One of the most important questions church renewal leaders can ask is this: Are people truly being transformed? Or are we simply keeping them busy with a calendar full of the usual church programs? Churches tend …
When Politics Pulls Renewal Into The Rapids
Renewal is never a calm float down a lazy river. Sooner or later, every church that wants to follow Jesus into deeper health and mission hits rough water. One of the roughest places right now …
Is Your Process of Decision-Making Slowing Down Your Church?
Today, we are wrapping up a series of articles about common bottlenecks that keep churches from growing. One of the most common bottlenecks is the process of decision-making and governance. Many churches end up with a …
Is Leadership Development a Bottleneck In Your Church?
In this series of articles, we are looking at common bottlenecks that keep churches from growing. In the last article, we looked at the guest-path bottleneck. We asked whether our churches are easy to enter, …
Can The Pastor Be A Bottleneck?
In the last article, we explored the idea of ministry bottlenecks. Like a traffic jam caused by one narrow chokepoint, churches often slow down not because everything is broken, but because one part of the …
Telling Your Church’s Big Campfire Story
In last week’s article, we talked about the importance of every church to discover and share their “campfire stories.” These positive stories speak to the best of what your congregation has been able to accomplish, along with the …
When Headlines Hijack the Pulpit
If you lead a church right now, you can probably feel the pressure in the air. The headlines have been relentless, sparking grief, anger, and heated debate. One week, a public figure like Charlie Kirk is …
Facing Reality: Deep Hurt and Fragile Unity
Today, we are concluding a series of newsletters naming and responding to the most common challenges churches are facing today. This week, we will address a daunting challenge, deep hurt and fragile unity in the congregation. …
Facing Reality: Volunteer Decline
In this series of newsletters, we have named six challenges churches today cannot ignore. We have already discussed the first two challenges, aging congregations and leadership pipelines running dry. Today, we’ll turn to this third challenge, the …
Facing Reality: Leadership Pipelines Running Dry
At the end of 2025, we named six challenges churches today cannot ignore. After naming and facing reality, we can begin to meet these challenges head-on — both prayerfully and strategically. We have already discussed the first …