Hope is draining away for many in America. One recent analysis found that that 44 percent of American 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students reported feeling that their lives are “not useful.” Almost half added, “I do not …
Leading at an Unsustainable Pace
Leading a church can feel like running on a treadmill. You have to run faster and faster just to stay in the same place, and if you stop for a second, it feels like you’ll …
Forming a Strategy for Church Renewal
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 …
Does Your Church Need a Restart?
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 …
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 Structure for Renewal
Good governance is essential for healthy renewal. Governance is about how we decide things and how we get things done. It is about the relationship between boards, staff, teams, and volunteers. Governance is like a …
Dealing With Doubt and Deconstruction
As church renewal leaders, we dream of building vibrant, growing churches, but the trend of deconstruction reveals that infrastructure may be fracturing. Young people are increasingly leaving behind the faith in which they were raised, …
Pastor, How Are You Doing?
An unlikely post on X went viral last week when Elmo posted: “Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?” The simple question from Sesame Street’s lovable red Muppet quickly received almost 20,000 replies. People …
Reading for Renewal
I am always a little intimidated in conversations about how many books one reads in a year. I love to read but I tend to read a bit slower than most people, so the volume …
Can AI Really Help Accelerate Church Renewal Work?
In our 2024 Survival Guide, we noted that artificial intelligence (AI) will go mainstream this year. It’s already being woven into existing products by Google, Microsoft, Adobe, Canva, and many others. The technology will be hard …