a video in a new tab, click the refresh icon of your browser until the song appears. An ad may follow a song so as soon as the song is finished, close the tab.

Previous services are online at

https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/

May this service be a blessing to you.

The Uncomfortable Moment of Saying I Love You

It's the turning point of every relationship. You know the moment. A couple has been dating for a few weeks and things have been going really well. They talk for hours on the phone and start spending every day together. Their friends tell them how good they look together and as a couple, they are quickly coming to the point of no return. Either they commit to go deeper into the relationship, become more committed to each other, or, they break up and move on.

But which one of the couple will say, "I love you" first? And when they do say it, will the other say it back? Or will it hang in the air like a sour note played during a concert.

Even when the other says, “I love you,” what have they said? Read More

Does Church Branding Matter?

Should branding matter for your church? Let’s think through this topic both biblically and practically if it matters and what you need to do about it.

Every church has a brand. There is no such thing as a church without a brand. A brand is simply what a community thinks about a church. Let me repeat that: your brand is what your community thinks about your church, not what you think about your church.

Do you want someone else to define what your brand is for your church? Or, do you want to define the brand of your church?

Branding matters. We often feel frustrated because we think of branding as a marketing scheme and something that is only applicable in the business world. People view branding as a marketing tactic to convince you to buy something that you don’t need and doesn’t deliver on what is promised.

Branding is merely telling your church’s story. So, how do you tell your story?

In Acts 17:5-8, we see branding elements in descriptions of the church at Thessalonica. These believers were known for for turning “the world upside down” (v. 6) as followers of Jesus Christ. They clearly had a reputation in their community.

Here are four steps to think through your church’s branding. Read More

Image Credit: All Saints Church, Glencarse, Scotland

Why Our Church Will Keep the Livestream

Our church will keep our livestream post-COVID for the same reason that we introduced it pre-COVID: online worship is a catalyst for Christian community.

As a Lutheran pastor with a commitment to the ministry of Word and sacrament, I appreciate both the centrality of in-person worship to the Christian life and the fears that online worship experiences could pull people away from these vital activities. There are some things you just can’t do virtually.

And yet in my seven years of experience with streaming—both as the church planter of a young congregation and now as the pastor of a 110-year-old congregation—I’ve discovered the technology many feared would disconnect people from authentic Christian community can actually become a catalyst for people to experience that very community. That includes, for our church, an increase of in-person attendance.

Over the years I’ve seen three key benefits to streaming worship. Read More

Gospel Coalition also published an article on livestreaming from another perspective. The church of the two pastors who wrote that article will no longer be livestreaming its services. The church will be recording its services and posting videos of them on its website for people who were unable to attend a service to watch at a later time. Their rationale for discontinuing livestream, however, treats those who are unable to attend a service in person,  as second-class Christians and fails to recognize that they are members of the Body of Christ as much as those who are present at the service. They are united in a mystical union with Christ and with the other members of the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. Our physical gatherings are only an visible sign that points to that spiritual reality. Their absence from our physical gatherings does not diminish that union. Livestreaming recognizes that, while they may be physically absence, they are present in spirit, and affirms their membership in the Body of Christ. Recording the services for later viewing , on the other hand, conveys a different message.

Why Did So Many Victorians Try to Speak with the Dead

Many explanations have been offered for Spiritualism, but the movement was more than a fad.

It’s a good time to be dead—at least, if you want to keep in touch with the living. Almost a third of Americans say they have communicated with someone who has died, and they collectively spend more than two billion dollars a year for psychic services on platforms old and new. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, television: whatever the medium, there’s a medium. Like clairvoyants in centuries past, those of today also fill auditoriums, lecture halls, and retreats. Historic camps such as Lily Dale, in New York, and Cassadaga, in Florida, are booming, with tens of thousands of people visiting every year to attend séances, worship, healing services, and readings. And many people turn up not every year but every week: there are more than a hundred Spiritualist churches in the United States, more than three hundred in the United Kingdom, and hundreds of others in more than thirty countries around the world. Such institutions hardly represent the full extent of Spiritualism’s popularity, since the movement does not emphasize doctrines, dogmas, or creeds, and plenty of people hold spiritualist beliefs within other faith traditions or stand entirely outside organized religion.

