Church revitalization triage helps pastors work in a logical manner and not give into the pressures of people who want their problems fixed.
The Collapse of the Anglican Church of Canada
New numbers for the Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) are out, and they show that Canada is the first major province of the Anglican Communion to have collapsed. This is highly significant, both for Canada and for other Western provinces following its trajectory.
Central Pennsylvania, Bethlehem eye vote on diocesan merger; Indiana dioceses’ talks advance
The authorization of a series of diocesan mergers was one of the big stories at the 81st General Convention in June, when bishops and deputies celebrated the reunion of the three Wisconsin dioceses and the juncture of two dioceses in Michigan, as well as the combination of the church’s Micronesia area mission with the Diocese of Hawai’i. Collaboration isn’t just a matter of pooling resources at a time of denominational decline. The leaders of these and other partnering dioceses also say that working together can strengthen the church’s approach to Christian mission and ministry in the world. Additional mergers are likely in the coming triennium.
Christ Church Riverdale Builds on a 160-Year History
Christ Church Riverdale in the Bronx experienced 13 percent growth from 2017 to 2021, and now it is adjusting to life after COVID. “There’s no magic bullet for growth,” said the Rev. Emily Anderson Lukanich, rector. “We experienced the growth from 2017, but with a change in leadership.”
Vermont Episcopalians recover from back-to-back floods, find hope in helping others
Episcopalians and others in Vermont are reeling after two major flooding events in three weeks, including the most recent rainfall that the Rev. Ann Hockridge said the National Weather Service called a “once in a 1,000-year flood.” Hockridge is the part-time priest-in-charge at St. Andrew’s in St. Johnsbury, a town of about 6,000 that is located in the northeast corner of the state that officially is called the Northeast Kingdom. That area was among the hardest hit in the most recent July 29-30 rains that Hockridge said at one point produced more than 8 inches in 6 hours.
When Teams Can’t Trust Their Leaders
There have been plenty of stories recently about pastors and other ministry leaders failing or falling from grace. This isn’t one of those stories. This post is about pastors and leaders with teams who don’t trust them to keep their word. Keep in mind that these aren’t bad people, and I’m not talking about outright liars. I’m talking about leaders who’ve spent so many years changing their minds, making rash decisions, or back-peddling that their closest friends and employees can’t trust their decisions anymore.
Does Your Team Lack Trust? You CAN Rebuild It!
Have you ever noticed that it takes time to build trust in an organization? As a corollary to this, cynicism seems to multiply like weeds. Cynicism tends to permeate an organization where trust is in short supply. The good news is that once trust is established, a church team can enter into appropriate, constructive conflict, without fear that it will turn destructive. Trust has to do with a willingness on people’s part to be vulnerable within the team. It’s an openness about mistakes and weaknesses. Organizations and teams that lack trust are unable to engage in unfiltered and passionate disagreement around the mission of the organization. Instead, they resort to veiled discussions and guarded comments.
Why Do Good People Do Bad Things? The Problem of Free Will
Admittedly, this is not one of the first questions people ask. Much more common is the question, Why do bad things happen to good people? For Christians, though, an equally disturbing question is: Why do good people do bad things? It is a theological problem. Why do people made in the image of God defy God and choose what is wrong? Why do they sin?
9 Myths About Hell
In a short article today at the blogsite of Crossway, my friend Tom Schreiner posted a few brief comments about the nature and reality of hell. I thought it would be good to follow up on this by reminding us all of several misconceptions or myths about the nature of hell.
Church leaders, have we lost our ability to shepherd?
When shepherds aren’t really interested in the spiritual work that is the heart of their calling from God, the consequences of that lack of interest can negatively impact the people in the congregations they lead.
8 Free Online Bible Study Tools
Kevin Halloran and the subscribers to his newsletter have put together a list of some favorite free online tools for Bible study.
Reaching Out Online
Most churches make one of two mistakes when it comes to marketing. Either they fail to market their church or message in any way, or they market them ineffectively. During my church planting days, the internet was a nonfactor. You would put ads in the newspaper, make flyers, or, if you were cutting edge, use direct mail. Unfortunately, many churches, if they make any marketing effort at all, are still using those approaches. But with the vast majority of the unchurched community reachable almost exclusively online, we need to rethink marketing our churches.
Blow Up Your Church Newsletter
Rewind to 2019 and our church email newsletter looked like most. It was a highlight reel of upcoming events and advertisements, suffering from abysmal open rates and even more abysmal click-through rates. If it hit the inbox of 1000 people, fewer than 10 would click on anything. And those who read it were our most insidery insiders who love being in the know. Of course, these are also the sincerely wonderful people who sign up for everything no matter what — which means they need serialized email event advertisements less than anyone else.
