church growth

Doing an inventory…

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In my last post, I compared becoming a church’s pastor to inheriting a workshop. You have a lot of tools and materials to help make disciples, you just may not understand the set up of the workshop yet. It will take you a little bit of time to learn the organization.

Today I wanted to talk about one of the things I wish I had done when I had arrived at both of my two churches – an ‘inventory’ of ministries. Going back to the workshop imagery, imagine that you have dozens of tools, an entire room full of lumber, and what seem like a countless supply of nails, screws, glue, and so on. At some point, you’re going to want to know what you’re working with. So here are a few thoughts and questions to ask as you inventory your church’s ministries:
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Things the Church can learn from ‘Heathens’…

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A couple of weeks ago, the band ‘Twenty One Pilots’ released a new single named ‘Heathens’, in conjunction with the release of the movie ‘Suicide Squad’ a movie about a team of villains. Because the song was featured in some marketing with the movie, it seems like the lyrics are written about the characters in the movie (and there is definitely some correlation). The truth is that the song has a deeper meaning. The lead singer, Tyler Joseph, is a strong Christian. He wrote the song to other Christians (read: the church), on behalf of his non-Christian (read: heathen) friends.

So here are a few things the church can learn from the song ‘Heathens’: Continue reading →

3 Things to Know About Managing Motivation…

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Somedays, I wake up with enough energy and motivation to run a half marathon, write a book, and build a bookcase by hand. Other days, I wake up and just wish I could move my fridge into my living room so I could watch ten hours of tv without getting up for food or drinks. Some days I have more “Go” than “To Do”, but most days, I’m running behind on motivation and energy (what I call “Go”).

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I imagine I’m not the only person who struggles with balancing the things that need to get done with the energy to do them.

Here’s how I try to manage my “Go” Continue reading →

4 Ways Your Church Can Use ‘Pokemon Go’…

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By now, if you’ve spent any time on the internet, you are certainly aware of the game ‘Pokemon Go’. It’s a game that uses your smart phone and nostalgia to encourage kids (and young adults) go for walks all over town. There is an interesting component to the whole game that churches should be aware of. The game includes different stations around town where people can go and regain supplies for the game. Fun fact – Churches are almost always one of these stations.

Just yesterday morning, I saw two young boys sitting on my churches lawn for a half an hour, because my church (Twin Oaks UMC) happens to be one of those stations. There are several ways churches could use this game to build relationships with their communities. Here are a few ideas and suggestions:  Continue reading →

6 Things Pastors Should Look For In Their Community…

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Every community, from the smallest village to the largest city, has a character all its own. One of the most important things a pastor or ministry leader can do is understand that character. It will tell you what ministries are needed and how your church could go about initiating them. And with so many United Methodist pastors settling into their new appointments, I thought this would be a good time to share 6 things to help you learn about your community. (For the record, you can be in year twenty of your ministry at a church and still benefit from these.)

As a point of citation, the points (in bold) are the work of Michael Mata, and the questions are the work of Michael Frost, who is a professor of Missiology and my additions.

So here are six things you should look at to understand your community: Continue reading →