The surging numbers are reminiscent of the late nineteenth century, when somewhere between four million and eleven million people identified as Spiritualists in the United States alone. Some of the leaders back then were hucksters, and some of the believers were easy marks, but the movement cannot be dismissed merely as a collision of the cunning and the credulous. Early Spiritualism attracted some of the great scientists of the day, including the physicists Marie and Pierre Curie, the evolutionary biologist Alfred Russel Wallace, and the psychologist William James, all of whom believed that modern scientific methods, far from standing in opposition to the spiritual realm, could finally prove its existence. Read More

Further Articles from Around the Web: How to Follow Your Calling and More

How to Follow Your Calling The essential human calling is to love God by loving what God loves, how God loves it. We frequently refer to this as the Great Commandment or the summary of the Law. Jesus himself summarized the whole Torah by saying that we should love God with every ounce of our being and love our neighbor as if our own life depends upon their well-being (Matthew 22:34-40). Strictly speaking, this is our calling.

Homelessness Is Vexing American Cities. Do Christians Have a Solution? Homelessness is not only on the rise but it is also not a problem confined to major urban areas. It is a problem in the small university town on the outskirts of which I live. This past winter the closet warming center for the homeless was in a town almost a half an hour's drive away.

Today Is World Hunger Day 2021. Will You Get In the Tent? Hunger and food insecurity are not only a global problem but also a local one. With the COVID-19 pandemic food banks in the UK and the US have seen a growing need for emergency food assistance. Getting in the tent means not only serving the most vulnerable globaly but also locally.

Simple But Useful Tips for Pastors to Make Good First Impressions with Church Guests The advice that Sam Rainer offers to pastors in this article is good advice to all of us whatever our role in our church. First impressions do matter.

More Americans Are Reading the Bible. Now What? While more Americans are reading the Bible, they are not engaging with the Bible often enough for their Bible reading to make a difference in their lives.

The Future of Music in the Church This article was originally published five years ago. Church Leaders republished the article on its website yesterday. I am not too happy with what Ed Stezer sees as the growing trend in Christain worship in the United States. New hymns, songs, and tune always have a place in our church services. At the same time we should not be in a hurry to abandon the old hymns, songs, and tunes. What passes for worship in many churches today is not genuinely corporate. There is very little Scripture and very little prayer. The Lord's Supper is celebrated infrequently or in a too casual a manner. There is a real need for worship renewal in many churches.

Post by the Numbers: A Guide to Insights on Social Media How do we go about evaluating what digital platforms work best for our church or ministry and what steps do we take to make room for changing trends in our social media strategy? Rachel Syens of Church Juice offers us some answers.

Is It Safe to Sing at Church Yet? Depends Who You Ask.

A mix of musical expression is likely to continue as congregations navigate the ‘new normal’ of the continuing pandemic with some people fully vaccinated and some not.

On Pentecost Sunday, some members of Southwood Lutheran Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, sang hymns without masks for the first time in more than a year.

They vocalized “Multilingual Grace” in four languages after music director Denise Makinson taught them how to express thanks in Spanish, Arabic, Swahili and Korean.

“I do have to say it was quite emotional yesterday to hear the congregation singing
all the hymns,” Makinson said in an interview on Monday (May 24). “It was definitely something I missed.”

Pentecost is often celebrated as the “birthday” of the Christian church. It frequently includes a reading from the New Testament Book of Acts about the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus’ followers, who then begin to speak and understand languages they had not known.

“I think they were also emotional about it, to hear people’s voices,” Makinson said of Southwood’s congregants.

