Selasa, 25 Agustus 2015

Crying Over Spilled Coffee: When Things Don’t Go Right

By Phil Davis

What do you do when things don't go right for your small group?

I spilled a cup of coffee this morning. Not just a few drops mind you, but the entire cup…in my car. This now infamous cup of coffee that I had just filled to the brim landed upside down in the passenger seat, on top of my Bible Study, the book I was reading, Manhood for Amateurs, the CD packet for Behold the Lamb of God I was listening to, a copy of the Small Group Life Ministry Manual, not to mention all over the seat. It was at the worst possible time. Kids were all packed in the car ready for school…we were even on time. And then disaster struck. I spent the next 10 minutes cleaning as best as I could, wiping down the books, CDs, and soaking up the liquid that my car seat had drank up so quickly. Can you guess what my car smells like now? Dusty, cold coffee! Yuck! So in that moment, like it or not, I was modeling for my children what to do when things go wrong. Fortunately, no expletives spilled out of my mouth at the moment of impact. We even got to talk about it on the way to school. Like any good small group leader, I ask them questions. “So what do you guys do when something like that happens?” And we got to talk about how we are wired, what responses are good, what are bad, and how does God prepare us and speak into these moments.
It got me thinking about small group leaders and some of the small groups I’ve led. I’m dashing around like crazy trying to get everything ready for group. Vacuuming the living room, getting the coffee going, cookies in the oven, wiping down the counter, and it seems like a million other things at one time…and hoping that nobody shows up early! Without fail, it seems something goes wrong, sometimes terribly wrong. I’m trying to empty the vacuum canister, and it spills all over where I just vacuumed. I forgot to pick up some cream for the coffee and EVERYONE uses cream. There aren’t enough clean cups for everyone. Someone in the group knocks over their drink. Am I the ONLY one who has experienced this stuff???
So, what do I do when this happens? What do you do when things don’t go right in getting ready for group, or even during group? If you find yourself in that position, here’s a few ideas on how to respond:

1. Take a deep breath

This may sound overly simple, but this exercise will help regulate your heartbeat, settle your anxiety, and center your emotions. Expect groups to be messy–Just as in life, preparing for group time or even during group time, things can get messy. Recognize that this is a natural part of group life, and you are not the only person this happens to. You can also have a relatively high likelihood something like this will happen again.

2. Trust in the Holy Spirit

Make sure you don’t resign to the fear that your group meeting will not be transformational just because things aren’t going seamlessly. Trust that the Holy Spirit is far more powerful than the situation at hand and doesn’t depend on you or me to create the perfect environment. In fact, if you look at your own life, it’s often in the messiest of situations where God worked most powerfully to transform our own lives. Do you think group life is so different?

3. Allow yourself to be less than perfect

If you dropped the ball in some way and are less than prepared for your group, it’s important to forgive yourself. Things won’t improve by you constantly admonishing yourself and it will be a barrier for the group settling into study. The same goes for any group member who may have caused a disruption. You would do well to make sure that person (and the entire) group knows that mistakes are OK, this is a safe place to be human. Remember, it’s not up to you to change people’s lives (see bullet point above).

4. Take necessary action and move on

Do what you can in a matter of 5 minutes or less to improve the situation, and then move on with the group experience. If you have a spill or a mess, spot clean and save the carpet cleaning for after the meeting. If you’ve forgotten something for the group meeting, call a neighbor to see if you can borrow what you need or call a group member and ask if they could stop by to pick up what you need on their way to the group meeting, if time allows. The biggest thing is don’t sweat the small things. The reason people are in your group is because they want to do life together and allow God to transform their lives through the group experience. As good as they may be, people don’t come for your chocolate chip cookies or your Pumpkin Spice creamer.
These are all simple ideas, but sometimes it’s important to remember what’s important. If you needed it, I hope this gives you permission to forgive yourself on those rare meetings when things just seem to go wrong.

Phil Davis, The Marketing Guy – I’m not just the marketing guy for Serendipity House and LifeWay Small Groups, I’m a case study for small group ministry! My life has been transformed (and re-formed) through the power of small groups and being on the Serendipity team for the past few years. I’ve learned how to interpret life. I’ve learned there is a difference between what I say I believe and what my actions show I believe. I’ve learned to view life through the lens of the Larger Story. I’ve learned what it really means to be authentic and that community is much more than a place “where everybody knows your name”. I’ve learned to pay attention to what moves me. I’ve learned how to be a friend, a father, and an ally to a band of “gypsies” unwilling to settle for anything less than redemptive community. This has changed everything for me, and I hope to share some of my journey with you! More from Phil Davis or visit Phil at http://www.SerendipityBlog.com/

7 Ways Pastoring Has Changed in 30 Years

Thom Rainer: 7 Ways Pastoring Has Changed in 30 Years

By Thom Rainer

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Some things about pastoring never change; a pastor is still called to preach the Word, equip believers, and provide ministry to congregants and others.

We are out of clichés about change or the pace of change. Sometimes we forget how much particular vocations have changed in a short time. In fact, in 30 years, pastoring has changed in ways we likely would have never predicted or imagined.
In early 1984, I began serving as a pastor for the first time. I would ultimately serve four churches as a pastor and nine churches as an interim pastor. In 1984, I was a young 28-year-old pastor without a clue. Today, I am 58 years old, and I’m still not sure I have a clue. So much has changed. So much has changed in pastoring in just 30 years. Let’s look at major ways the pastorate has changed in that time.

