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 …
Navigating Our Fractured Reality
As we noted in the last article, there is a deep fracturing in the evangelical church that can lead people in the pews to suspect those sitting next to them of not being sufficiently Christian …
Renewing the Pastors Who Renew Churches
Pastors know that church renewal is about more than buildings and budgets; it’s about people! However, pastors today are struggling to flourish in the area of personal relationships, according to new data from Barna’s State of …
What About Love?
Several years ago, I was sitting in a restaurant with a church leader who was working on building a faith formation pathway. As we talked, I asked him how his team defined discipleship. His answer was …
What it Takes for a Church Plant to Thrive
Planting a new church is one of the most exciting ways to grow the Kingdom of God! As we said in last week’s article, church plants tend to be strategically nimble and especially effective at community …
Planning a Vision Retreat
The work of church renewal hinges on ministry leaders’ clarity about the church’s mission and their role in helping to accomplish it. Summer is the perfect season to plan a retreat that allows your team …
Recent Trends In Church Staffing
A high-functioning church staff helps the church accomplish its mission. A key task many church renewal leaders face is hiring, training, and empowering the right people for ministry as employees. The Unstuck Group recently just …
Thankful For the Fleas
EDITOR’S NOTE: As we continue to highlight some of our most popular articles from recent years, here is one from November of 2022. Corrie ten Boom writes of her sister thanking God for the fleas …
More Trends In Church Renewal
Last week, I began summarizing an important new report that highlights 10 dynamics I think are relevant to our work in church renewal. This week I have the final five insights from Vanderbloemen Group’s State of …
What Leads To Renewal In 2025
In the last two Fresh Ideas newsletters, I noted that there have been several major epochs of church renewal but, most importantly, church renewal is a constant fixture in every Spirit-filled, Spirit-led congregation. I also highlighted …