5 Places to Find New Group Members
Need more people in your small group? Not sure where to find them? Surely, not everyone’s already in a group in your church? Where are they hiding? How can you find them? Don’t worry, sometimes Christians hide, and that’s ok, but we don’t want them to stay hidden. Other times, they’re looking for you too. Here are 5 places you can find new people to invite to your group.
Christ Church Riverdale Builds on a 160-Year History
Christ Church Riverdale in the Bronx experienced 13 percent growth from 2017 to 2021, and now it is adjusting to life after COVID. “There’s no magic bullet for growth,” said the Rev. Emily Anderson Lukanich, rector. “We experienced the growth from 2017, but with a change in leadership.”
Vermont Episcopalians recover from back-to-back floods, find hope in helping others
Episcopalians and others in Vermont are reeling after two major flooding events in three weeks, including the most recent rainfall that the Rev. Ann Hockridge said the National Weather Service called a “once in a 1,000-year flood.” Hockridge is the part-time priest-in-charge at St. Andrew’s in St. Johnsbury, a town of about 6,000 that is located in the northeast corner of the state that officially is called the Northeast Kingdom. That area was among the hardest hit in the most recent July 29-30 rains that Hockridge said at one point produced more than 8 inches in 6 hours.
When Teams Can’t Trust Their Leaders
There have been plenty of stories recently about pastors and other ministry leaders failing or falling from grace. This isn’t one of those stories. This post is about pastors and leaders with teams who don’t trust them to keep their word. Keep in mind that these aren’t bad people, and I’m not talking about outright liars. I’m talking about leaders who’ve spent so many years changing their minds, making rash decisions, or back-peddling that their closest friends and employees can’t trust their decisions anymore.
Does Your Team Lack Trust? You CAN Rebuild It!
Have you ever noticed that it takes time to build trust in an organization? As a corollary to this, cynicism seems to multiply like weeds. Cynicism tends to permeate an organization where trust is in short supply. The good news is that once trust is established, a church team can enter into appropriate, constructive conflict, without fear that it will turn destructive. Trust has to do with a willingness on people’s part to be vulnerable within the team. It’s an openness about mistakes and weaknesses. Organizations and teams that lack trust are unable to engage in unfiltered and passionate disagreement around the mission of the organization. Instead, they resort to veiled discussions and guarded comments.
Why Do Good People Do Bad Things? The Problem of Free Will
Admittedly, this is not one of the first questions people ask. Much more common is the question, Why do bad things happen to good people? For Christians, though, an equally disturbing question is: Why do good people do bad things? It is a theological problem. Why do people made in the image of God defy God and choose what is wrong? Why do they sin?
9 Myths About Hell
In a short article today at the blogsite of Crossway, my friend Tom Schreiner posted a few brief comments about the nature and reality of hell. I thought it would be good to follow up on this by reminding us all of several misconceptions or myths about the nature of hell.
Church leaders, have we lost our ability to shepherd?
8 Free Online Bible Study Tools
Kevin Halloran and the subscribers to his newsletter have put together a list of some favorite free online tools for Bible study.
Reaching Out Online
Most churches make one of two mistakes when it comes to marketing. Either they fail to market their church or message in any way, or they market them ineffectively. During my church planting days, the internet was a nonfactor. You would put ads in the newspaper, make flyers, or, if you were cutting edge, use direct mail. Unfortunately, many churches, if they make any marketing effort at all, are still using those approaches. But with the vast majority of the unchurched community reachable almost exclusively online, we need to rethink marketing our churches.
Blow Up Your Church Newsletter
Rewind to 2019 and our church email newsletter looked like most. It was a highlight reel of upcoming events and advertisements, suffering from abysmal open rates and even more abysmal click-through rates. If it hit the inbox of 1000 people, fewer than 10 would click on anything. And those who read it were our most insidery insiders who love being in the know. Of course, these are also the sincerely wonderful people who sign up for everything no matter what — which means they need serialized email event advertisements less than anyone else.
5 Places to Find New Group Members
Need more people in your small group? Not sure where to find them? Surely, not everyone’s already in a group in your church? Where are they hiding? How can you find them? Don’t worry, sometimes Christians hide, and that’s ok, but we don’t want them to stay hidden. Other times, they’re looking for you too. Here are 5 places you can find new people to invite to your group.
Related Articles: A Key to Growing Passionate Disciples of Jesus in Small Groups and Being a Navigator of Discussion.
The photo shows the front of the church building of St. Mark's Anglican Church, Benton, Kentucky, a Continuing Anglican church, now disbanded.
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