Community
Believe it or not, VBS planning time is just around the corner and I wanted to share this experience with you. In June, 2004, about 60 kids and leaders attended our community-wide VBS. Four churches in our small town were involved -- Methodist, Baptist (that's us), Presbyterian, and
Community
(This is a great story I used as introduction to a DMin paper I wrote last year. Hope you enjoy it. -- Chuck) As Europe emerged from the Dark Ages, China was the undisputed master of the eastern world. Chinese culture was centuries ahead of European culture. While the library
Congregation
We host a Boys and Girls Club downstairs in our old fellowship hall. About 40 kids attend the club each afternoon, Monday through Friday. We started the club about a year ago, and it has grown steadily and is now seen as a community asset. Hosting this club was a
Congregation
Lyle Schaller is one of the best, most insightful congregational consultants I have ever heard. His book, Small Congregation, Big Potential, is a great resource for ministry in the small church. Here are the 12 assumptions he makes in this book: 1. "Americans no longer live in a culture
Congregation
Okay, I can't resist this. I ran across a blog about MacWorld attendees -- folks who go to the annual keynote address by Apple founder Steve Jobs. It seems that attendees amuse themselves while listening to Steve Jobs talk by playing MacWorld Bingo. Just like regular bingo, except
Congregation
Our church was founded July 28, 1857. This year, 2007, we are celebrating our 150th anniversary with a series of events on the last Sunday of each month from January through July. To kick off our anniversary year, this morning I preached from Isaiah 43:1-7. Through Isaiah, God says
Congregation
According to A Field Guide to U. S. Congregations: Who's Going Where and Why, here are some interesting statistics on churches: * Number of people associated in any way with the median congregation: 200 * Number who regularly participate in the median congregation: 110 * Number 18 or older who participate
Congregation
Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." -- Matthew 9:37-38 NIV It occurred to me the other day that the difference in the church
Congregation
I got a church newsletter today encouraging its members to Read Thru the Bible in 2007. We tried that the first year I was here and only two people actually did it -- and I was not one of them! I did pretty well until about August, got hopelessly behind
Congregation
Have you noticed that medical conditions are all referred to by an alphabetic code? Who ever heard of RLS ("restless leg syndrome") until a drug was invented to cure it. My wife calls RLS "dog leg," which she says I have, but I am not going
Community
I read a blog recently that was pessimistic about the small church. Let me rephrase that -- the blogger said, "There is no hope for the small church." He cited the following reasons: * He had read Good to Great by Jim Collins, and had applied Collins' business
Congregation
The big buzz out there in the "church" conversation is the debate over attractional vs. missional church models. We know what attractional churches are because that's what most of us have wanted our churches to be. The whole attractional thing probably started in the 1950s when