Monday's Catch: 'The Future of Work in Church: Ten Realities You Might Not Know' And More

Honor the dead and pray for the living.

The Future of Work in Church: Ten Realities You Might Not Know

The most common question we get at Church Answers about work in the church is, “What is the next full time staff person we need to hire?” But, in most churches, that is not the right question. Indeed, most churches do not or will not even have the financial option to ask that question. The better question is, “What is the future of work at church?” As church leaders ask that question, the answer becomes clearer and more relevant.

7 Practices To Help Keep Your Church Young
All churches become chronologically older every year, but why do some remain young, vital, and more spiritually fruitful than others? There is a lifecycle to all churches, but intentional leadership can make a huge difference. The point here is not to select and preserve modern-day cathedrals, but we do have a responsibility to lead churches that are vibrant, flourishing, and bring life change through the person and power of Jesus for as long as we can.

Changing Spaces—Make Your Building Work for You
At some point in the life cycle of a church, large or small, leaders must decide either to renovate or to build a new worship space. Whether remodeling or diving into new construction, church leaders must consider a number of issues in order to create the most accommodating and inviting atmosphere to serve current church members and attract visitors.

How to Evaluate Your Pastor
Part of the calling of elders is to help pastors remain energized and effective in their callings. And an annual pastoral review is a helpful way to fulfill this responsibility. A proper pastoral evaluation process will be intentionally supportive of the pastor in his calling and positively constructive in helping the pastor identify areas for needed improvement....

A Guide to Trauma-Informed Youth Ministry
Creating a trauma-informed youth ministry requires intentionality, compassion, and a commitment to learning and growth.

How to Get your Teaching into Kids' Long-Term Memory
As children's ministry leaders, our goal should be to get the truth of God's Word into children's long-term memory.

7 Proven Strategies to Launch More Small Groups
Most churches cannot launch groups fast enough to keep up with the demand for discipleship. As the worship services grow larger, the small groups ministry gets further and further behind. Well, that’s not entirely true. Churches CAN launch groups fast enough to keep up with the demand for discipleship, if they change up how they are launching groups. Here are 7 things I’ve discovered over the last 15 years in working with over 1,500 churches across North America. These aren’t just 7 ideas or 7 philosophies. These are 7 proven strategies to launch groups.

3 Reflections on Evangelism in the Modern West
When Christians evangelize, they call their hearers to trust Jesus for salvation. The problem is, almost every word in “trust Jesus for your salvation” is liable to be misunderstood by Western secular people today.

95 Louisiana churches leave UMC amid denominational schism over homosexuality
Nearly 100 United Methodist Church congregations in Louisiana had their disaffiliation votes ratified by the regional conference last weekend, joining hundreds of others nationwide that have left the mainline Protestant denomination in the last year amid a schism over homosexuality.

This schism appears to be occurring along primarily regional lines and mirror conflicting regional attitudes. The lion's share of the churches disaffiliating from the United Methodist Church are in the South and the Southwest.