Thirty years ago, most people in the community held the pastor in high esteem. Today, most people don’t know who the pastor is, nor does the pastor hold any position of prominence in most communities.
Thirty years ago, most people in the congregation held the pastor in high esteem. Though I cannot offer precise numbers, there is little doubt that church members as a rule don’t view pastors with the same esteem as they did 30 years ago. That is one major reason serving as a pastor is becoming increasingly difficult.
Leadership skills are required more today than 30 years ago. Thirty years ago, I could preach sermons well and care for the congregation, and I would be deemed at least an adequate pastor. The demands and the expectations of the pastor are much higher today. Many of those demands can only be met with at least decent leadership skills.
Interpersonal skills are required more today than 30 years ago. Pastors 30 years ago could get away with some personality quirks because they were generally held in such high esteem. No more. Pastors are supposed to relate nearly perfectly to everyone.
Outreach was accomplished by getting people to come to church services 30 years ago. That is not so today. I remember some of the classic outreach ministries I led 30 years ago. They were all designed to get people to visit church services as a first step. Today, many barriers must be addressed in order for someone to be receptive to come to our churches.
Thirty years ago, there were very few “nones.” The 2012 Pew Research project that identified 20 percent of all American adults as nonreligiously affiliated has become a marker of change. Almost all people claimed some type of religious affiliation 30y years ago, whether they were believers or not. It was not culturally accepted to be a “none” 30 years ago; there is no cultural stigma attached today.
The Internet and social media have made pastoring much more challenging than it was 30 years ago. In many ways, it has been healthy that the pastors and their ministries are more transparent. For example, sex abuse of children in churches became a national concern when many priests and pastors were named as sexual predators. But there is no rule that someone must speak truthfully on the Internet and, specifically, in social media. Pastors today must deal with issues about them that travel fast on the Internet, even if a church member or someone else tells a complete lie.

Some things about pastoring, of course, never change. The pastor is still called to preach the Word, equip believers, and provide ministry to congregants and others. But other aspects of pastoral ministry have changed and will continue to change.
Certainly, pastors need training in Bible and theology. But, more and more, pastors need additional preparation in leadership skills, interpersonal skills and missional realities. Thirty years ago, the church expected the pastor to be a capable preacher and caregiver. Today, much more is expected.
How are pastors responding? How are you responding? What other challenges and changes do you see?

Thom S. Rainer is the president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources (LifeWay.com). Among his greatest joys are his family: his wife Nellie Jo; three sons, Sam, Art, and Jess; and six grandchildren. He was founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism, and Church Growth at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His many books include Surprising Insights from the Unchurched, The Unexpected Journey, and Breakout Churches. More from Thom Rainer or visit Thom at http://www.thomrainer.com

Autopsy of a Dead Church: 11 Lessons Learned

By Thom Rainer

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Thom Rainer: "Though this story is bleak and discouraging, we must learn from such examples. As many as 100,000 churches in America could be dying."

I was their church consultant in 2003. The church’s peak attendance was 750 in 1975. By the time I got there the attendance had fallen to an average of 83. The large sanctuary seemed to swallow the relatively small crowd on Sunday morning.
The reality was that most of the members did not want me there. They were not about to pay a consultant to tell them what was wrong with their church. Only when a benevolent member offered to foot my entire bill did the congregation grudgingly agree to retain me.
I worked with the church for three weeks. The problems were obvious; the solutions were difficult.
On my last day, the benefactor walked me to my rental car. “What do you think, Thom?” he asked. He could see the uncertainty in my expression, so he clarified. “How long can our church survive?” I paused for a moment, and then offered the bad news. “I believe the church will close its doors in five years.”
I was wrong. The church closed just a few weeks ago. Like many dying churches, it held on to life tenaciously. This church lasted ten years after my terminal diagnosis.
My friend from the church called to tell me the news. I took no pleasure in discovering that not only was my diagnosis correct, I had mostly gotten right all the signs of the impending death of the church.
Together my friend and I reviewed the past ten years. I think we were able to piece together a fairly accurate autopsy.
Here are eleven things I learned.

1. The church refused to look like the community.

The community began a transition toward a lower socioeconomic class thirty years ago, but the church members had no desire to reach the new residents. The congregation thus became an island of middle-class members in a sea of lower-class residents.

2. The church had no community-focused ministries.

This part of the autopsy may seem to be stating the obvious, but I wanted to be certain. My friend affirmed my suspicions. There was no attempt to reach the community.

3. Members became more focused on memorials.

Do not hear my statement as a criticism of memorials. Indeed, I recently funded a memorial in memory of my late grandson. The memorials at the church were chairs, tables, rooms, and other places where a neat plaque could be placed. The point is that the memorials became an obsession at the church. More and more emphasis was placed on the past.

4. The percentage of the budget for members’ needs kept increasing.

At the church’s death, the percentage was over 98 percent.

5. There were no evangelistic emphases.

When a church loses its passion to reach the lost, the congregation begins to die.

6. The members had more and more arguments about what they wanted.

As the church continued to decline toward death, the inward focus of the members turned caustic. Arguments were more frequent; business meetings became more acrimonious.

7. With few exceptions, pastoral tenure grew shorter and shorter.

The church had seven pastors in its final ten years. The last three pastors were bi-vocational. All of the seven pastors left discouraged.

8. The church rarely prayed together.

In its last eight years, the only time of corporate prayer was a three-minute period in the Sunday worship service. Prayers were always limited to members, their friends and families, and their physical needs.

9. The church had no clarity as to why it existed.

There was no vision, no mission, and no purpose.

10. The members idolized another era.

All of the active members were over the age of 67 the last six years of the church. And they all remembered fondly, to the point of idolatry, was the era of the 1970s. They saw their future to be returning to the past.

11. The facilities continued to deteriorate.

It wasn’t really a financial issue. Instead, the members failed to see the continuous deterioration of the church building. Simple stated, they no longer had “outsider eyes.”
Though this story is bleak and discouraging, we must learn from such examples. As many as 100,000 churches in America could be dying. Their time is short, perhaps less than ten years.
What do you think of the autopsy on this church? What can we do to reverse these trends?

5 Reasons You Don’t Have Volunteers

By Blessing Mpofu

Provided by

Here’s why people aren’t lining up to serve on your team.

Without volunteers, churches would never be able to fulfill God’s mission in their communities. Serving is critical for growth for both the givers and receivers that results from service.
Skilled volunteers can be some of the most difficult to recruit. Graphic designers, developers and such can be as scarce as they are needed. But why you don’t have the volunteers you need is not necessarily a mystery or a difficult challenge to address. Besides general scarcity, there are other reasons you might not have the skilled volunteers you need.

1) Never Asked

This is one of the most obvious and overlooked reasons. A lot of people tend to wait for an invitation to give of their talents and time. So be brave; make the ask.
If the skilled individuals are not willing to commit for the long term, how about involving them in short-term projects? You will not know unless you ask.
The worst anyone can say is “no.” In any case, it doesn’t take anything away from you because they are not engaged anyway. Ask!

2) Lack of Willingness to Upskill or Train

Sometimes the people you need exist, they just don’t have the skills yet. A strategy to build a volunteer base with the skills you need may just be to upskill. It may not have immediate results, but it is a worthwhile medium to long-term investment.
Your challenge as a leader and recruiter is to identify the unskilled who have the aptitude but not the skill. It will be worthwhile to think and act over a longer term. If you can’t find them, create them.

