Todd Wilson has spent decades studying the American church. His diagnosis is direct: The church growth movement started with the right instinct—reach more people—but built the wrong operating system. A well-intentioned movement was gradually co-opted into consumer logic. Attend. Receive. Repeat.1 The pastor became the product. Every system flows to him. Every decision waits on him.
Barna research confirmed in 2024 that roughly 40% of U.S. senior Protestant pastors are at high risk of burnout.2 The problem is not weak pastors. It is wrong architecture—one that concentrated ministry in one office and trained the congregation to be spectators.
That model has a ceiling of exactly one person. And that person is already maxed out. The question is not how do you work harder. The question is how do you stop being the bottleneck.
How to Make Your Life Burnout-Proof: Burnout 20 Years Later, Part 2
Twenty years after burnout almost took him out, Carey is back with Part 2—the recovery playbook. You don’t need to get back to normal. Normal is what burned you out. In this solo episode, Carey shares seven strategies to burnout-proof your life: stop managing time and start managing energy, move to a fixed calendar, guard your green zone, and stop letting the wrong people hijack your best hours.
South Carolina capital campaign kicks off churchwide ‘pay it forward’ fundraising initiative
The Diocese of South Carolina is using seed money from The Episcopal Church to launch its first capital campaign since resolving a property lawsuit with a breakaway group in 2022. The new fundraising is seen both as a way to invest in the Charleston-based diocese’s own priorities, like congregational revitalization and racial reconciliation, and as a pilot program for supporting other dioceses’ capital campaigns.
Also See: We Are The Diocese of South Carolina‘God at work’ - Baptist leaders report signs of growth across churches amid ministry challenges
Baptist leaders have reported fresh signs of growth across churches in England and Wales, with rising baptism numbers, increased worship attendance, and a modest rise in membership offering encouragement after years of decline in several areas of church life.
Speaking at the Baptist Assembly, Baptists Together General Secretary Lynn Green said the latest Annual Returns painted a hopeful picture of “God at work” across the movement, while also acknowledging ongoing structural and demographic challenges facing Baptist churches, reports The Baptist Times.
Also See: Baptists TogetherIn conversation with Meredith Stone about Mohler’s amendment
As Southern Baptists prepare to consider Al Mohler’s so called “Truth and Unity Amendment” at their annual meeting in Orlando next month, many Baptist women are becoming weary of Southern Baptist men defining “unity” as joining together to silence women.
Also See: More Baptist Faith and Message 2000 falloutCanadian evangelicals confused about core Christian doctrines, survey finds
A major new survey examining religious beliefs in Canada has found that many evangelicals hold views that deny historic Christian teaching, prompting renewed calls for stronger biblical discipleship and theological education within churches.
The findings come from the 2026 State of Theology Canada survey, carried out by Ligonier Ministries Canada alongside Lifeway Research.
In the next five years, the Earth is overwhelmingly likely to surge again and again past the international climate threshold set as safe and shatter its hottest-year record along the way, according to new United Nations climate projections.
The World Meteorological Organization also forecasts an overheating Arctic that warms nearly 3 degrees Fahrenheit (1.66 degrees Celsius) between now and 2030 and a dangerous drought with potential wildfires for the Amazon, a crucial part of Earth's natural defenses to lessen human-caused climate change. A hotter globe from the burning of coal, oil and gas means more extreme weather including floods, droughts and heat waves, scientists said.
Summer hasn’t even started in the Northern Hemisphere, and thermometers around the globe are already fit to burst.
In India, at least 16 people have died during a pre-monsoon season heatwave as temperatures reach a scorching 116 degrees Fahrenheit, with conditions expected to worsen over the coming days.
Setting compensation for pastors and church staff is not just a budgeting exercise.
Church compensation decisions have legal, tax, and governance consequences that differ sharply from those faced by for-profit employers.
Executive pastors, administrators, finance leaders, and board members all play a role—and misunderstandings can expose a church to penalties, audits, or loss of tax benefits.
Here are the compensation issues every church leader should understand.
7 Sexual Boundaries Every Pastor Must Know (And Protect)
Pastoral ministry is one of the most intimate callings in human life. People come to their pastor at their most vulnerable: grief, failing marriages, spiritual crisis. That intimacy is a gift. It is also a trap, and every year it claims men who never intended to fall.
This is not a theoretical danger. The statistics on pastoral sexual misconduct are sobering, and the stories behind them follow a pattern that almost never starts with predatory intent. It starts with small compromises, invisible lines crossed so gradually that the pastor barely notices until he is standing somewhere he never meant to be.
What follows is a practical framework drawn from decades of pastoral experience. Not rules for their own sake. Not a list of fears. A set of clear, actionable boundaries that protect the pastor, the people he serves, and the ministry God gave him.
Most ministry failures begin with small compromises that do not initially feel dangerous.
Preach to the Choir
There are two types of heretics: accidental and intentional. Most heretics in our churches are accidental heretics. They’ve got bad theology, don’t know the Scriptures, and are worldly in their assumptions about humanity, God, and the purpose of life.
