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The Church is not the Titanic (a mini manifesto)
I'm not trying to stick my head in the sand. I can read a bar graph as well the next guy. I know The Church is struggling. I also know that for myself, and for every church I've been a part of, there …
 | Engaging the Power! In this final piece I want to present one more critical ability necessary for missional leaders to turn churches around and get them on the right track toward healthy growth. If you have missed the other segments, go back and … |
 | Do you tear up at those YouTube flash mob videos where unsuspecting people are suddenly serenaded by dozens of extraordinarily talented strangers? I do—every time! I've tried to figure out why, and I think I've finally got it. Really, when you … |
 | At the weekend retreat, an elder of Clarkston Church drew me aside. "We've decided to call for Pastor Gordon's removal. This weekend has been one long sales job. He's trying to get us to buy his vision for a new building." As I thought back to my … |
 | December 17, 2004, should have been a day of celebration. Nellie Jo and I had been married 27 years on that date. We were in Naples, Florida, enjoying the sunshine and each other. Then the phone call came. We had been given a great deal of … |
| Stump and Stone Removal I have been presenting critical abilities a missional leader must possess in order to lead a church in either revitalization or new growth. These abilities build on one another. The first critical ability is to understand the … |
| When I was a child, I thought as a child, and had lots of ideas, but when I grew up and worked in a church, I was afraid to have an original thought of any kind. Have you ever had the feeling you're just parroting another church instead of being a … |
| Critical Abilities Part 3: Train-building and Saint Francis Last time I shared that the first critical ability a missional leader must possess is the ability to understand the true mission. If we miss the mission of God, we miss it all. To bring Him … |
| The church is an organization that must be led and managed. Theologian Emil Brunner even suggested that since earliest times this is the primary way theologians have viewed the church. Scripturally the church is also an interdependent and living … |
| Many years ago a pastor told me that churches should be like the famous retailer, Nordstrom—welcoming, tasteful, and endlessly helpful. He modeled his ministry around those values and it showed. He deliberately created a "value-add" church … |
 | There's no doubt that some decisions are bigger than others and we've all had our share of big "do I or don't I" decisions to make. Image: Jeroen van Oostrom / FreeDigitalPhotos.net We pray about it. We seek wise counsel. We labour through the … |
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Global Expansion: Local Churches in Europe Becoming International Church Planting Movements
Since 2008, a handful of European churches and church planting organizations have been responsible for starting more than 1,100 new churches and missional communities. Their vision extends to other …Type: White PaperSponsored by: Leadership Network -
Good to Great Church Planting: Accelerating Growth and Effectiveness in Church Planting
What will make your church move from being good at planting churches, to being great? How can you build momentum, bring about multiplication and become a movement in order to accelerate your …Type: White PaperSponsored by: Leadership Network -
Multisite Movement Gaining New Momentum in New Places
While many churches adopt the multisite concept to address space issues, expand into new areas and reach more people by adding multiple venues, some denominations are also using multisite to …Type: White PaperSponsored by: Leadership Network -
The New Role for Western Missionaries
This history teaches us that the last century's Western missionaries did their job in their generation. The question we face as a result of these changes: How will we, as a missional people, approach …Type: White PaperSponsored by: Leadership Network -
Multisite Is Multiplying: Survey Identifies Leading Practices and Confirms New Developments in the Movement’s Expansion
There are an estimated 3,000 multisite churches in the United States according to the book Multisite Church Roadtrip. Leadership Network has a database of almost 1,500 such churches and recently …Type: White PaperSponsored by: Leadership Network