3) No Clarity

Another reason you might not have volunteers is that there is no clarity on expectations. People don’t know what you expect of them.
What will be the demands on their time and other resources?
Be clear on what you want your volunteers to do. When you know there’s a need but don’t know everything it will take to meet it, let them know.
Also, is it clear how to sign up and get involved? Make sure you’re clear on how people can get involved if they’re interested.

4) Yawn!

Volunteers want to know that despite difficulty in assignments, they’re going to have fun. You have to be creative for those you have currently serving. They tend to become the best recruiters when they enjoy what they do.
To what extent do you make volunteering fun?
Find ways to show that you have fun. For example, make a promo pulling the curtain back, showing how enjoyable what you do can be. Make your work fun.

5) No Challenge

Most skilled people want a challenge. A lot of them search for ‘safe’ environments to explore and experiment. The church is easily one of the best places to exercise creativity.
Creative people want to be stretched. Find ways to not only challenge but also inspire them to build things they never have. Challenge them to find fresh solutions. Allow them to color outside the lines.
Don’t be overly prescriptive; create room for exploration. You will be pleasantly surprised.

Question:

What would you add to this list? What are some of the ways you’ve used to engage more skilled or specialized volunteers?

More from Blessing Mpofu or visit Blessing at http://www.facebook.com/blessing.mpofu

5 Incredible Steps to Closing the Back Door in Your Congregation

By Thom Rainer

“If you want to close the back door in your church, read these five incredible steps.”

If you want to close the back door in your church, read these five incredible steps.
By “closing the back door,” I am referring to assimilating newcomers and keeping those who have become a part of the church involved. The sad reality is that many churches have less than one-half of their members showing up at any one point. They are “walking out the back door.”
Why they are incredible
Words have meaning. We are always in danger of miscommunicating, misleading or overstating. When I use the word “incredible,” I do so for a specific reason. In this case, I am simply saying I know that these steps are working in real life. They are not merely the theory of one guy behind a keyboard.
In fact, I had a conversation recently with a pastor who told me the assimilation rate in his church for the previous two years was more than 90 percent. Did you read that statement carefully? Nine out of 10 of those who connected with the church the past two years are still active.
The five steps
The process is not difficult. It just requires execution and persistence. Once initiated, these five steps become a natural flow of the church’s ministry.
1. Adopt a mission statement that includes the importance of members getting involved in a group. For example, if the mission statement is “Love God, Connect with Others, Serve Others and Give Abundantly,” the second part of the mission statement (“Connect with Others”) would refer to the importance of a church member getting involved in a small group, Sunday school class or some other group.
2. Communicate the importance of groups in your new members’ class. In fact, some churches require the prospective member to connect with a group as a requisite for membership. This statement obviously assumes that the church has a new members’ class in place.
3. Make certain the church is intentional about starting new groups. This step is a key if you are diligently moving new members to groups. New groups in particular will be attractive to these new members. They will not have to break into existing relationship patterns.
4. Have a leadership group review the status of new members at least once a quarter. In the church I mentioned earlier, the ministry staff takes that initiative. Some church leaders do this review once a month; others do so once a quarter. One of the primary purposes of this review is to determine if new church members have become active in a group.
5. Follow-up persistently if a church member is not in a group. Another church I know has a “meal plan” follow-up. They make certain an existing member of a group takes the new member out to eat and invites him or her to join the group. The success rate has been very high.
Why these steps are important
Church members in a group are more likely to read their Bibles regularly. They are more likely to share their faith. They give more abundantly to the church. And they are much more likely to “stick” with the church over time. In fact, in earlier studies, I learned that a member who was in a group was five times more likely to stick with a church than a member who was not.
So, these five steps are not some new entrepreneurial discovery. They are basic. They get people in the Word studying with others. They engender new relational connections. They create an implicit system of accountability.
And they also get members to stick.
The back door is closed.

Pastors Who Don’t Delegate

By Thom Rainer

“Failure to delegate will always limit a pastor.”

The new pastor had just turned 50. He had advanced in ministry through his relational skills, solid biblical teaching and pastoral care he had shown to congregants as an associate pastor and in other roles. He was easy to like and most people felt comfortable with him. To this point in his career, his relational skills were sufficient when it came to leadership. But he had really been more of a manager than a leader. He thus depended on the senior pastor at his previous churches to make decisions; he would carry them out with a good attitude and a good work ethic.

The First Sign of Problems

The problems began when he was called as a senior pastor. He was now expected to make decisions. He was to take initiative instead of waiting on others to move. He now had people who worked under him and with him, who waited on him to make critical decisions.

He failed. He seemed frozen in making decisions. He would not let others under him help him. He treated his new level of pastoral leadership as if he was still an associate pastor who carried out tasks. He perceived it was his responsibility to do everything in ministry rather than to equip the saints for the work of ministry.

He failed to delegate and thus he failed in his new pastorate.

The Limitations of Failing to Delegate

Failure to delegate will always limit a pastor. He will not be able to expand the ministry of the church because that ministry is limited to one person.

Often the pastor who does not delegate gets overwhelmed and essentially stops functioning. At other times, he may move toward workaholism until the inevitable burnout takes place.

The Reasons Pastors Don’t Delegate

So why do some pastors fail to delegate? I have identified seven reasons, though I’m sure you can think of others.

1. Some are control freaks. They want to know all details. They are distrustful of others who might make decisions. They feel as if they have lost control of the church if someone else gets involved in ministry.
2. Some are insecure. These pastors worry that they will be perceived as disposable if others do some of the critical work. Their lack of security often means that they will hoard assignments even if they do not get done.
3. Some are lazy. They don’t want to take the time to equip and train others to do the tasks. They don’t realize that a little investment in someone else only makes their work more productive.
4. Some don’t prioritize. If they did, they would make certain that the most important tasks were accomplished. Instead they often spend time on minutiae that makes little difference.
5. Some can’t leave their comfort zones. They would rather do the things they’ve always done because they are comfortable doing so. If they delegated their routine tasks, they would have to move out of their comfort zones to take on new challenges.
6. Some have analysis paralysis. If they or a subordinate take on a task, the pastor wants to look at it from every angle. They are famous for preparing long updates for church business meetings when a short summary would suffice. They think they are preparing for every contingency when such a feat is impossible.
7. Some fear not getting the credit. This symptom is another facet of insecurity. The pastor is fearful of letting go of anything if the result is someone else getting credit. Instead of being the type of leader who desires to see others become successful, he desires all the recognition. Such is a miserable existence that is doomed for failure.

