Church growth is such an important topic these days.

Some criticism has been that the mainline denominations haven’t been strategic enough about assimilation strategy and evangelistic intentionality.

But the Catholic Church apparently isn’t going to sit back and let church attendance decline on its own.

Instead, it seems that the Vatican has announced a decision to forgo organic growth in preference for a mergers and acquisition strategy — or rather a hostile takeover bid aimed squarely at the Anglican Church.

The Roman Catholic Church is taking advantage of recent political heat the Church of England is taking over female and gay clergy issues.  And the Pope felt it was the right time to reach out in hopes converting masses of disgruntled Anglicans to the Catholic faith.

At a press conference, the Vatican even announced a new canonical structure to accommodate existing Anglican traditions inside of the Catholic faith. In a way, it’s like acquiring a company and letting the current management to stay in tact. For example, married Anglican preists to stay married, alongside existing Catholic priests restricted from marriage (Hmm…will that sit well permanently without causing any friction????)

It’s a bold move.  Apparently it took a lot of people by surprise.  It also looks like the Anglican Church leadership didn’t have much choice either.

What do you think about this?  What is the Catholic Church really trying to do via this move?

I’m excited to join the vidcast tomorrow of Tim Keller and the Leadership Summit people over at Willow Creek.

But in the meantime, take a look at this interview where Tim Keller talks about the 4 or 5 ways in which evangelism must be different today in order to be impactful.

One of Dr. Keller’s key points specifically applies to urban centers, such as Redeemer’s setting: NYC.  He talks about how critical it is for the Church to really provide the tools, resources, modeling and teaching to its people how to integrate their faith **in** their work.

IMHO, he is spot-on in that cities tend to have more vocationally focused people (people who live to work, vs. work to live), so building out ministries such as www.faithandwork.org is quite mandatory if there is to be any impact.

But the lesson can be applied to much broader applications.  The Church today can’t just teach objective knowledge about the Bible.  It can’t just focus upon spiritual praxis.  It can’t just just provide moral teachings as well.   Not anymore.

When non-Christians are exposed to the Church’s message, they really need to see how it looks like if they were to step into the light.

The only way to do that is to build communities where this intentional integration of the Gospel into vocation that Dr. Keller talks about is vibrantly embraced and highly visible.

The new rules and approach to evangelism now take on a wholistic ministry approach.  You do see that, right?

A Sunday school teacher asked her children as they were on the way to church service:

‘And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?’

One bright little girl raised her hand eagerly because she knew the answer.

After the teacher acknowledged her enthusiasm, she simply replied. . .

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Whenever discussions steer toward the ministries of mega churches (approx. 2000 or more attenders weekly) I find myself waiting for the inevitable slams against “the machine” or the lack of individual attention found in these large congregations or how seeker-friendly focused they are or something to do with consumeristic approaches to programming.

Over time, I started to think about whether or not these are really the right measures for judging these large operations in the name of Christ.

Lo and behold, I came across some research that revealed religious beliefs of church goers based on what size church they attend.

So do smaller church settings produce better discipleship environments?  And by smaller churches, let’s say with the average Presbyterian church worship attendance of 100 or so.

Do these church members come out as Christians that are more involved in serving and using their gifts?  Where do they fall regarding works righteousness?  What do they think about Jesus…like, was he supernatural and sinless or just a teacher’s pet type-better than average Joe?  How important is the Great Commission regarding their own responsibility as a Christian?

I was surprised to see the results so consistent across all factors measured between the small congregations with under 100 attenders, all the way up to churches with 1000+ attenders.    Perhaps it’s time to let the numbers speak and stop making arguments without real tangible back-up on these issues?

Here’s the data so that you can decide for yourself:

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Are you a pastor in a church that seems to ignore the fact that there’s only 168 hours in a week?

Does it seem like your original intentions to be centered on prayer, go out and build rock-solid deep relationships with your entire congregation and spend enough time studying the Scriptures were all bad typos in the job description?

Perhaps you need to reassess your game plan.

Here’s a quick pop quiz to help figure out your approach to ministry:

If you, as the pastor, have only limited time available during the week, would you prefer to choose (A) OR (B) in each scenario below:

A. Do more visiting to shut-ins?
B. Put more time into sermon preparation?

A. Attend a wedding reception?
B. Go on a retreat with parish staff?

A. Call on prospective members?
B. Conduct a training session for church officers?

A. Visit a bereaved family?
B. Help two church officers resolve a conflict?

A. Make a hospital call on a fringe member?
B. Attend a continuing education event?

A. Engage in pastoral counseling with members?
B. Attend a planning event with officers?

A. Do more parish calling?
B. Recruit leaders for parish events?

A. Attend an activity with parish youth?
B. Critique a meeting with a church officer?

Apparently the correct answers differ largely NOT ON YOU, but where your called to ministry.  The Alban Institute published an interesting article which gives practical insights for how to approach various types of ministry environments.