Some people sang with masks on, others with them off — a mix that is likely to continue across the country for a while as congregations navigate the “new normal” of the continuing pandemic when not everyone is vaccinated. Read More

Standards Every Church Ought to Have for Their Children’s Ministry

Virtually every workplace has standards. It might be personal behavior standards, or program standards, or safety standards…or all of these, and more. Our ministries should be no different.

Yet, as I work with churches, I often find that there are very few standards in place. Things are done haphazardly. Certainly we want spontaneity at times, and we always need to be ready to be flexible. But a lack of standards can endanger our programs, our people and our church. A lack of standards can be especially dangerous with Children’s & Family Ministry.

So what standards ought we to be concerned about? Here are a few to think about as starter.... Read More

Digital Dilemmas: How to Protect against Ransomware and More

How to Protect Against Ransomware Ransomware is a serious threat that costs a lot of unbudgeted dollars to fix. Effective protection is available! Here’s what I recommend for how to protect against ransomware.

Is Alexa a Member of Your Small Group? Voice assistants can help with researching topics or getting definitions of words. They can record lists and notes the group wants to record. Voice assistants can even be used to read Bible passages for the group. But there is also a downside to having voice assistants active during a small group gathering. Remember, they listen to the conversations taking place. They sometimes hear conversations in other rooms. And the technology is not perfect.

Social Media Guidelines Do you have social media guidelines for your church/staff? You should. Unfortunately, as this is such new territory for churches, few do. In the hopes that it might serve, here are ours at Mecklenburg Community Church (Meck)

15 Ways to Beat the Summer Slump

Ah, summertime. The living is easy, and the pews are empty.

Family trips, kids’ camps, and a penchant for relaxation can wreak havoc on summer church attendance—but leaders who simply hang on until September are missing an opportunity, says Kris Dolberry, a pastor, Bible teacher, and former leader of Lifeway Men.

“Pastors and leaders say, ‘We can’t do what we would normally do, so let’s batten down the hatches and do only the essentials,’” he says. “Creativity and new strategies to reach people are put on hold.”

Instead, summer can be a time to shift focus and extend the church’s ministry into new areas. “Ride the wave of momentum culture gives you,” Dolberry says.

In every age group, churches can use summer as a time to re-energize. Here are some ideas to try. Read More

Protestant Church Closures Outpace Openings in U.S.

U.S. Protestant churches endured a difficult 2020, including starting the year with fewer congregations.

In 2019, approximately 3,000 Protestant churches were started in the U.S., but 4,500 Protestant churches closed, according to estimates from Nashville-based Lifeway Research.

The evangelical research organization analyzed congregational information from 34 denominations and groups representing 60% of U.S. Protestant churches to arrive at the church plant and closure numbers for 2019.

The current closure gap indicates a shift from Lifeway Research’s previous analysis. For 2014, an estimated 4,000 Protestant churches were planted, while 3,700 closed in a year.

“Over the last decade, most denominations have increased the attention they are giving to revive existing congregations that are struggling,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “This has been more than a fad. This has been a response to a real, growing need to revitalize unhealthy congregations.” Read More

What Exactly Is “Sola Scriptura” Protecting Us Against?

One of the foundational convictions of the Reformers was, of course, this doctrine we call Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone). Simply put, this is the belief that the Scriptures are the highest and most ultimate authority in the life of the Christian.

Contrary to popular misunderstandings, it is not the belief that the Scriptures are the only authority. Christians have other legitimate authorities in their life (their elders, classical creeds, etc.), but only Scripture is an infallible authority. For more on this point, see here.

At the heart of Sola Scriptura, is the recognition that fallen humans are always looking to replace God’s authority with some other human/creaturely authority. After all, that was the essence of the very first sin in the garden. The rebellion of Adam and Eve was fundamentally a rejection of God’s word that if they ate of the fruit they would surely die.

Ever since, humans have been remarkably inventive in the variety of authorities they erect in place of God. Sola Scriptura is designed simply to prevent these other authorities from ruling the Christian and to keep God’s Word rightly as our ultimate guide. Here are three examples of such authorities.... Read More

Seven Habits of Highly Effective Sound People

How well we work determines the results of our work. In an article by veteran audio guy and Vice President of Sales at Lectrosonics, Karl Winkler tackled what he considers the seven habits of highly effective sound people. Today, I want to cover these habits and dive deeper into each one.