Rarely does a non-delegating pastor have all of these symptoms. But it does not matter if he has one or multiple symptoms if the end result is a failure to delegate. And a failure to delegate inevitably leads to a failure of leadership.

Anatomy of a Sick Church—10 Symptoms to Watch

By Thom Rainer

“While there are many potential symptoms of a sick church, I have found 10 to be consistently common.”

There are certain metrics and issues physicians check when we go to the doctor. They want to check our blood pressure and temperature. They do blood tests to see if there are any warning signs. They are looking for symptoms that might indicate real problems exist.
After working with churches for 30 years, I too look for symptoms that might point to greater concerns. The symptoms are not necessarily the problem; they simply provide warnings or cautions of potential issues.
While there are many potential symptoms of a sick church, I have found 10 to be consistently common. These 10 are not listed in any particular order:

Declining worship attendance. Surprisingly, the majority of church leaders do not monitor worship attendance. I advise leaders to compare each month’s average worship attendance to the same month of previous years.
Decline in frequency of attendance of church members. This symptom is the number one explanation for attendance decline in most churches. Members are not as committed as they once were. Their waning love for their church is reflected in their declining frequency in worship attendance.
Lack of joy and vibrancy in the worship service. Obviously, this symptom is subjective. It is still, however, very important. Most people can sense when a worship service is vibrant, lukewarm or dead.
Little evangelistic fruit. As a general rule, a healthy church will reach at least one non-Christian for every 20 in worship attendance. A church with a worship attendance of 200, for example, should see at least 10 new Christians a year.
Low community impact. In my consultations, I attempt to find clear indicators that a church is making a difference in its respective community. I ask both church leaders and community members for clear examples and indicators.
More meetings than ministry. A sick church will meet about what they should do rather than do it. Some churches have more committees than conversions.
Acrimonious business meetings. Christians can and do disagree. Sick churches have meetings where the disagreements reflect obvious bitterness and anger.
Very few guests in worship services. A vibrant church will attract guests. A sick church will not.
Worship wars. Yes, they still exist in many churches. Those wars are indicators of an inward focus by the members.
Unrealistic expectations of pastoral care. Sick churches view pastors and other staff as hired hands to do all of the work of ministry. Healthy churches view pastors as equippers for the members to do most of the ministry.

None of these symptoms are good, but churches do go through periods where they demonstrate a few of them. The key is to recognize the symptoms and respond early and quickly.
Here is my own subjective health analysis according to the number of symptoms:
1 to 2 symptoms. Normal for most churches for a short period of time. Not an indicator of poor health, but the symptoms should be addressed promptly.
3 to 4 symptoms. The church is sick and needs immediate attention.
5 to 6 symptoms. The church is very sick. If significant changes are not made, the congregation is in danger of moving into the phase of terminal illness.
7 to 10 symptoms. The church is in danger of dying in the next five to 10 years. While it is possible for a church to recover from this level of sickness, it is rare. Intervention must be quick, intense and dramatic. The amount of change necessary is often more than most leaders and members are willing to bear.
Give an honest assessment of your own church by these symptom indicators. What do you see? What should you do if there are a number of symptoms? Let me hear from you.

For Pastors Who Are Considering Quitting: 9 Hope-Filled Reminders

By Thom Rainer

Someone asked me if I ever considered quitting when I was a pastor. My response was quick and truthful: “Yes. On the average about once a week.”

The question almost made me laugh. The pastor asked me if I ever considered quitting when I was a pastor. My response was quick and truthful: “Yes. On the average about once a week.”
If you are a pastor who has not considered quitting, you are likely in the minority. And certainly there are times when we should leave. But if your desire to quit is the result of the typical challenges of pastoring, allow me to share nine thoughts that may lead you to reconsider.

Many storms pass quickly. I can remember times when I thought the world was crashing in on me. But in a matter of a few weeks, the storm had passed. Many of the crises of the moment will become faded memories of the past.
It’s probably not you. Those critics and dissidents see you as a convenient target. They may not really be frustrated at you. But you are the most visible place to unload. It’s probably another issue, and not you.
The vast majority of the congregation supports you. I know. I’ve seen travesties where a pastor has been forced out by vengeful staff members and misguided personnel committees. But most of the time the minority does not have that power. Remember that the majority of the church members love and support you.
Remember your call. You likely have a clear recollection of the time God called you to ministry and to this church. Remember that call. At times, it’s what you need to hang in there.
Longer-term pastors see better days. Sometimes it takes years to earn the leadership trust of the congregation. One of the gifts many pastors need is the gift of perseverance.
Hurting church members often hurt others. Among those “others” are you, their pastor. Their grief and pain can unfortunately be directed at you.
It’s not better in other churches. Many pastors get the green-grass syndrome. They move from church to church trying to find the church without problems, critics and challenges. That church does not exist.
The changing culture frustrates many church members. They remember the “good old days” where almost everyone went to church and change was minimal. They are frustrated and fearful, and they often see you as the problem.
God is with you. I know you grasp this truth theologically, but you may need to pause to assimilate it experientially. God called you. God loves you. He will not abandon you.

While I focused on the pastor for these nine thoughts, it applies to all of you in vocational ministry. Serving a church can be tough. But you have been called to a ministry of service even to the “least of these.” And the least of these can include those who are giving you the biggest headaches.
What do you think of these nine thoughts? What would you add? Let me hear from you.

6 Questions Preachers Need to Ask on Monday

By Mark Dance

“Regardless of your demographics, a large percentage of your audience will be made up of linear thinkers.”

Would it surprise you that after preaching over 4,000 sermons, I am still asking myself tough preaching questions on Monday morning? If you ever stop learning, you will stop growing, and so will your church family.
Here are six questions every preacher needs to ask on Monday.

1. Did My Tone Communicate Love?

I grew up in the 1970s wondering why Baptist preachers were so angry.
Did you clearly communicate your love for your people as well as the passage? Did it sound like you were preaching to them or at them? Good pastors (and parents) will pay attention to both what they say and how they say it. We all intend to “speak the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15), just don’t assume it came across that way.

