Ask Bigger Questions
In June 2011, Steve Jobs made a twenty-minute presentation to the Cupertino City Council to introduce Apple’s plans for a new corporate headquarters, affectionately known…
Browsing: Change
Articles
Renovate or Die
Bob Farr offers a generous collection of tools for congregational development in his book Renovate or Die: Ten Ways to Focus Your Church on Mission…
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…
The Culture Isn’t Killing the Church. Our Grief Is.
I recently attended a retreat with a number of church friends. We spent part of our time together looking at The problem is that while…
Embracing and Transforming Chaos
The story of creation in Genesis 1:1-2:4a affirms two realities of faith: the reality of God and the reality of chaos. This account of creation…
A Win-Win Worship Debate
A disconnect developed in the historic African Methodist Episcopal Church I serve between older and younger people around worship styles. While the median age in…
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…
Ten Misconceptions about Church Vitality and Growth
The Lewis Center’s reporting on American Congregations 2008 (a report about congregational vitality and growth based on the Faith Communities Today Project at Hartford Seminary) brought…
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.…
Meeting the Spiritual Needs of a Changing Community
Are there times when it feels as if your church resides on a different planet than it once did? The street signs are the same.…
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…
Getting Your Congregation’s Story Right
Congregations, particularly mainline and established congregations, commonly tell either safe or weak stories about themselves. In an earlier era, when identity and purpose were clearer…
Don’t Go It Alone When Changing Worship
When I arrived two years ago at Redondo Beach, I was told that there were three very different worship services: one informal, one contemporary, and…
Facing Our Losses, Finding Our Future
Church leadership literature often seems lacking in psychological depth. It feels Machiavellian in its world view and behaviorist in its focus, particularly if your seminary…
Discerning Clues for the Future
What do leaders do? Pastors are leaders, and one of the important tasks of leaders is discerning clues for the future to which God is…
Review of Myth of the 200 Barrier: How to Lead Through Transitional Growth
Kevin E. Martin is the executive director of Vital Church Ministries, a teaching and consulting outreach of the Cathedral Church of Saint Matthew in Dallas,…
Introducing a Congregation to Contemporary Worship
How to start a contemporary service if you don’t know what it is like. This was the dilemma that faced Union United Methodist Church in…
Is Your Church History a Static or Dynamic Force?
Church history is a lot like gravity — it is always with us whether we are aware of it or not. While church history may…
Eat this Bread, Drink this Cup
When communion practices were changed, Pastor Jackie Hoy learned that time, flexibility, and education are key to a congregation accepting change. I have always believed…
Pitfalls to Avoid in Reaching a Younger Constituency
Reflecting on a failed attempt by Public Broadcasting Corporation to reach a younger audience, Lovett H. Weems, Jr., offers advice to churches about reaching younger…
Moving in Faith to a New Location
David Abbott describes the way his Maine congregation handled the transition while moving from an old building to a new facility. In 1996, Belfast United…
Important Lessons My Congregation Helped Me Learn
Richard Hunter shares lessons learned about how his style in addressing a problem could divide or unify the church in a common goal. Several years…
When Good Practices Are No Longer Good Enough
Lovett H. Weems says the very practices that made an organization strong can keep it from responding to new challenges in the face of “disruptive…
Moving Established Congregations through Change
Tom Berlin of Floris United Methodist Church in Herndon, Virginia, shares a six-step process for helping a congregation change. 1. Learn the story of the…
Leading Your Congregation to New Life
Lovett Weems reviews You Only Have to Die: Leading Your Congregation to New Life, written by Jim Harnish about a church in Florida that built a…
Take the Next Step: Leading Lasting Change in the Church
Learn how to work for genuine and effective change in your church without trying to throw out everything that has gone before. Pastors and other…