Catch the podcast where I cover this or read on for the rest of the article. Listen Now

Churchgoers Build Relationships, But Often Without Discipleship

Building relationships with other believers seems to come naturally to Protestant churchgoers, however, for many, those relationships are built apart from Bible study and spiritual growth.

The 2019 Discipleship Pathway Assessment study from Nashville-based Lifeway Research found 78% of Protestant churchgoers say they have developed significant relationships with people at their church, including 43% who strongly agree. Fewer than 1 in 10 disagree (8%), while 14% neither agree nor disagree.

The survey of Protestant churchgoers identifies building relationships as one of eight signposts that consistently show up in the lives of growing Christians. The survey is part of the 2019 Discipleship Pathway Assessment, a larger study identifying traits of Christian discipleship.

“In an American culture in which significant relationships are hard to form, most churchgoers have had at least some success at making friends at church,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “But the majority aren’t as confident as they could be about the significance of those relationships.”

While there is no evidence of a gender divide on developing significant relationships at church, age does play a role in the likelihood someone has strong friendships at church. More than 4 in 10 churchgoers 65 and older (46%) strongly agree they have significant relationships within the congregation compared to 38% of 18-34-year-olds.

Unsurprisingly, those who attend worship services more frequently—four times a month or more—are more likely to confirm strongly they have developed such relationships than those who attend less frequently (47% to 33%). Read More

10 Things Evangelism Is and Isn’t

Dispelling the misconceptions surrounding evangelism

In Act II, Scene II of the classic work, Romeo and Juliet, there is a famous conversation between the couple. They love each other and want to be together, but they carry the burden of their surnames, and this means that they will be apart forever. In the midst of this complicated mix of feelings and emotions, Juliet uses a metaphor to persuade Romeo that their names do not matter; she says that if a rose had another name, it would still produce the same perfume. I believe that evangelism has a similar dynamic, because although the name comes with a full range of feelings, preconceptions, fears and worldviews, it’s true nature, motivations and purpose go beyond any word that we can use to name it.

It is time for people to understand what evangelism is, and what it means for the church of the 21st century to engage in evangelism. So, to begin to stir the pot I would like to introduce 10 things that evangelism is and is not. Read More

All Hallows Evening Prayer for Wednesday Evening (May 26, 2021) Is Now Online

All Hallows Evening Prayer is a service of worship in the evening for all pilgrims on the journey to the heavenly city.

Jesus taught his disciples how to pray through his own example, through parables, and through the Lord’s Prayer. In today’s homily, the fourth in a series on prayer, we take a closer look at the Lord’s Prayer and what Jesus teach us about prayer through the Lord’s Prayer.

The Scripture reading for this Wednesday evening is Matthew 6: 5-15 Concerning Prayer.

The homily is titled “The Lord’s Prayer.”

The link to this Wednesday evening’s service is—

https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2021/05/all-hallows-evening-prayer-for_26.html

Please feel free to share the link to the service with anyone whom you believe might benefit from the service.

If an ad plays when you open a link to a video in a new tab, click the refresh icon of your browser until the song appears. An ad may follow a song so as soon as the song is finished, close the tab.

Previous services are online at

https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/

May this service be a blessing to you.

Rethinking Church

I keep coming across articles on the internet in which the writer is repeating a variation of the same theme—the important of church attendance. But I must wonder whether the people at whom these articles are directed—those people who have not yet returned to church—are reading these articles. Are they even visiting the websites on which they are posted? Some articles are almost panicky. Readers are admonished that they are not really Christian if they do not regularly attend a church and so on.

I also have to wonder if we are going about it the wrong way. One article to which I posted a link today points out that Generation Z are going to avoid the websites that their parents frequent. If a writer’s aim is to encourage young people in Generation Z to come back to church, he is wasting his breath. They are not hearing his message. They are not going to visit a website that their parents frequent. They are not going to pay attention to a writer in their parents’ generation who posts on a website that they frequent.