2. Was the Text Used Contextually?

This month I recommended Recapturing the Voice of God by Steven Smith. Dr. Smith shows us how to faithfully match the shape of your sermon with the shape of the text. Since not all texts are of the same genre, why should our sermons all have the same predictable structure?
Don’t just tell people about the Apostle Paul, also tell them about who the Philippians were and the culture they lived in. Your members will likely relate more to the members in Philippi than its pastor. Besides, “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15) just feels right.

3. Did the Sermon Fulfill Its Promises?

I recently heard a young pastor plainly state in the introduction where he was going with his sermon … then he went there. He didn’t use the text as a jumping off point for a half-hour diatribe about social ills or whatever else paraded past his brain.
Regardless of your demographics, a large percentage of your audience will be made up of linear thinkers. Markers and clear transitions are huge to them, as well as any promises made about the direction during the introduction. Tell them where you are going, then go right there.

4. Were My Ticks a Distraction?

As painful as it is to listen to yourself preach, every month or so you should intentionally listen for typical silence fillers like “umm” or its awkward cousin “and-umm.” Some ticks graduate from distractions to annoyances (e.g., “Listen!”).
Also, listen for times when your voice changes pitch or pace. Variety in speed and tone will help the listeners to stay interested, or at least awake.
It takes hard work for both new and seasoned preachers to grow out of imbedded speaking habits. It is worth the effort so that people can focus on the message and not the messenger.

5. Were My Illustrations Helpful and Interesting?

I suggest a good mix of personal and nonpersonal illustrations. Some pastors way overestimate their members’ interest in their family or hobbies, while others come across as stodgy history professors. This might be a good place to ask a trusted friend for feedback.
Most importantly, make sure they are connected to the text enough to hit their mark. A strong illustration that doesn’t connect with the text is actually a distraction to it.

6. Were the Applications Obvious?

By casually tagging applications on the end, we may be robbing our members of some much needed clarity and closure.
One preacher recently exhorted his people to “start leading with love,” yet came short of telling them how. Your members may agree with your principles, but if they forget the application, they will likely leave unchanged. Strong exhortation without clear application will lead to frustration, or worse—nothing at all.
Your preaching gift can be developed with prayer, practice, instruction, self-evaluation and a good dose of humility. Never stop learning.

Mark Dance serves as associate vice president for pastoral leadership at LifeWay Christian Resources. A native Texan, Mark pastored churches in Texas, Tennessee, and Arkansas before joining LifeWay. He has been married to Janet Kendrick since 1988, and they have two children: Holly and Brad. More from Mark Dance or visit Mark at http://www.lifeway.com

These 3 Things Are On God’s Shoulders, Not A Leader’s

By Jonathan Pearson

You can’t study leadership in the context of the Bible and not fall on the story of Moses. From his call until his death, he is leadership wisdom embodied. What he did right provides powerful wisdom to young leaders and experienced leaders alike. What he did wrong helps us understand our own mess ups and begs us not to repeat them.
I love the story of the call of Moses.
When God called Moses, he didn’t seem like a good candidate to lead the nation God had called out and separated for Himself. However, God in all his wisdom chooses Moses. As he’s telling Moses about the call that He wants him to complete, Moses begins to make excuses. During this quick exchange between God and Moses, we can see 3 things that God says He’ll do for Moses. I think He’s still telling us leaders today, “I’ll take care of these, you just go.”
Then the LORD asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.” (‭Exodus‬ ‭4‬:‭11-12‬ NLT)

Our place is His

Where you are, he put you. You can trust that God cares more for your people, your church, and your organization than you ever have. He’s called you to that specific place for this specific time because He knew you were the person for it.
Don’t panic. Don’t run. Don’t doubt that He’s with you.

Giftedness is His idea

God knows that we can’t on our own. He also knows that we have no valuable skills that He hasn’t given us. He’s telling Moses, “Who made you? Who gifted you? Me!” He’s telling us the same thing.
Should we try to sharpen and fine tune the gifts He’s entrusted us with? Definitely. Our gifts, though, are His and His responsibility. One of the things we’re often guilty of is seeing someone else use their gifts and wishing we had it. What we’re doing is essentially saying, “God, you made a mistake.” Don’t wish someone else’s gifts on yourself.
Believe He’s gifted you and use what He’s given you for Him.

Empowerment is on His shoulders

Moses is essentially making the argument to God and saying, “I can’t do it.” God in response is basically saying, “I know.” The place you are right now and the overwhelming feelings you have or even the celebratory feelings you have, God did it and will continue to use and empower you.
Don’t say, “I can’t.” God knows you can’t, that’s why empowerment is on His shoulders He’s not only going to gift you to do it, but He’s gonna empower you and give you the strength and know how also.

Why The Future Belongs To Churches That Send

New Book – Gaining by Losing: Why The Future Belongs To Churches That Send, by J. D. Greear

By Pastors.com Staff

People are leaving the church J.D. Greear pastors. Big givers. Key volunteers. Some of his best leaders and friends. And that’s exactly how he wants it to be.
When Jesus gave his disciples the Great Commission, he revealed that the key for reaching the world with the gospel is found in sending, not gathering. Though many churches focus time and energy on attracting people and counting numbers, the real mission of the church isn’t how many people you can gather. It’s about training up disciples and then sending them out. The true measure of success for a church should be its sending capacity, not its seating capacity.
But there is a cost to this. To see ministry multiply, we must release the seeds God has placed in our hands. And to do that, we must ask ourselves whether we are concerned more with building our kingdom or God’s.
In Gaining By Losing, J.D. Greear unpacks ten plumb lines that you can use to reorient your church’s priorities around God’s mission to reach a lost world. The good news is that you don’t need to choose between gathering or sending. Effective churches can, and must, do both.
Read more about Gaining by Losing

