One aim of church renewal is to help congregations regain a sense of purpose and calling. However, many churches struggle to form and implement a compelling vision for the future. Why do so many churches …
How To Balance Love and Truth
The Gospel of John says Jesus came full of grace and truth (John 1:14), and the apostle Paul urged Christians to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). Even so, many churches today are struggling to …
Pursuing Justice in Church Renewal
Is the world a better place because of Christianity? Increasingly, authors, bloggers, and influencers are saying that religion promotes injustice and violence. They believe that many non-Christians care about the poor and vulnerable more than the Church …
How To Become An Outward-Focused Church
The gravitational pull of churches will always be toward the wants and needs of insiders. It takes intentional effort to keep a church focused on its mission of reaching those outside the faith. At this year’s …
How To Measure Church Renewal
How do you know if your church renewal efforts are effective? Most of us have a general sense of how things are going at our churches. Feelings are not enough. We need objective measurements of church …
Pastoring the Local Community
What do high impact congregations have in common? That is the question the developers of the REVEAL Survey (REVEAL measures the discipleship health of a congregation) wanted to answer when they asked pastors from the highest …
Prayer In Church Renewal
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul…” -Hebrews 6:19 All of us need anchors in our lives, to keep us centered, grounded and attached. As the writer of Hebrews points out, Jesus …
Air Freshener For The Bathroom
“Churches don’t understand that if they just put some air freshener in the bathroom, people would feel more welcome.” These are words from a church consultant. Is he right? What are people telling us about …