Rather than urging people to return to church maybe we should be offering them help to be followers of Jesus wherever they are. In the case of Generation Z, the ones offering the help should be members of Generation Z.

Last Friday I posted an article on “Instavangelists,” social media influencers on Instagram. YouTube and TikTok also have their influencers. Facebook too. People are turning to these influencers for advice and direction, not to pastors, not to priests.  For one reason they are more accessible. You often as not get an immediate response. To get advice and direction from a pastor or a priest, you have to make an appointment or go to what may prove a boring service and listen to what may prove a boring sermon.

If we are honest with ourselves, church attendance is not what some writers would have us believe. Some churchgoers may have friends at church; others do not. Some churchgoers may be inspired by the songs and the sermon; others are not. They find our church services to be flat, like a soda or soft drink that has lost its fizz. These writers assume that everyone has the same experience. We cannot make that assumption. Longtime churchgoers tend to overlook their church’s shortcomings. To newcomers, however, they are glaringly obvious.

While some writers keep telling Christians that we must get out our buildings and go to where the people are—the workplaces, the universities, the cafes, the bowling alleys, the gyms, and all the places where people gather, we seem to be very much obsessed with people coming to us. I must wonder whether we really understand what getting out of the building means. It is not about venturing briefly into the world and then scampering back to the safety of the building. It is about leaving the building and locking the door so we cannot get back in. It means being what Jesus called his followers to be—his church in the world and not our church in a building.

The early church did not have buildings. It met wherever it could meet. The early church did not have organized service of worship. It did not have Bibles, prayer books, hymnals, and priests. When it gathered, one person shared a song that Holy Spirit had inspired, a second offered a word of encouragement, a third person gave a talk on the faith and life of a Jesus follower, a fourth person offered a testimony, a fifth person read passages from a roll of Old Testament scripture, a gospel, or the latest letter of the apostle Paul circulating among the churches, whatever the church possessed, and so on. The term coined for this way of holding a church meeting in the last century is “open worship.” Everyone present at the gathering contributed in some way. They may have eaten together. From the bread and wine they had brought for the meal some was set aside for the Lord’s Supper. One of those present offered a prayer of thanksgiving and praise to God; the others added their own prayers, and then the gathering shared the bread and wine in remembrance of Jesus’s suffering and death.

When we take the church to the world, we will not stop gathering together, but our gatherings will be smaller and less formal. Those present at these gatherings will be Jesus followers, those exploring that spiritual path, friends and acquaintances and others who came to the gathering to check us out. Like the early church we will meet wherever we can. We may meet in the full view of the world—in a café, for example. We will not hide our faith and way of life behind church doors. We will live it out in front of friends and strangers.

Being Jesus’ church as I believe that he intended will transform the church. We will stop talking about discipleship, about following Jesus, and will start living out discipleship, really doing what we previously only talked about. We will no longer be preoccupied with who shows up on Sunday morning, but rather will be focused upon how we are impacting lives.

How To Keep Leading (And Growing) When 10%, 20% or 40% of your Church Disappears.

One of the biggest challenges most pastors are facing right now is that a meaningful percentage of their congregation seems to have disappeared.

Or at least they think that’s what’s happening.

In the current climate of reopened in-person services, online church, so many people moving and the uncertainty of the post-pandemic world, it’s hard to tell who’s still around and who may have left.

According to Tony Morgan’s Q1 2021 Unstuck Church Report, physical church attendance is down 28% from even 2020 levels, which means that a chunk of most congregations has slipped away. (In more encouraging news, online service views are up 123%, which likely reflects the work churches have put into their online services over the last 12 months.)

But this still leaves the nagging question: where did the missing people go? Read More

7 Habits of Generation Z Your Church Might Be Ignoring

There’s no doubt that Gen Z has some different habits than previous generations.

