A first-time guest decides how they feel about your church in the first few minutes, often before the music starts. One careless sentence at the door can undo a month of invitations. The words your people use on a Sunday morning carry more weight than your signage, your bulletin, or your sermon series.
You have been a visitor somewhere yourself. You know the feeling of walking in and hoping nobody says the wrong thing. Most of the phrases below are not cruel. They are casual, well-meant, and said by friendly people who would be horrified to learn they cost a guest a second visit. Here are ten of them, and what to say instead.
The Church Summer Slump: What Every Pastor Should Know
Many pastors feel it every year: “I hate summer attendance!” In this episode, Thom and Sam unpack real-world insights gathered from conversations with pastors across the country about the predictable, and sometimes preventable, summer slump.
Why the 1990s Changed Everything in American Religion-Replay
If you missed Thursday's Church Answer's webinar with Sam Rainer and Ryan Burge, l am posting this link to the replay and the following link to the slides.
Also See: Why the 1990s Changed Everything in American Religion-SlidesMissouri Program Helps Congregations’ Challenges
While the 1990s Decade of Evangelism was a denomination-wide flop in the Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Church continued its slide down what Ryan Burge describes as a "ski slope," my parish grew rapidly during that period, going from two services on Sunday morning to three and a midweek service on Wednesday night. We did not experience any decline in attendance until the first decade of the 21st century. It was precipitated by a church split which initially began as a disagreement over a proposed building project but became a conflict over the leadership of the parish's rector. This dispute led to the resignation of most of the members of the vestry and the loss of the music director and a third of the parish's member households. The election, confirmation, and consecration of Vicky Gene Robinson as the first openly gay bishop in a major Christian denomination believing in the historic episcopate would have a profound negative impact across the diocese, resulting in a diocese-wide drop in attendance and giving and the subsequent disbanding and closure of two new works, both of which had been enjoying substantial growth.
Sometimes a congregation and a bishop are faced with complex decisions concerning the future of a church – maintain or close? Change or abandon?
An innovative program from the Diocese of Missouri – Requiem or Renaissance – provides a process and a way forward to face the tough choices, while focusing on opportunities and spiritual health.
To Preserve or to Repurpose?
Is it more faithful to preserve a dying congregation — or to repurpose its financial assets for new life?
VOICES: Church hurt is real. Could microchurches be the cure?
The last eight years or so have been rough on the Church — scandals, COVID, deconstruction, church hurt, political polarization, pastoral burnout, institutional distrust, etc. But there’s some exciting good news. There’s a movement of microchurches that is challenging the prevailing church model and bringing healing to people who would otherwise give up on church.
The emphasis is small group discipleship that ministers to people individually, leadership/missional development of every member, and “minimal ecclesiology” to avoid the pitfalls of denominations. It is the antithesis of the “launch large” strategy of church planting organizations for the last few decades.
It’s difficult to know how many of these microchurches exist in the USA, but a moderate estimate would be around 20,000. BraveFuture.org lists a collective of 28 networks. In March, I attended their conference in Tampa, where workshops helped people navigate the microchurch concept. Many churches don’t belong to any kind of network and go uncounted.
There’s a revolution taking place in local journalism – but churches could be missing out
Scores of new independent local media titles are opening up across the UK, the US and other countries, as enterprising journalists seek to bridge the gap left by the decline of traditional newspapers.
In the UK, an estimated four million people live in ‘news deserts’ without a dedicated news outlet, as the move of advertising to ‘Big Tech’ social media platforms and readers seeking their news online – and for free – have led to many local newspapers closing down.
Over a million abortions took place in the US last year
Abortion estimates released by the Society of Family Planning’s #WeCount project show a slight increase in abortions and highlight how telehealth abortions are undermining state abortion restrictions in the post-Dobbs era.
The #WeCount project report published earlier this month estimated that 1.13 million abortions took place across the United States in 2025. The Society of Family Planning’s (SFP) research initiative stated that the number of abortions in 2025 was slightly higher than it was in 2024.
Also See: Does the U.S. Have a Fertility Crisis?; The potential impacts of the U.S. birth rate decline3 Things the Church Got Right in My Journey Through Gender Dysphoria
If mainline and evangelical churches are to arrest and even reverse their present decline, they need to have more children as well as make more converts to Christianity, according to research findings.
It’s important for the church to show love to the individual facing gender dysphoria. Here are three actions for the church.
The Return of Enthusiasm in Modern Evangelicalism: Recovering the Spirit Through the Means of Grace
Last Sunday, the church celebrated Pentecost—the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the church. And yet one of the great errors of contemporary Evangelicalism is the return of Enthusiasm. Not “enthusiasm” in the modern sense of excitement, but Enthusiasm in the historic Reformation sense: seeking God apart from the outward means He Himself has ordained.
Nine Different Personality Types Shaping Church Staffing Roles
Every church staff has a mix of personalities. Some people dream big. Others keep the calendar organized. Some quietly hold the team together, while others create tension that must be addressed. A healthy church staff does not require everyone to be the same, but it does require wisdom to understand how different people work together for the mission of God.
Overcoming Discontent: Chris Maxwell on Finding Contentment in Life and Ministry (Ep 130)
“Face your questions, your own wounds and your hurts, and refuse to let business take the place of that calmness and contentment that the Lord has for us.”
How to Conduct Faithful Pastoral Visits: A 10-Step Guide
Every pastor I know agrees that visiting church members in their homes is a good thing to do. Generally, none would dispute that a shepherd should do his best to know the sheep in his flock. But are pastoral visits a prescribed practice? Are they scripturally necessary or simply beneficial?
How to Handle Church Conflict Biblically Without Tearing the Church Apart
Handle church conflict the way Jesus handled the cross. Refuse to retaliate, refuse to take sides in a power struggle, commit the outcome to God, and protect the unity of the church above winning the argument. No issue is worth tearing a church apart.
Experts give warning about AI consciousness
We are in danger of making a fundamental mistake about artificial intelligence, a group of researchers have warned.
A new paper from neuroscientists at the Université de Montréal and Johns Hopkins University says that we need to be sure to distinguish between AI’s intelligence and it actually being conscious.
How Churches Can Prevent AI Scams, Impersonation, and Payment Fraud
Not every message that sounds like your church’s pastor or leader is actually that person.
In today’s world, an AI-generated voice memo, video clip, or text thread can trick church staff into sending real money to criminals.
Summer Ministry’s C+ Temptation
outh ministry in the summer has always been a struggle for me. Ministry momentum slows way down because my teenagers refocus their time on summer jobs, family vacations, camps, and trips to grandma’s house. Attendance is frustratingly inconsistent: Without warning, we can go from 24 kids to 87 kids any given week. And that drives me a little crazy.
If I’m honest, I’m often tempted to give summer ministry my C+ effort. I’m not saying it’s right, it’s just how I feel. When our numbers are down we have fewer musicians for the student band, fewer student leaders to help with the “meat and potatoes” of our ministry, and fewer adult leaders I can count on. I can schedule and plan with my “A” game, but if something always happens to mess it up, it hurts motivation.
Summer Is a Liar
Jesus reminds us that real love is defined by the way we love our enemies, so I guess we need to honor summer back. Summer means well. Here are a few tips we use to maximize our time during the summer months, without driving us insane.
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