A Scalable Model for Making Disciples In Small Churches

By Brandon Cox

“The New Testament is the only model we need!” There, I went ahead and said that for you. It’s out of the way. For those pastors and church leaders who highly value the New Testament AND actually want to accomplish something meaningful, read on…
Every church follows a model. Most of the church leaders who criticize following a model follow a model that tends to criticize models. Follow that? There are traditional models with an age-graded Sunday School, a morning worship service, evening worship service, and a midweek prayer meeting, plus some other programs. W. A. Criswell (one of my biggest heroes) was a pioneer in this model in the 1940’s. Back then, grading ministries by age was innovative.
Other churches follow the “simple church” model. They have weekend worship, small groups, and that’s about it. The ministry and mission is carried out by the groups and the individuals in them. It works well for those who do it right. There are also house churches, and still a few quarter-time churches that only have a Pastor once per month. There’s the Amish and Mennonite model – very community-centric. You get the picture.
We started planting Grace Hills in the summer of 2011 and launched in January of 2012. Since the beginning, we’ve experienced slow and steady growth. We’ve never had a quarter of a million dollars to spend on advertising, so we’ve never done any. The new people who show up come because of relationships, word-of-mouth, and social media. So to what do I attribute our growth so far? Well, to please the “New Testament is all we need!” crowd, God is responsible. We affirm His sovereignty, the Spirit’s work, and the fruit of the Word of God. But here’s a reality check… tons of Bible-believing, Christ-honoring churches are dying. Maybe it’s the model?
Before I reveal our model, let me explain the concept. A “model” is simply a paradigm or framework through which we accomplish the work of the ministry. And yes, the New Testament is our primary model. Jesus sent the apostles in the book of Acts to launch a movement that started in Jerusalem. Within a decade, churches were all over the place being led by people who were considered apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists (see Eph. 4:11) and their responsibility was to equip the whole body for the work of the ministry (see Eph. 4:12).
We learn from the New Testament how to make disciples like Jesus did, how to handle church messes like Paul did, and how to go about the work of missions the way the church at Antioch did. And plenty more. But God didn’t stop working at the end of Acts 28. He has continued to move and work and bless churches for two millennia.
In 1998, I ran across a book entitled The Purpose Driven Church which changed the way I thought about church. It’s an eighteen-year-old book now, so people either have the assumption that it’s outdated or that it’s new-fangled. I’ve met plenty of people on both sides. But the book provided a model, a paradigm, a framework through which our church could accomplish ministry in a scalable way. It’s not a book about how to build a megachurch. It’s actually a book about how to make disciples.
I wanted to offer a short synopsis to demonstrate why I think it’s a scalable model for churches. Briefly…

1. BEING PURPOSE DRIVEN IS BIBLICAL.

The basic idea is that God has five intentions for the church – worship, ministry, evangelism, discipleship, and fellowship. You can re-tool that list to be four or six or maybe seven, but the point is, God has given us a great pattern for organizing all of our ministry around His purposes. These purposes are rooted in the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, which still serve to grow great churches 2,000-ish years later.

2. BEING PURPOSE DRIVEN PROVIDES A SIMPLE DISCIPLE-MAKING PROCESS.

If you believe, as I do, that spiritual growth is incremental and measurable, then the purpose driven model provides a great way to help people grow in an incremental, measurable way. This year, we’re implementing our “class” structure which we call a series of conversations about four words: Love (what it means to be loved by God, to love God, and to love other people), Grow (the personal habits/disciplines for growing), Serve (discovering your unique shape for ministry), and Go (what it means to “live sent” and how to share Jesus).
Aside from that series of conversations, we gather on the weekends for corporate worship and we scatter during the week in small groups. So we’re simple, but not so simple that there’s no definition or direction for what it means to be a follower (disciple) of Jesus.

3. BEING PURPOSE DRIVEN IS SCALABLE.

It’s not a megachurch model. We watched our church in Kentucky grow from 45-ish to 100-ish, and most of that growth was people meeting Jesus for the first time (70% of our additions were baptisms). Then I was part of a church in southern California that has grown to the tens of thousands (it helps that the author of The Purpose Driven Church is the Pastor).
What really intrigues me is how many churches I see that are purpose driven and don’t even know it. I’ve run across independent fundamental churches whose purpose statement reflects the five purposes very well, and other churches that are charismatic, mainline, or even non-evangelical that follow a class structure to mature people spiritually. Like Criswell’s age-graded Sunday School model, I think Rick Warren’s purpose driven model has become a norm among today’s growing churches.
At the end of the day, every church is driven by something – money, tradition, politics, fear, etc. – but I want to lead a church driven by God’s eternal purposes!

