Essential choices must be made when a church moves onto the downward slope of its lifecycle. This is especially true as the church moves from early to late aging. When the church enters this stage …
To Livestream Or Not To Livestream
Does offering a worship livestream siphon people off from participating in-person? New data by the Pew Research Center says that is generally not something to worry about. Most people are not substituting online worship for in-person …
Transformation in a Secular Age
A critical task of pastors and ministry leaders in a renewal process is to lead people toward being transformed by God. Paul writes to the church in Rome, calling them to be transformed by the …
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 …
Trends in Staffing Relevant for Church Renewal
In many churches, staff members play a crucial role in accomplishing the mission. They are seeing and solving problems. They are working in the trenches of ministry day after day. The investments we make in the …
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 …
Is Church Decline Over?
New surveys show the rise of the “Nones” may be coming to an end, but it’s not all good news. This month, the Cooperative Election Study published new findings, showing that 36 percent of people now identify …
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 …
A Tailor-Made Approach to Change
How do ideas spread? That is the question behind Everett Rogers’ classic book, The Diffusion of Innovations. As church renewal leaders, learning the art and science of change is crucial to our work. Developing those skills by reading …
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 …