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Thursday, February 01, 2024

Thursday's Catch: 'Why Do Churches Resist Change? (And What You Can Do About It)' And More


We often hear that people resist change. I’m not sure that’s entirely accurate. We’ll tackle that partial truth another time. For now, let’s focus on why pastors and churches resist change as well.

Christ and His Kingdom, Not Politics, Should Be the Central Fixture of Our Focus
This election year, many of us are already finding the political commentary and news exhausting. Never have God’s people needed the reminder more that the key to influence and change in this world is not, and never has been, politics. It is faithfulness to Jesus.

Ted Lasso in Wales
Call him Ted Lasso. Actually, call him Fr. Mark — unless you’re a parishioner at St. Mary’s Church in the hilly town of Brecon, Wales. A year ago, when a cheerful American priest, the Rev. Dr. Mark Clavier, became vicar of the small cathedral-town parish, St. Mary’s had 16 regular Sunday worshipers. Today it has nearly 60, a growth rate of over 300 percent in a year, making for an underdog turnaround story like that of the football team on Apple TV’s Ted Lasso.

Future-Forward Budgeting
The church leadership team should review the quarterly and yearly budgets, comparing what is coming in with what they had set aside for needs and expectations. These check-in times enable the leaders to reflect on the organization’s mission and how best to use the church’s finite resources through leadership conversations and data-driven decision-making from the financial and numerical numbers collected throughout the month through services, accounts, and payroll liabilities. These check-ins will help the team pivot when challenges come.

4 Aspirational Pathways to Help You Keep Growing as a Leader
One of the true perils of leading church ministry is being so invested in the growth of others that your personal growth goes unattended to. How do you ensure that the busyness of your life and ministry doesn’t take over and inadvertently prevent your intentional pursuit of personal growth?

Make the Call to Worship Great Again
Graham Heslop's aim for this post is to salvage the call to worship.

Is the New Evangelical Liturgy Really an Improvement?
...there is a New Evangelical Liturgy which is increasingly common in our churches. You find it in Baptist churches, Presbyterian churches, Reformed churches, free churches, and non-denominational churches. It’s familiar in rural churches and city churches. It can be found in tiny churches and megachurches.

If You Want People to Grow Spiritually Teach Them to Meditate on the Bible
The Bible says almost nothing about studying the Bible! Very often we are told in the scripture to obey and meditate on the Bible, and there are many passages that tell us to remember and not forget God’s word and God’s acts. But study the Bible? It’s almost never mentioned in all of scripture.

Take Your Faith to Work 
At some point, maybe even during a break in the rhythm of corporate worship, most everyone in your congregation has probably asked themselves the question, How does the work I do during the other six days of my life matter to my faith?

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