4 Keys to Taking the Next Step of Growth In Your Church

By Tom Holladay

I’ve had the opportunity these last thirty years to be with Rick Warren as he has personally taught well over 400,000 leaders what it means to be a healthy, purpose driven church. In that time I’ve been able to observe some things about how to take the principles of being a healthy church from a philosophy into practice, from something you’d like to do to something you are doing. I’ve learned from watching these thousands of leaders that it takes four things to put principles into practice: message, method, models and mentors.
FIRST, YOU NEED THE RIGHT MESSAGE.
This one may be obvious, but it also must be stated because it is so important. There are a lot of ideas out there about how to grow a church. Many of them will work in one context but not in others or will work for a times but not for the long term. The key to picking the right idea to build on is in looking at the foundation of that idea. While we can learn much from the worlds of business or sociology about how to build a church, those learnings cannot serve as the foundation. Since we’re building Jesus’ church, the foundation is in his message. The principles of church growth that will work in every context and have the power to last are based on the Bible.
Building a church that balances the five purposes given to use by Jesus in the great commandment and the great commission is building a church on the right message. We certainly will have different ways of expressing that message, and every generation must express it in fresh ways. But whatever words, acrostics, pictures or matrixes we use, in the end the purposes of worship, evangelism, fellowship, ministry and mission cannot help but shine through – because that’s what Jesus told his church to do.
SECOND, IT TAKES THE RIGHT METHODS.
The message never changes as it’s based on the Bible, but methods have to change with every culture and generation. Methods have to do with the specific ways you help people to feel welcome when they join you for worship, the steps you use to help people to become part of a small group and the specific classes or seminars you use in your process of discipleship. Most churches have the message right, because Jesus made it so clear. It’s at this point of the methods what we can find ourselves struggling.
There are three main reasons for this struggle. One is that we’re trying to use methods that used to work but have stopped working. Your community has changed, so what worked in the past is no longer working to reach people. Two is that we’re trying to use methods that work in a different culture and not our culture. What works in South Korea won’t always work in America, and what works in America won’t always work in South Africa. But, just to keep us all humble, what works in South Korea sometimes works perfectly in South Africa! The only way to find out is by trying it and assessing.
The methods of church growth usually involve trying at least 10 things that don’t work to find one that will. A third reason for our struggle in finding the right method is honestly our own pride. We have a way that we think should work, and our pride causes us to keep trying to make it work even though it obviously is not working! I would admit that far too often my pride has caused me to try to hold on to a method that’s not working far longer than I should have.
THIRD, YOU NEED A GOOD MODEL.
Because finding the right method can be so difficult, a good model becomes crucial. There is something about us all that needs to see what we’re seeking to become, and a good model can help us to do this. As I’ve watched this over the years, it is obvious that just hearing the right message and even methods is not enough to put change into practice in your church. You also need a good model.
It is a law of human nature that you’ll be drawn to become like the example that you are looking at. I’ll never forget taking a group of leaders from a small church I was pastoring in Northern California to see a larger church in a neighboring town doing a musical production. These leaders all loved music, and took in the sets and the costumes and the powerful singing that was a part of this Christmas presentation with wide eyes and open mouths. We were in a church with eight foot ceilings, so obviously would never be able to do anything like that. But, by the very next year, that little church was doing a Christmas production in a room with high ceilings in the local mall.
All great leaders understand the power of a good model for moving your church to the next steps in its growth. What’s a good model for you? It is the church that is in a similar culture that is at the next step of growth. You can learn from churches that are much larger or smaller than your church, but your model needs to be just one or two steps of growth ahead of where you are. For a church of 500 a good model is a church that has 1000, not 10,000. Once you find that model, it only becomes good by your going to it and seeing it together as a leadership team. What you see is what you will be drawn to become, but that only works when you physically go and see it together.
Years ago, to continue to grow Saddleback needed to move to multiple sites instead of just one main campus with multiple services. So Pastor Rick took our leadership team thirty minutes south to Vista, where Larry Osborn had led North Coast Church to begin worship venues using video teaching and live music. Within a year, we had begun on-campus venues and then regional campuses using video teaching and live music. These last five years Saddleback’s growth has all been because of the twelve new campuses we’ve stated. We are grateful to North Coast Church for the model they were to us!
FINALLY, YOU’RE HELPED BY THE RIGHT MENTOR.
Even with all of the great teaching about church growth and the good methods and models that we have to choose from, many churches cannot seem to turn the corner when it comes to beginning to bring healthy growth. Some of that is of course due to the power of inertia when a church has not grown for many years, which results in frustration for the pastor so that they rarely stay (or are allowed to say) long enough to establish the leadership and trust that is needed for change. Alongside of this, there are also many churches that are planted that see great excitement on the launch pad, but never seem to really take off. Looking at these realities, I believe to the core of my being that there are many, many churches that are right on the brink of the exciting change of beginning to experience healthy growth. We must believe this, because Jesus is building his church – and that includes not just new plants, but every church that calls on the name of Jesus.
One of the keys to this healthy growth is the right mentor for the pastor of the church. We often know the right next step to take, but never seem to get to it with the deluge of ministry that hits us every week. When you’re away at a retreat or conference, taking the next step of starting a membership class for your church seems so obvious – but the busyness of ministry makes it a hard swim upstream once you get home. A mentor can help you with that! If you tell yourself you’re going to start a membership class next month, it’s easy to put that off. If you tell a mentor, it’s much more difficult – because you know they’ll ask you about it. A mentor can help you with much more than accountability, their greatest role may simply be in being a friend. Ministry can be tiring and frustrating, because it requires patience and faithfulness over the long haul. We all need someone in our lives who will say, “Just hang in there one more month, I think God still has a purpose for you there!”
Nothing that I’ve said here is new, but all of it is vital! If genuine change for the sake of growing Jesus’ church is going to happen, it will be empowered by these four things. Here is what you can do about it:
Teach your leaders the message of the biblical purposes of the church.
(Check out the Purpose Driven Church Course coming out this fall which we’ve developed to help you teach this. You can find it at SaddlebackResources.com)
Talk with your leaders about methods that might need to be recaptured or changed.
Take your leaders to see a model of your next steps of growth.
Get a mentor who can help you as a leader.

6 Requirements for Cultivating Community In a Church

By Rick Warren

“… Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind … Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Luke 10:27 (NCV)
Cultivating community requires commitment
If you’re tired of fake fellowship and you would like to cultivate real fellowship and a loving community in your small group, Sunday school class, and church, you’ll need to make some tough choices and take some risks.
Cultivating community takes honesty
Real fellowship depends on frankness. In fact, the tunnel of conflict is the passageway to intimacy in any relationship. Until you care enough to confront and resolve the underlying barriers, you will never grow close to each other.
Cultivating community takes humility
Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less. Humility is thinking more of others. Humble people are so focused on serving others, they don’t think of themselves.
Cultivating community takes courtesy
The truth is, we all have quirks and annoying traits. But community has nothing to do with compatibility. The basis for our fellowship is our relationship to God: we are family.
Cultivating community takes confidentiality.
Only in the safe environment of warm acceptance and trusted confidentiality will people open up and share their deepest hurts, needs, and mistakes.
Confidentiality does not mean keeping silent while your brother or sister sins. It means that what is shared in your group needs to stay in your group, and the group needs to deal with it, not gossip to others about it.
Cultivating community takes frequency.
You must have frequent, regular contact with your group in order to build genuine fellowship. Relationships take time.
When you look at the list of characteristics, isn’t it obvious why genuine fellowship is so rare?
But the benefits of sharing life together far outweigh the costs, and it prepares us for heaven.

How to Push Through the Preaching Curve to Better Sermons

By Scott Attebery

“But don’t be discouraged. The answer is not to quit studying.”