Thanks to the internet and smartphones, the environment that we’ve grown up in is completely unique, and unlike any generation before.

We spend more time online, go outside less, and care about wildly different things than our parents did when they were kids.

You might look at these habits and think that these habits are “just a phase” or that we’ll “grow out of it.”

We won’t.

At the time I’m writing, I’m 22 and I still watch A TON of YouTube. Even post-graduation, my classmates still spend a ton of time on Instagram and TikTok. None of us plan on making any of these a smaller part of our lives.

So for the church: How do you become a bigger part of our lives online?

Well, first, I think you need to be aware of how and why we behave and think the way we do.

I’m seeing 7 habits of Generation Z that your church might be ignoring. Here’s the list.... Read More

Church Decline and Recovery During COVID-19, Part 2

A national project aims to understand the impact of the pandemic on the church attendance, giving, staffing, and church leadership.

Most of us are aware of the effects of COVID on our home church. Many of us have heard accounts of various other churches through conversations with friends and colleagues. But it is hard to know what these individual stories mean for the church as a whole.

The National COVID-19 Church Attendance Project (NCCAP) represents our efforts to try to see the bigger picture. By gathering as many individual church stories as possible, from all over the country, we aim to provide a broad sense of the impact of COVID on the church and what the path to recovery has looked like so far. Through the collaboration of Wheaton College, Exponential, Outreach, and the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center, our initial survey represents the experience of more than 600 churches, over 400,000 weekly worshippers geographically covering 47 states and the District of Colombia.

In our first article, we describe the nature of the project and its goals, and we gave an overview of our findings regarding church attendance patterns over the past year and a half. We reflected on the effects of COVID on church giving and staffing. Our final article of this three-part series will focus on church leadership and priorities at present and looking forward. Read More

Faithful Application of the Word of God

Is The Epistle of James Really all that Strawy?

I have had an uneasy relationship with the way application is typically communicated in evangelical preaching ever since the days I was drowning in depression and suicidal thoughts in the midst of the wreckage of my life and I had a notebook full of helpful steps and action points from years of Sunday sermons that when they mattered most helped the least.

So there’s that.

And out of the angst of the attractional church model and its heavy emphasis on “making the Bible relevant” and its promotion of a pragmatic Christianity, some in the “gospel-centered movement” have sometimes veered too much the other way, forgetting that to be gospel-centered does not mean to be law-avoiding. We are a people of polarization – we are on the pendulum swing. To avoid the attractional church’s cool legalism we end up unwittingly embracing a soft antinomianism. Read More

What It Looks Like to Truly Embrace Blended Worship

Is it possible for a church with a history of a traditional music program (choir, organ, hymnals, handbells, and the like) to embrace modern forms of music (bands, vocalists, projected lyrics, and worship teams) without the traditional music dying as a result? Yes, it is possible. That’s what my church, our congregation, our choir, our instrumentalists and I have been pursuing for years. We’ve been pursuing a model of worship called called “convergence.” Maybe you call it blended worship. Read More

My former parish pioneered convergence, or blended, worship during the 1980s and 1990s. We were not the first so we built on the experiences of other churches. We blended the older hymns and songs with the newer ones. We were a new church plant which enabled us to implement this approach to worship more easily than in an existing church. Along with our warm, friendly congregation, our eclectic blend of worship music was at the top of the list of reasons that newcomers said that they were attracted to our church. A resource that we found insightful in planning worship music that would release all generations into praise was Betty Pulkingham's Sing God a Simple Song: Exploring Music in Worship for the Eighties, available online in PDF format for free download.  The principles that Betty Pulkingham articulates in her book are applicable today as they were in the 1980s. We have a lot more music in various styles--contemporary, folks, global, traditional, to name a few, to use in our worship gatherings now than in the 1980s. Music groups have also explored the use of other music instruments--string, woodwinds, percussion, bagpipes--beside the guitar, bass guitar, and drum kit of the praise band that the Praise and Worship Movement popularized in evangelical and charismatic churches in the 1990s. The Caribbean gospel acclamation, "Halle, Halle, Halle," sung to the beat of the djembe, box, or conga drum, for example, is a simple but effective way to greet Christ present in the gospel at a celebration of the Holy Eucharist, an acclamation in which all generations can join in singing. For the liturgical church convergence, or blended, worship brings together all the riches of the music of the Church from the past, from the present, and from around the world.  

