It is easy for ordinary churches to look at well-known ministries and feel inadequate. At Church Answers, we frequently hear church leaders say, “But we are just a small church.”
They see larger congregations, broader reach, and greater visibility. They hear stories of rapid growth and assume those outcomes are what every church should experience. Over time, those comparisons begin to shape expectations.
But comparison rarely leads to clarity.
Run to the Brokenness: Kevin Foster on How Your Church Can Stand Out by Serving Others (Ep 129)
“We don’t serve the broken to spark the latest church growth trend. We serve the broken because it’s what Jesus told us to do.”
Rural church rising…again!
“But I’m in a rural context—can fresh expressions work?” Throughout a decade of leading fresh expressions trainings, this is a frequently raised question.
I have served rural congregations for almost 15 years. In each of those congregations we cultivated multiple fresh expressions of church across an entire area, and the inherited congregations experienced new forms of vitality as a result.
Also See: When renewal springs from unexpected placesACNA College of Bishops unanimously approves Episcopal Election Customary
The College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) today unanimously approved a final version of a new Episcopal Election Customary, completing a significant effort to strengthen the discernment, vetting, and election of bishops across the Province.
Anne Boleyn as architect of the English Reformation: A conversation with Martha Tatarnic
Queen of England from 1533 until her husband King Henry VIII executed her in 1536, Anne Boleyn was a central political figure in the English Reformation that marked the birth of Anglicanism. The king’s desire to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne drove him to break with the Roman Catholic Church and establish the Church of England. Yet the extent to which Anne’s religious beliefs shaped the church is not well-known, Anglican priest and author Canon Martha Tatarnic says.
Jack Graham Calls SBC Abuse Crisis a ‘Reckless Hoax’ Days Before Annual Meeting
On Friday, a few days before the Southern Baptist Convention gathers for its annual meeting in Orlando, Florida, SBC megachurch Pastor Jack Graham said in a social media post that the SBC has never had a “systematic sexual abuse crisis” and described what prompted a 2021 independent investigation by Guidepost Solutions as a “reckless hoax.”
ICE protesters who interrupted Minnesota church service won't face state charges, prosecutor says
At least four states — Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Kansas — adopted laws this year making it a crime to disrupt worship services.
How To Be a Good Friend to Your Pastor
Being a good friend to a pastor is not the same as being a good friend in general. There are pitfalls specific to the relationship. Here are four of the most important ones to avoid.
How to Use Scripture to Heal, Not Harm
For many abuse survivors, the Bible has been used as a weapon rather than as a source of healing. Yet Scripture reveals a God who aims to bring shalom and is fiercely concerned for the oppressed. In this episode of Logos Live, Kirk E. Miller sits down with Dr. Steven Tracy to tackle the sobering reality of how Scripture is often misused in contexts of abuse and how we can reclaim it as a source of protection and healing for survivors. Together they explore important hermeneutical principles for using and applying Scripture as a medicine rather than a poison.
What are the songs we sing teaching the church?
Sound doctrine is a non-negotiable. It’s required in our preaching, our discipleship, and our teaching. But do we apply the same care for doctrine to our singing?
Archbishop of Canterbury highlights benefits and risks of AI
The Archbishop of Canterbury has joined Pope Leo XIV in calling for AI to be the servant of humanity rather than its replacement.
Speaking in the House of Lords, Sarah Mullally, described AI as “a remarkable product of human creativity” that has opened up tremendous opportunities in many fields of life.
Preachers Pledging Not to Use AI for Sermons
For the Rev. Emily García, associate rector at Church of Our Redeemer in Lexington, Massachusetts, the goal was clear: “I wanted to state publicly what I do with sermon writing and how I don’t use generative AI for it,” García told The Living Church.
In late May, she posted a link on Facebook to the website of what she calls the Saint Dunstan Pledge for Preachers, encouraging clergy, lay leaders, and everyone else concerned with the technology to commit to not using it to write sermons, homilies, or reflections.
The 4 Temptations of Jesus (and How to Overcome Your Own)
The Bible tells us that Jesus was tempted in every way and, from that, He can understand our weakness. But do we understand the nature of those temptations that Jesus faced and, from them, understand our own weakness?
The clearest portrait of the temptations Jesus faced can be seen in the wilderness, where He faced four – yes, four – direct seductions.
Why Your Evangelism Isn’t Working (And What to Do About It)
Most people reject the gospel before they ever really hear it. Not because Christianity is untrue, but because the way it gets delivered makes people feel like a project. That distinction matters more than most pastors and church leaders realize.
One in five Americans say they don’t believe in God. Church attendance has been declining for decades. The numbers are sobering, and the natural response is to evangelize harder. But harder isn’t the problem. How we share matters as much as whether we share.
Jonathan Dodson, founding pastor and author of Witness, makes a sharp observation: a person’s response to Christ rests in God’s sovereign hands, but a person’s hearing of the gospel is something we are responsible for. The question isn’t just whether people receive the good news. It’s whether they’re actually hearing it.
Two failures keep showing up in how Christians share their faith. Both are correctable. And getting them right won’t just make your evangelism more effective. It’ll make you someone people actually want to talk to.
Image Credit: Christ Church, Tulsa, Oklahoma
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