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When do things go back to normal? How do we get people (back) to church? And how do we do more with less? Rebekah Simon-Peter calls us to the “next normal” as she explores what it means to invite people to church as spiritual community and to do more with less.
Is your church imperfect? Youth ministry expert Deech Kirk says “welcome to the club.” Successful church leaders need to accept that every church is a…
What can we learn about congregational revitalization, Fresh Expressions, and evangelism from the Methodist Church in Britain? Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe Jr. interviews…
What can we learn about congregational revitalization, Fresh Expressions, and evangelism from the Methodist Church in Britain? Trey Hall shares insights on these subjects drawing from his experience in the United States and Great Britain.
What if you focused on making already-planned ministry events better rather than creating new events? Olu Brown offers three planning strategies for Doing Church Differently™…
Tiredness and burnout in church leadership occur primarily because leaders over-function, micromanage, or are placed in roles that do not use their God-given spiritual gifts.…
How can church leaders approach innovation in ways that are consistent with their faith? Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe interviews Kenda Creasy Dean, author…
How can church leaders approach innovation in ways that are consistent with their faith? Kenda Creasy Dean says it starts by focusing on people not problem, by seeking to participate in God’s new thing rather than trying to get God to participate in ours.
David Woolverton explains how the key principles of dramatic improvisation can provide a helpful framework for responding to conflict and change in congregations. Engaging the…
Discerning a new vision is only the first step toward congregational renewal and change. Olu Brown outlines four critical steps necessary to make that new…
It’s easy to lose sight of the ways God is alive and at work in our communities without intentional efforts to know and understand our…
Steven Van Ostran challenges the common perception that bivocational ministers are second class or somehow “less than” those serving full time. He names four specific…
Churches do their best innovating when they focus less on “great ideas” or attempting to “fix the church” and more on the needs and longings…
How has the pandemic shaped the vitality and resiliency of congregations? Did it really prompt large numbers of pastors to leave ministry? Doug Powe, director…
How has the pandemic shaped the vitality and resiliency of congregations? Did it really prompt large numbers of pastors to leave ministry? Scott Thumma shares insights from ongoing research on the pandemic’s impact congregational life and health.
Whether it’s due to post-pandemic fatigue, lingering health concerns, or broader cultural shifts, volunteerism hasn’t bounced back as readily as other aspects of congregational life.…
David Gilmore says the size of a congregation need not be a determining factor in its ability to connect with its neighbors. Small congregations who…
Many congregations that haven’t celebrated Easter in person since 2019 are relishing the joy of returning to the comforts of pre-pandemic church life. But Ann…
How can your church reach new people in today’s evolving ministry context? Ann Michel of the Lewis Center staff interviews Tony Morgan, chief strategist for…
How can your church reach new people in today’s evolving ministry context? Tony Morgan shares trends, perspectives, and strategies drawn from his work with scores of congregations across the country and abroad.
How can your congregation connect with new people in both physical and digital spaces? Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe Jr. interviews Jordana Wright on…
How can your congregation connect with new people in both physical and digital spaces? Jordana Wright shares creative strategies for transforming congregations into vibrant community hubs.
Roy L. Spore believes that decline and death are not inevitable for smaller rural churches. While smaller churches are often skeptical of change imposed from…
Travis Norvell, pastor of Judson Church in Minneapolis, describes the blessing and insight that flowed from his decision to schedule 110 one-on-one conversations with neighbors…
David Woolverton says there are two types of church conflict — conflict that destroys teams, ministries, and congregational vibrancy and conflict that cultivates growth by…
Real estate expert Domenic Dutra outlines factors to be considered in determining whether selling church property might be a faithful course of action. The ideal…
Tony Morgan says churches can’t wait passively to see if things return to normal. Nor should they long for the return of old systems and…
Meghan Hatcher says particular characteristics within a church’s organizational culture foster an environment in which innovation thrives. She outlines nine key indicators strongly associated with…
What does it take to turn a congregation around? Lewis Center Director Doug Powe interviews Ed Brandt, a long-serving pastor who recently retired as chief…
What does it take to turn a congregation around? Ed Brandt, a long-serving pastor who recently retired as chief of chaplains for the U.S. National Guard, believes success in ministry is grounded in the hard but essential work of reaching out to the community, forging new connections, getting to know people, listening, earning trust, taking risks, and learning from mistakes.
This article is reprinted by permission from Leading Ideas, a free e-newsletter from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary available at churchleadership.com.