16 Tips for Recruiting Children’s Ministry Volunteers

Volunteers are essential for every children’s ministry program, but finding them can seem intimidating. Recruiting children’s ministry volunteers who genuinely want to serve kids and teach them about Christ’s love isn’t as difficult as it seems, though. Successful recruitment starts with the right attitude.

By successfully recruiting children’s ministry volunteers, you’re helping people find a place to serve at church. Now that’s an exciting endeavor!

Try these 16 ideas for recruiting children’s ministry volunteers.... Read More

In our eagerness to recruit children's ministry volunteers, we should not lose sight of a major priority in children's ministry--the safety of the children. This means background checks, including the registry of sex offenders,  in-depth interviews, references, and collateral contacts. One thing that it is important to remember is that all sex offenders are not male. Women sexually abuse children too.

Known by Love

I usually begin and end my day reading the news online, chiefly Google News and BBC News so I often read stories about the unkind and hurtful things that people do to others. I do not look for those stories, but they are not easy to avoid. Stories about acts of kindness, of acts of healing, are far less common. As I was telling a friend, I often wake up early in the morning and I am unable to fall back sleep. When this happen, I find myself thinking about all kinds of things. I am sometimes prompted to write an article about them like this one.

I spend good part of my day online. I read articles and the comments that people leave in response to the article or to the comments that others have made. People say a lot of unkind and hurtful things to each other. They may not say it directly, but it is inferred. I read similar comments on Facebook. I thought about that too.

As I thought about the unkind and hurtful things that people do and say, my mind turned to the unkind and hurtful things that had been done and said to me. Sometimes they were intentional. Those who did or said the unkind and hurtful things were not just inconsiderate of my feelings, but they were seeking to inflict a wound. Other times, those who did or said unkind and hurtful things to me did not realize what they were doing or saying would affect me. They had not given it much thought. Indeed, they were surprised when I drew to their attention how what they did or said left me feeling.

I also thought about how people whom we know will encourage us to do or say unkind and hurtful things to others. They may be well-intentioned. They may believe that they are offering good advice. But what they are telling us to do or say is not the right thing to do or say.

I am a Christian. While I do fall short in many regards and I may have blind spots, I do make an effort to live my life in accordance with Jesus’ teaching, particularly what are called his “love commandments”—to love our fellow human beings, to do to others what we would have done to us, to love our fellow Christians, and to love our enemies. The older I get, the more mindful I have become of what Jesus taught, what he himself exemplified.

As I thought about Jesus’ teaching and example, one thought gently pressed its way to my attention. Whatever the outcome we are to keep on loving—our fellow human beings, our fellow Christians, our enemies. Jesus did not tie our loving them to their being loving, loveable, or returning our love. The love that we are to show them is the kind of love that God shows us, the kind of love that God showed us when he gave his only begotten Son that all who believe in him might have eternal life. It is a selfless love. It is the kind of love that God shows us in the rich abundance of the grace that he supplies us. It is the kind of the love that is shown by a God who is love.

What Happened to All Age Worship?

This article was originally titled "How Can We Nicely Kick Kids Out of Church?" However, I changed the title because the original title might encourage churches to exclude children from their Sunday worship gatherings.

A few weeks ago, I shared a post about a card a church had given out inviting parents who brought their kids to “enjoy the remainder of the service” in the lobby so others could “engage with the sermon.” This past week, another children’s ministry group I am a part of had a similar conversation regarding if a church is large and streaming on-line, what card they should hand out to parents if kids are loud in the main service.

