Christmas is Not Your Birthday
There was a time when churches were reluctant to take an offering at their Christmas Eve services. The reasoning was that many people at those…
Author
Lovett H. Weems Jr.
Lovett H. Weems Jr. is senior consultant at the Lewis Center for Church Leadership, distinguished professor of church leadership emeritus at Wesley Theological Seminary, and author of several books on leadership.
The Worship Recession
It is commonplace to hear references to what it means for churches to function in “the current financial recession.” But there is another recession going…
Reaching More Disciples
The first decade of the 21st century was one of highs and lows for U.S. congregations. In the wake of the tragedy of 9/11, many…
2011 Clergy Age Trends Report Shows More Older and Younger Clergy
The Lewis Center for Church Leadership today released the 2011 version of its annual report Clergy Age Trends in the United Methodist Church. The report,…
Challenges to Active Church Participation
Virtually all churches are experiencing a changing environment regarding what they can expect from members in relation to time, participation, and energy. Some feel this…
Recent Research Quantifies the Nature and Scope of Lay Staff Ministry
The growth of lay staff in congregations across denominations is a significant trend shaping the way churches engage in ministry and the way people experience…
Three New Books on Effective Pastoral Ministry
The pastoral excellence movement has given rise to a growing body of literature analyzing the nature of effective pastoral ministry and offering advice on how…
Reaching More Diverse People
How effective is the United Methodist Church in reaching the increasingly diverse population of the United States? Recent research by the Lewis Center in cooperation…
Three New Financial Stewardship Books
Three established authors on the subject of congregational finances have new books to help congregations develop joyful and generous givers. Each author has important contributions…
Denominations Face Major Reset
Most congregations know the financial squeeze of recent years from the economic recession. What is more striking is that the financial downturn for denominations is…
Mission as the Emerging Entry Point for New People
It is intriguing that the first connection people have with a congregation tends to change from time to time. For churches with struggling adult Sunday…
Families Remain Important as Their Makeup Changes
While generational differences receive much attention, it is remarkable how people’s highest values tend to stay relatively constant from one generation to another. However, the…
What About the Second Pastors in New Congregations?
While many studies report on the work of church planters, few studies examine the experience of “second pastors,” those who follow founding pastors of new…
Churches Where Youth Exhibit Highly Devoted Faith
Kenda Creasy Dean reports in her book Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church (Oxford University Press, 2010) that…
The Multisite Church Movement
A new report by the Leadership Network reports on the current state of churches having more than one site. Below are some of the findings…
From Our Doorsteps: Developing a Ministry Plan That Makes Sense
Many churches today desperately need to fall in love with their communities again. Increasingly, congregational life and community life spin in different orbits with little…
When Christians Get It Wrong
For several decades now, many have watched in amazement as churches grew far larger than had been the norm previously in the United States. While…
Church Leadership: Vision, Team, Culture, Integrity Revised Edition
Much has changed since the first edition of Lovett Weems’s seminal work Church Leadership appeared in 1993. But the need for clear, insightful thinking about…
Bearing Fruit: Ministry with Real Results
Thousands of congregations are in serious trouble. Children are not being taught the faith. Disciples are not being made. Lives are not being transformed. The…
Find a Few Wise People
When pastors tell me about particularly troubling dilemmas they face in their congregations, perhaps the most common advice I offer is, “Find a wise person,”…
If You Count the Money, Count the People
At a recent gathering, clergy and laity from several congregations were asked how they keep track of their attendance each Sunday and how they keep…
Churches Face Changing Demographics
The American Community Survey provides an ongoing demographic portrait of the country and is the largest survey that the Census Bureau administers other than the…
Promise and Peril: Understanding and Managing Change and Conflict in Congregations
In Promise and Peril (Alban, 2009), David Brubaker tackles the conundrum churches face: Change usually leads to conflict, but change is required to make progress.…
New Findings about American Congregations
Building on previous reports from 2000 and 2005, the Cooperative Congregations Studies Partnership based at Hartford Seminary has released a new research report on congregational…
The Four Stages of a Pastoral Transition
A time of transition for a pastor can be both exciting and terrifying. The possibility of a new start with its challenges and opportunities brings…
Two Myths Relevant to Reaching Younger and More Diverse People
Each Sunday The Washington Post has a feature in the opinion section dealing with common myths about a particular topic. Noted demographer William H. Frey…
Can We Learn from Toyota?
My Wesley faculty colleague Jessicah Duckworth called my attention to a National Public Radio story about the mistakes that led to the recall crisis Toyota…
Credibility Essential for Leadership
Credibility is the foundation upon which all effective leadership builds. It is the “operating capital” from which leaders draw to advance the vision. There are…
How Do New People See Your Church?
With all the strengths of a church, the challenge is always to think of everything from arrival through departure from the perspective of someone who…
The Wisdom of Ants
I was struck recently by an article that begins with a statement about ants by Stanford biologist Deborah Gordon. “Ants aren’t smart,” she wrote in…