The 2025 Ligonier and Lifeway report on the State of Theology of self-identified evangelicals should make pastors sweat....
Advice on How to “Preach the Gospel” to Yourself
Although the phrase became popular more recently, the idea of “preaching the gospel to yourself” isn’t something new or novel. This practice is found throughout the pages of Scripture. In the Psalms, we see David “preaching” to himself the truth about God’s saving character when he felt depressed and abandoned (Psalm 42:5). We see Peter, Paul, and John regularly preaching gospel truths to their readers before exhorting them to holy living (ex. 1 Peter 1:3-21; 2 Peter 1:3-11; Col. 3:1-17; Eph. 4:17-32; 1 John. 4:9-11; etc.). Clearly, who we are and how we live was meant to be shaped by who God is and what He has done, is doing, and will do to save us through Christ.
Preaching the gospel to ourselves is a discipline that we should consistently practice in order to mature in Christlikeness. But what does that actually look like? Practically, how do we “preach the gospel” to ourselves? Recently, a young woman in our church asked me those very questions—ones you may be wondering about as well. If so, I hope the advice I gave her will be helpful to you too.
The findings come from the 2026 State of Theology Canada survey, carried out by Ligonier Ministries Canada alongside Lifeway Research.
Also See: Most Canadian Evangelicals hold unbiblical beliefs, poll suggestsThink it's hot now? The next five years will smash records, UN says
In the next five years, the Earth is overwhelmingly likely to surge again and again past the international climate threshold set as safe and shatter its hottest-year record along the way, according to new United Nations climate projections.
The World Meteorological Organization also forecasts an overheating Arctic that warms nearly 3 degrees Fahrenheit (1.66 degrees Celsius) between now and 2030 and a dangerous drought with potential wildfires for the Amazon, a crucial part of Earth's natural defenses to lessen human-caused climate change. A hotter globe from the burning of coal, oil and gas means more extreme weather including floods, droughts and heat waves, scientists said.
Longer, hotter summers are going to have a significant negative impact upon the worship, ministry, and life of local churches particularly those that have aging congregations.This summer is going to kill a lot of people
Summer hasn’t even started in the Northern Hemisphere, and thermometers around the globe are already fit to burst.
In India, at least 16 people have died during a pre-monsoon season heatwave as temperatures reach a scorching 116 degrees Fahrenheit, with conditions expected to worsen over the coming days.
What can your church do to help senior adults and other vulnerable segments of the population survive the heat?Legal and Tax Issues Every Church Leader Needs To Understand
Setting compensation for pastors and church staff is not just a budgeting exercise.
Church compensation decisions have legal, tax, and governance consequences that differ sharply from those faced by for-profit employers.
Executive pastors, administrators, finance leaders, and board members all play a role—and misunderstandings can expose a church to penalties, audits, or loss of tax benefits.
Here are the compensation issues every church leader should understand.
7 Sexual Boundaries Every Pastor Must Know (And Protect)
Pastoral ministry is one of the most intimate callings in human life. People come to their pastor at their most vulnerable: grief, failing marriages, spiritual crisis. That intimacy is a gift. It is also a trap, and every year it claims men who never intended to fall.
This is not a theoretical danger. The statistics on pastoral sexual misconduct are sobering, and the stories behind them follow a pattern that almost never starts with predatory intent. It starts with small compromises, invisible lines crossed so gradually that the pastor barely notices until he is standing somewhere he never meant to be.
What follows is a practical framework drawn from decades of pastoral experience. Not rules for their own sake. Not a list of fears. A set of clear, actionable boundaries that protect the pastor, the people he serves, and the ministry God gave him.
Most ministry failures begin with small compromises that do not initially feel dangerous.
Preach to the Choir
There are two types of heretics: accidental and intentional. Most heretics in our churches are accidental heretics. They’ve got bad theology, don’t know the Scriptures, and are worldly in their assumptions about humanity, God, and the purpose of life.
The 2025 Ligonier and Lifeway report on the State of Theology of self-identified evangelicals should make pastors sweat....
Advice on How to “Preach the Gospel” to Yourself
Although the phrase became popular more recently, the idea of “preaching the gospel to yourself” isn’t something new or novel. This practice is found throughout the pages of Scripture. In the Psalms, we see David “preaching” to himself the truth about God’s saving character when he felt depressed and abandoned (Psalm 42:5). We see Peter, Paul, and John regularly preaching gospel truths to their readers before exhorting them to holy living (ex. 1 Peter 1:3-21; 2 Peter 1:3-11; Col. 3:1-17; Eph. 4:17-32; 1 John. 4:9-11; etc.). Clearly, who we are and how we live was meant to be shaped by who God is and what He has done, is doing, and will do to save us through Christ.
Preaching the gospel to ourselves is a discipline that we should consistently practice in order to mature in Christlikeness. But what does that actually look like? Practically, how do we “preach the gospel” to ourselves? Recently, a young woman in our church asked me those very questions—ones you may be wondering about as well. If so, I hope the advice I gave her will be helpful to you too.
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