Preachers, have you ever noticed that some of your most well received messages are the ones for which you have studied the least? Don’t worry, I’m not advocating a lack of study. However, I think it is important to understand why this phenomenon occurs.
When an idea first enters your mind, it is simple to comprehend. Just consider the experience of reading Scripture and having a new insight, which revolutionizes your thinking. All of a sudden, you see everything through the lens of your new insight. At this stage, you don’t have a lot of information, which allows you to have amazing clarity. Let’s call this stage one.
Stage one preaching tends to flow brilliantly from your mouth because the insight is clear—there is no “extra information” to trip over in your presentation.
Of course, the beauty of stage one preaching is also the fault: lack of information. This leaves stage one preaching open to misleading statements, unbalanced presentation of Scripture and misapplication of the text.
Perhaps you have preached a stage one sermon and received wonderful compliments. Then, the next time you have an opportunity to preach to a different audience, you decide to share the same message. Excited for the opportunity to share a message that has been previously well received, you decide to study more and make it even better.
In the midst of your study, you chase a few rabbits, delve into original languages and become interested in the context of the text. Those are all strong marks of good sermon preparation.
The only problem is that your sermon notes are not as clear as before. They have become cluttered with insights that are great by themselves, yet seem unconnected on paper. Even worse, they are cluttering your mind. This is stage two.
You stand up to preach believing this version of the message will be more powerful than before because you have more ammunition. The only problem is that your shooting spree has no focus. In the end, everyone in the audience is a casualty.
You walk away wondering what happened. Why, if the first version of the sermon was so well received, wouldn’t a more researched version be even more effective? The answer is simple: The more information you have, the more challenging clarity becomes. That’s why I call stage two the “chaos stage.” Unfortunately, I have plenty of experience with stage two preaching.
But don’t be discouraged. The answer is not to quit studying. No, the answer is to move to stage three—editing.
I’ve heard that the most difficult part of filmmaking is editing. The editor takes all of the raw film and puts together the story line—leaving behind the parts that take away from communicating the message clearly. Most directors have to stay away from the editing room because it is too painful for them to see their favorite shots left on the cutting room floor. Yet, that is the price of clarity.
The same holds true in sermon preparation. Only, most of us preachers don’t have an editor to do the work for us. We must be courageous enough to cut the brilliant details of Greek word studies or the masterful illustrations if they don’t aid in the clarity of the main point. The most interesting description of a Shepherd’s staff or the High Priest’s garb—if distracting from the point of the text—is just that: a distraction. Many creative analogies, humorous stories and cultural denunciations have distracted men and women from the clear message of the text. As preachers, we hate to leave them on the cutting room floor because we have become emotionally attached. That’s why we have to keep the importance of clarity in mind at all times. The audience will never know what gets left on the cutting room floor. Alternatively, if you don’t put it on the floor, they might never know the main point of the sermon.
Does that mean the study from stage two isn’t worth the effort? No, but the value of stage two is not seen until the excess information is trimmed away. Like panning for gold, you must sift through large amounts of material in order to find the treasure.
Next, you must take the treasure and place it in the most effective order. Don’t disseminate it indiscriminately. Spend time contemplating how each piece of the puzzle is connected and how it should be presented. Will the information be presented chronologically (by timeline), progressively (growing in detail) or logically (building a case)? Different sermons call for different orders.
Once you have placed your material in order, make sure you know how to transition from point to point. I like to think of this as “greasing the joints.” Like a machine, each part benefits from smooth, friction-free movement where it connects to other parts.
Finally, once you have edited, ordered and polished your message, you are ready for stage three preaching. Stage three combines stage one’s clarity and stage two’s information for maximum effectiveness.
In graphical terms, the three stages make a curve that resembles the Nike swoosh in which clarity is measured top to bottom and information is measured left to right. Stage one is high on clarity but low on information. At stage two, the curve moves downward for lack of clarity while moving to the right for increased information. Notice this is the lowest stage—for both you and your audience. Finally, however, stage three moves sharply to the upper-right to indicate the greatest display of clarity and information.
So, don’t settle for stage one—and certainly don’t stop at stage two. Push on through the preaching curve to stage three. You’ll be glad you did—and so will your hearers!

After serving in campus ministry at the University of Central Arkansas and coordinating student conferences for the Department of Church Ministries from 2000-2005, Scott pastored Wyatt Baptist Church in El Dorado Arkansas. In 2008, Scott’s wife, Jill, passed away in an automobile accident. He recalls, “God used our Church to be Christ to my family and me during that time.” After seven years of pastoring, Scott was selected as the Executive Director of DiscipleGuide Church Reources, a department of the Baptist Missionary Association of America. Scott’s most important ministry is to his son, Bryce. More from Scott Attebery or visit Scott at http://www.ScottAttebery.com

10 Troubling Statements From Church Leaders and Members

By Thom Rainer

“What is troubling is that these statements are not uncommon.”

If you want your church to move toward a slow yet certain death, make certain your church leadership and membership affirms most of these 10 statements.
They are troubling statements. Indeed, they are proclamations that virtually assure your church’s decline and probable demise.
All too common
What is troubling is that these statements are not uncommon. At times, they are articulated by both staff and lay leaders. See if you have ever heard any of these 10:
1. We hire our pastors and staff to do that. “That” can be evangelism. Or discipleship. Or caring for others. Or visiting people in the hospital. Some lay leaders view pastors and staff as hired hands to do ministry they should be doing themselves.
2. We have enough churches in our community. I rarely see a community that is really “overchurched.” The number of unchurched people in any one community is typically increasing, not decreasing. This comment usually comes from church leaders who view new churches as competition.
3. We are a “discipleship” church. Or an “evangelism” church. Or a “ministry” church. Church leaders who say their churches are focused on only one area of ministry are offering an excuse for not being obedient in other areas.
4. We have never done it that way before. Yes, it’s a cliché. But it’s still a very pervasive attitude among change-resistant people in the church.
5. We don’t have the money to do that. More times than not, the church does indeed have the money to focus on necessary priorities. The problem is that some church leaders don’t have the courage to reallocate funds toward those priorities.
6. We really don’t emphasize small groups. Churches that do not give a priority to small groups or Sunday school classes can count on a big exodus of people out the back door. Those in groups are five times more likely to stay involved in a church than those who attend only worship services.
7. We have enough people in our church. This is a tragic statement by leaders of inwardly focused churches. And it is an excuse not to do evangelism and ministry.
8. We aren’t a church for “those kinds” of people. Though similar to number seven, this statement is an appalling declaration made by church members who really believe people of a certain race, ethnic group, income group or other descriptor should be excluded from the congregation.
9. We really shouldn’t expect much of our members. Low expectation churches are far too common. Too many church leaders communicate unwisely that it’s OK for members to do nothing, give nothing and not be concerned about growing spiritually.
10. We focus only on our members, not guests and others. Many church leaders make this statement either explicitly or implicitly. Sometimes the facilities, the worship services and the small groups shout: “Guests not welcome!”
Your view
What do you think of these 10 troubling statements? Are they accurate? Are they fair? What would you add or change?
I also wonder: If you have heard them in your midst, what have you done to counteract them and to change people’s minds?