If your church has hit a plateau, this episode of the Church Revitalization Podcast gives you a practical, no-nonsense framework to get things moving again. Scott and A.J. walk through four key questions every church leader should honestly answer, covering community presence, follow-up systems, barrier removal, and mobilizing your people to serve. Whether you have been plateaued for a while or just feel like you need a kick in the right direction, this episode is packed with actionable next steps you can start on this week.
Also See: How to Jumpstart Church Growth from a PlateauHow to Prevent Your Discipleship Model from Aging Out with the Older Generations
Many churches are beginning to recognize that their discipleship systems are no longer working as well as they once did. The problem is not necessarily neglect. In many cases, the problem is that the model was built for a different era—one marked by more frequent church attendance, earlier marriage, more stable family rhythms, and Baby Boomers providing much of the volunteers.
That world is fading.
Josh and Sam discuss how churches that adjust their discipleship strategies now will be better positioned to disciple effectively ten and twenty years from today.
4 Guiding Beliefs of Today’s Culture
Having an intentional plan for discipleship is the best way to address these four guiding beliefs of culture today.
Where Have All the Vicars Gone?
The impact of the dearth of clergy is evident in almost every deanery in every diocese.
Edinburgh University ends divinity programmes as theology faces a changing future
The University of Edinburgh is ending its Bachelor and Master of Divinity programmes, marking a significant change for an institution whose history has been closely intertwined with theological education for centuries.
The decision comes as universities across Britain face financial pressures, changing patterns of student demand, and a reassessment of how theology and religious studies should be taught. It also follows a major decision by the Church of Scotland to concentrate its national ministerial training at the University of Glasgow.
>Catholicism in France has 'collapsed' France, once known as the “eldest daughter of the Church” due to its high standing in Catholic Europe, is now a place of “injustices” and “discrimination” against Christians, a new report has stated.
The report, called "The Church’s Suffering and Hope in France", was released by the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) as Pope Leo XIV prepares to make the first papal visit to the country in almost two decades.
Narnia Among the Deathworks
t was Carl Trueman who introduced me to the idea of a deathwork, though the concept is Philip Rieff’s. According to Rieff, a deathwork is an assault on something that is hallowed to an established culture. It isn’t a critique or argument that the culture is untrue, but a means of profaning something that is sacred in order to make it seem ridiculous or repulsive. Trueman summarizes it as “the act of using the sacred symbols of a previous era in order to subvert, and then destroy, their original significance and purpose.”
Voices: Why the book of Enoch is not Scripture
How should followers of Jesus approach the book of Enoch? Should we really consider it inspired Scripture, on par with Genesis, Isaiah, and Daniel?
7 Quiet Church Leadership Mistakes That Slowly Damage a Church
Here are seven of them, what each looks like in practice, and what healthy leaders do instead. If your church feels stuck even though nothing is wrong on paper, one of these is probably part of the reason.
9 Things Pastors Should Stop Apologizing For
Most pastors can recite the complaint before the email arrives. The sermon ran long. The new service time is inconvenient. You took a Sunday off in July. Somewhere in that steady drip of feedback, many leaders pick up a habit of saying sorry for things that are simply part of the job.
Humility belongs in ministry, and pastors should own real mistakes quickly and without excuses. Apologizing for faithful work is a different habit. Over time it wears down a leader’s confidence and quietly trains a church to expect a pastor with no limits. Below are nine things pastors can stop apologizing for, plus a simple test for knowing when an apology is owed.
How to Ruin Your Church Leadership in 10 Easy Steps
It's tough to predict success in leadership—but failure? That's easy.
In this video, I unpack the 10 fastest ways to ruin your church leadership (and your life).
From neglecting your character to sacrificing your family, these "bad habits" will wreck your influence faster than you think.
But here's the good news: do the opposite, and you'll build the kind of leadership that lasts.
Also See: Why Leaders Self-Sabotage and How to Break the Cycle with Judah Smith & Dr. Les Parrott9 Ways To Trim Your Text To A Preachable Size
Each time you select a passage of Scripture to preach on a given Sunday, you are implying that passage is able to stand alone.
20 Questions To Evaluate Your Sermon Before You Preach It
Before stepping into the pulpit, every preacher should run their sermon through an honest checklist. These 20 questions have shaped one pastor’s preaching for decades and still hold up today.
Your Greek Bible Is Changing. Don’t Freak Out. (Part 1)
With the arrival of the new school year, students are returning to universities and seminaries, and many are studying Greek to read the writings of the New Testament in their original language. This year, two significantly updated resources are available for students, pastors, scholars, and teachers wishing to learn more about the manuscripts behind our critical text. This essay is the first of a two-part reflection; the second appears tomorrow. Here I discuss some introductory aspects of textual criticism. In the next part, I will discuss the history of translations and review some new resources.
Why AI resembles a charismatic religious leader
AI can function as a charismatic figure without standing on a stage, establishing a church or gathering disciples, writes a scholar of religion.
Third of young people now turning to AI for friendship, research finds
A third of young people are now using an AI companion, according to new research.
The RELATE Project 2026, by Christian youth ministry Young Life, spoke to over 7,100 teenagers and young adults across 11 different countries including the US, UK, Argentina, Mexico, India and Nigeria.
For children and youth, Sunday is outnumbered
Do the math on an American childhood, and the church’s situation becomes uncomfortably clear.
A child in the pews every single week gets barely a hundred hours of church a year. Some leaders in the kids’ ministry space put the realistic figure closer to 40. Meanwhile the average American child spends some 2,000 hours a year on screens. Forty against 2,000. Sunday is outnumbered 50 to one.
You would not know it from our arguments. Congregations debate worship styles, curriculum choices, whether the youth room needs new couches. Denominations fight over the 40 hours as if these hours were the whole battlefield, while the 2,000 hours walk out the door unexamined, every family, every week.
No comments:
Post a Comment