Wednesday's Catch: "20 Truths From ‘Attentive Church Leadership’" And More

20 Truths From ‘Attentive Church Leadership’
“A frog waits for food to come to him, but lizards seek out their food. Churches today need to be more like lizards and less like frogs. Now the call is to go where people live, work, and play with the Good News of Jesus.”

Yet many churches still cling to the mindset, "What can we do to induce more people to come to us?" Jesus did't sit on his keister and wait for people to come to him. Like the good shepherd of the parable, he went in search of the lost sheep.

From Idea to Implementation: Three Keys for Change Efforts in Churches
Most church leaders have ideas, but not all ideas lead to change. What separates the dream from reality?

5 Things Prayer Has the Power to Do
We often hear the phrase, “There is power in prayer,” but what does prayer have the power to do? The ultimate power in prayer is that God acts as our Father, giving us good things when we ask. He desires to do good to us, and he answers when we pray, but to help us meditate even further on the power of prayer, here are five things prayer has the power to do.

The Case for Small Groups
"If you think community is an important part of healthy church life, and I hope you do, then small groups should also be important to you. They are actually crucial to the church’s health. I’m not the only one who thinks so—we have the research to back it up."

A Good Neighbor
As Christians we are, and ought to be, a blessing to our community by being good neighbors. This means keeping the Ten Commandments. We must devote ourselves to this and seek strength from God to do it. Christians are not just another special interest group that makes demands of our community and culture. We are here to serve, not be served. And we serve by being good neighbors. As a good neighbor, we must be there.

Love the Neighbors You’re Reaching
As we seek to reach our neighbors with the gospel, one way we love them is by honoring their language, traditions, and customs.

6 Lessons for Evangelism From Youth Soccer
"Over hundreds of hours coaching teams, leading practices and going to games, I learned some amazing lessons. Surprisingly, many of them carry over nicely to the topic of evangelism. Here are some of the best lessons I learned from youth soccer. I hope they help you mobilize your whole church for the work of evangelism."

Boy Scouts of America changing name to gender-inclusive 'Scouting America'
The Boy Scouts of America has announced it will change its name to “Scouting America” to reflect a more gender-inclusive tone in its programs, which allow girls to enroll. In an announcement on Tuesday, the BSA said the change to Scouting America will take effect on Feb. 8, 2025, the 115th anniversary of the organization's founding.

Southern Baptists, losing members, find solace in baptisms and better attendance
While membership in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination is down, participation in worship and baptisms went up in 2023. But a new statistical report found that many Southern Baptist Convention churches do little to address sexual abuse.

Also see: Annual church profile reveals Southern Baptist's resurgence in baptisms, worship: 'Reasons to celebrate' and SBC membership declines again but not as much, while number of churches still decreasing.

Baltimore Catholic parish closures a ‘punch in the stomach’ with long-term impact
Parish closures in the nation’s oldest Catholic diocese are part of a nationwide trend of dioceses restructuring in response to falling Mass attendance and priest shortages.

Also see: Under 1% of Catholics agree with denomination's teaching on sanctity of life issues: report