Apparently this is a new thing? I had not heard of this practice of handing parents cards to invite them to leave the service until recently, but twice in one month made me decide to some digging. What I found was disheartening, at least for me. Read More

In the 1970s-1990s in mainstream Protestant churches—Anglican, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, and Presbyterian there was movement to reintegrate children back into the Sunday worship gathering of the local church. For most of the history of the Church children of all ages have attended this gathering with their parents. Children who were segregated from adults into their own “children’s church” were found to not only have difficulty making the transition to the local church’s regular Sunday worship gathering but also when they became teenagers left the church in search of a church with Sunday worship gathering that offered a worship experience like the one that they had experienced in “children’s church.” Those who did not find a church that offered that kind of Sunday worship gathering dropped out of church. It was also found that the Christian faith could not be taught. It had to be “caught.” Children were more likely to catch it when they were around the whole church than a handful of volunteers. They were also more likely to own that faith when they were given an active role in the service rather than sat with their parents during the service. By an active role they were recruited to perform certain liturgical functions—light and extinguish the candles on the communion table or on stands flanking the table, carry torches and a processional cross in processions, swing a censor, assist the pastor or priest in preparing the bread and cup for communion, read Scripture, lead prayers of intercession, take the collection, sing in the choir, perform solos, perform instrumental music, and take on other age-appropriate responsibilities. In 2000-2001 I prepared an occasional paper for my diocese’s commission on music and liturgy on child-inclusive worship. It included ideas for not only involving children of all ages in the service but also ideas for making the music of the service more accessible to children such as using hymns and songs that had easy to remember tunes and lyrics as well as hymns and songs with refrains or repetitions in which the younger children could participate. I had been involved in the music and worship ministries of my parish as senior lay reader for fifteen years, having helped to launch the church as a mission in the mid-1980s. All the ideas had been field-tested. During the time that I was involved in the church’s music ministry, we made a concerted effort to plan the hymns, songs, and service music of the services with attention to the presence of a large number of children in the congregation. It is the third decade of the twenty-first century and church leaders are seeing young people leaving their churches. It appears that they have not learned from the experiences of the previous century. Separating adults and children is not the best way to keep young people in the Church.

The Neglected Tools of Evangelism, Part 1

Useful tools for the ongoing task of witness into the world; prayer, listening, and thanksgiving.

It can be annoying when you don’t have the right tool for the job. I remember once deciding to use a knife as a screwdriver when I couldn’t find the real thing, only to have more success opening the flesh on my finger than any screws. The scar on said finger is an unfriendly reminder to go and get the right tool next time.

But there are a number of ‘tools’ for evangelism that transcend any resources we might produce. Their efficacy does not hinge on context or culture. These tools are essential to evangelism because they directly affect the faithfulness of our witness and the fruit that comes from it.

The tools I refer to are actually spiritual practices, but like all good spiritual practices, they are profoundly powerful and practical - for our own lives and for those with whom we share. And yet, these things can be easily neglected when it comes to evangelism, perhaps because we view them as spiritual practices more so than as specific tools useful for the ongoing task of witness into the world.

So let’s take a look at three such tools across the three parts of this series - prayer, listening, and thanksgiving - and seek to utilize the best tools for the precious task of evangelism. Read More

The Once-a-Month Churchgoers Are Becoming More Common

It is fascinating to watch the trends among congregations as they start to regather with COVID-19 beginning to fade. Some of the trends are really good. For example, we are seeing more churches now receptive, if not savvy, to technological developments than any point we can recall. Also, we are beginning to see a resurgence of evangelism in the local church.

To be clear, any developments thus far are in their incipient stages. Time will tell if these trends truly become long-lasting.

One of the most disturbing trends we are seeing is the decreasing frequency of attendance. Two decades ago, a frequent church attender was considered a person in church services or activities once or twice a week. Prior to the pandemic, the twice-a-month church attendee was considered active by most church members and leaders.

But one of the trends emerging from the pandemic is the increasing number of once-a-month attendees. We are watching three developments as this trend emerges. Read More