Surprise! It turns out that a pastor is not a pastor is not a pastor anywhere and everywhere.  One size does not fit all!

Being self-aware of the context first will dramatically increase the odds of success in your role as pastor.  Requirements for leadership style, relationships, and responsibilities all change based on whether you are in a family, pastoral, program, and corporate sized church.

Are you sitting in the right seat?  Is there more than one seat at the table?  It all matters tremendously.

If you read the informative article from the Congregational Resource Guide site, you’ll also learn the landmines of moving down in church size.

What’s the good news in all this? You’ll notice that pastor burnout is largely avoidable by being able to answer the pop quiz questions correctly.

The Gospel message is about relationships, right?

And I think you’ll agree that our world is undergoing a fundamental shift in how we relate to each other due to the undeniable impact of technology (Internet) and the social media that has evolved out of it.

The Google generation doesn’t email, they Facebook.  It is just a fact now that people check Facebook first and more often each day than their email.  People are learning the ins and out of syndicating their lives through FB status updates, Twitter and other social media platforms.

But note that I recently sat in a mandatory seminary workshop for the graduate program at Princeton Theological Seminary where the facilitator actually proposed that pastors NOT get involved with Facebook, Twitter, etc in their methods of communicating with their congregation 24/7 - specifically with youth.

But if the ways in which we (meaning humans in the 21st century and beyond) now meet, connect and relate to each other is changing in seismic ways, why isn’t the Church following suit?

If you’re not convinced that social networking / social media is changing our lives, check this video out:

This is not about pushing Twittering during worship services.

What I’m talking about is for the Church to be visible and available in the places where the people are already.  Today’s that’s online and on social networking platforms.

It’s also about creating volumes of first class content that is able to be shared and given exposure where millions and millions of people are already tuning in.

What is your church doing with social media / social networking?

John Piper does it. Tim Keller does it.

The question is, can every other preacher do it?

Great preaching is just one of those things where you know you’re looking at it when you see it.

But the question is can great preaching include illustrations that are more than literary depictions put forth with the vocal chords?

John Piper doesn’t think so!

It may not get you into hell, ‘in the short run’ says Piper as noted by some that follow his teaching on preaching. He says it is a crutch for the lazy in the pulpit. Just listen to his argument against using movie or other video clips as supporting sermon illustrations . . . (more…)

Here’s the reason why most churches aren’t growing fast enough or even at all:

Churches are disillusioned about their “first-time guests“

Ask most visitors to a church which is the most apprehensive part about stepping foot in a new church?  You can give them some options — Is it. . .

• making you wear a name tag that screams out “I’ve never been here!”
• shaking hands and saying hi to strangers during the “Passing of the Peace”
• made to stand during service in front of an entire group of strangers
• being chased down to fill out intrusive “first-time guest visitor cards”
• OR pressured into staying for the after-service coffee hour where no one is probably going to talk to them

The answer will be YES.

Similar questions were in fact asked about first time visits to church.  Some of the answers give you a clue as to how they want to be treated. . . (more…)

How do you measure success at your church or ministry?

Is it how many programs you are running or people that have signed-up for bible study groups?

Is it how many worship services you provide or how many multi-sites you have planted?

Is it how many baptisms you perform each year?

Is it related giving and tithing stats per person or family or percentage of income?

The church *is* a machine that needs to care about the classic ABC’s of running a church (how many people are we Attracting?, How big is our Building?, How many people are giving over their Cash as offering?) amongst other metrics.

But there’s one critical factor that is not only more indicative of a healthy church, it’s a non-negotiable as best put by God’s Word itself. . . (more…)

Part of my daily routine brings me past this sign.

It is a simple and straight-forward “KEEP OFF GRASS” sign.

It is easy to read, not too small, yet not too big to be obnoxious.

It is in good condition, not dilapidated.

It is installed firmly and doesn’t look like it will need maintenance for awhile.

Normally, signs and other parts of the scenery where you frequent tend to “disappear” from your field of vision.  They just blend in.

But as I strut across this sign, it catches my eye every time, even to this day.

Why you ask?  It is because of one important thing, and it’s not just about the sign’s direct-to-the-point message or the physical sign itself.   The reason is a bit larger than that. . . (more…)