Congregation
ChristianityToday.com has a great article on reporting church statistics -- how we count members, attendance, baptisms, and so on. Frank Page, president of the 16-million member Southern Baptist Convention, is quoted as saying, "The FBI couldn't find 5-million of our members." Pretty funny, but true.
Community
A church about 50-miles away made the local TV news recently because they constructed a $3-million children's indoor amusement center. Kids play video games, shoot arcade basketball, fire laser guns, and climb the rockwall in the indoor playscape. The children's pastor proudly spoke about this state-of-the-art,
Congregation
Yesterday, July 29, our church celebrated the last of "seven sesquicentennial Sunday celebrations." Try saying that seven times! Anyway, we set aside the last Sunday of each month from January through July to commemorate 150 years of ministry and service. Here are six of the best ideas we
Congregation
Repurposing is interior design jargon for using accessories or space in a new way. I learned that by watching HGTV, but churches can repurpose things, too. Sunday School might be one area that repurposing could revitalize. Think about these 5 ideas to repurpose your Sunday School: 1. Take the school
Congregation
Seth Godin follows up the Sprint-fires-their-customers thing today. Here's a quote: "Before you start firing customers, you better be committed to satisfying the rest of your customers." Seems that about half of Sprint's customers don't like them either. Maybe Sprint will fire
Congregation
Ever wanted to get rid of church members that complained about your sermons? Or members that griped about the fried chicken at the covered-dish? Well, Sprint has a solution -- just send them a letter and dump 'em! Seems that Sprint, one of the nation's largest wireless
Congregation
Debbie and I spent a few days last week with my parents in south Georgia. Getting away is always great, but it's also great to be back home. Abigail, age 4, at our community VBS Our community VBS, which was the last week of June, was a great
Congregation
Diana Butler Bass is one of my favorite writers. Today she writes about "Sock Puppet Church" and you have got to read it. Here's a good quote -- "My mother is nearly 70, has had two heart attacks, and is slowing down. When I think
Congregation
Change. One six-letter word that sparks fear in the hearts of church members everywhere, and especially small-church members. Talk about changing the worship time, the order of service, the Sunday School literature, the songs we sing, or even the way we greet each other and somebody will be against it.
Community
The Ark crew and passengers at the James River State Park Today we made the last "Ark" trip of the 2006-2007 season. The "Ark" is our church bus, and 28 of us made the trek to the James River State Park for a wonderful picnic lunch.
Community
If you're interested in spiritual awakening -- revival -- like I am, you've read the accounts of The Great Awakenings in America. Preachers, famous and unknown, fanned out across America preaching in fields and street corners, in towns and cities, proclaiming salvation in the name of
Congregation
Catch me on a difficult day in ministry, and I'm likely to say stuff about our church like: * "I wish we were more spiritual." * "If only our worship were deeper." * "We should care more as a congregation." Ever said anything like that?