Leadership
When our church led the way in building the new $3-million community center in our town, we did not expect the outcome to be new members for our church. We did expect the community center to become a gathering place for the community. When we helped start the local Boys
Congregation
I can't get Julie Clawson's words out of my head -- We couldn’t attract enough people willing to give enough money to pay our salary and so the church failed. Julie was responding to Dan Kimball's critique of missional churches as opposed to
Community
I'm starting to get into Facebook. Debbie and I have connected with old friends, our own family, former church members, and lots of new "friends" that we would not have met anywhere else. As experienced Facebookers know, not only can you find friends online, but you
bless the world
I'm playing around here and this is the rough draft of 101 Outreach Ideas for Small Churches. Any others you want to add? I'd love to hear any stories you have about any outreach ideas you've used. I'm working on a book,
Congregation
I'm reading Seth Godin's new book, Tribes. Godin packs his small book with pithy observations about the nature of "tribes" and the qualities tribes are looking for in leaders. Although he doesn't explicitly say this, it occurred to me that a small
bless the world
Here's the powerpoint I used in my NOC2008 workshop, Small Churches Make Good Neighbors. I'm using the abbey church model, and discussing the 10 aspects of the ancient celtic abbeys applied to churches today. The ppt is on SlideShare, so you can view and download the
church as abbey
A friend of mine sent me Seth Godin's new book, Tribes . All Godin's books pack lots of new thinking between their small covers. I'll post more about it after I'm finished, but already I've run across these gems: * "A
Congregation
Whatever it takes, right? I mean, anything that gets people in church is okay, right? Because, after all, everybody needs to hear the gospel, so the ends justifies the means, right? Maybe not. What are the ethics of outreach and when do we cross the line from compassion to conniving?
bless the world
NOC2008 surpassed my expectations! I got to hear Erwin McManus, J John, Francis Chan; and I sat in on Doug Stringer's workshop titled, Who's Your Daddy? Great title and great seminar. I met Ed Stetzer of LifeWay, and Gary McIntosh of Talbot Seminary; plus, the great
Community
Here is the sermon I preached this morning from Psalm 78:1-7, titled The Next Generation. The Next Generation Psalm 78:1-71 O my people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from
Culture
Wow, what a great kickoff to NOC08 yesterday. The small church discussion group I led had an overflow crowd and lots of great ideas. Erwin McManus delivered a powerful and compelling message. McManus said that most of our effort is spent trying to make Sunday worship just a little less
church as abbey
Wednesday I fly to San Diego for the National Outreach Convention -- NOC2008! I'm leading the workshop, Small Churches Make Good Neighbors: 10 Ways Your Church Can Change Your Community. I hope you're meeting me there, but if not, you can follow all the action at