What would you do with another 4-10% of your annual budget to use to honor God and expand ministry? We began having Christmas offerings eight years ago and through them have funded church planting and marketing for outreach, building out new offices and a prayer room, updating our lobby, and benevolence for military families. The […]
27 Great Books on Prayer for Pastors to Read and Recommend
Prayer is the highway that takes us into God’s presence. Reading a book on prayer is like putting gas in the tank. Why don’t we pray more? Well, we’re busy and distracted, we’re hounded by evil forces coming against prayer, or we forget that apart from Jesus we can do nothing (John 15:4). When you read […]
9 Easy Ways you can Develop Leaders in your Church this Summer
Leadership development is a series of tiny, nearly invisible, steps. You can develop leaders in your church this summer if you think in terms of lots of small progress. “If I only had more leaders,” pastors tell me, “my church would grow, too.” I agree. It takes leaders to move church life forward. Where I […]
6 Ways to Know You’ll Choose the Best Church Campaign
How do you choose the best church campaign? Choosing a church campaign is a decision that’s easy to put off. The stakes are high. And it’s hard to tell from a couple of web pages if a campaign will be a success in your church. Will the unchurched be drawn to come? Will your congregation be motivated […]
Are you Filling the 4 Buckets You Need for Ministry Success?
Being a pastor in 2023 means that we have to work on our own godly selves as much as we work on the ministry so that we have the courage and the strength to persevere. It’s like we have four buckets to fill to find ministry success. Research from a 2021 Lifeway survey reports that: […]
How to Plan a Summer of Life and Growth in your Church
Make summer a season of life and growth in your church. You can do it by following this simple summer planning process for churches. Too much or too little? Are you trying to do more at your church than you can handle this summer — with all the vacations to manage? Or are you taking […]
Why Pastors Should Get Away Every Summer—and How to Make it Work
Every Senior Pastor should get away from their church for more than ten consecutive days every summer. It might not be practical, but it’s a wise decision for the long haul.
8 Ways You Can Preach to Reach your City
Would you like your church to lead more people to Jesus? You can see your church become more gospel-minded using these eight ways to preach to reach your city. There are a lot of ways to help your church be more evangelistic, but the foremost is you, leading from the pulpit. Every week, more people […]
What are the 10 Best Things for Pastors to do the Week After Easter?
Not that you need another to-do list right now. You’ve had plenty of that in the weeks leading up to Easter. But what feels like it should be downtime is actually a strategic time. This is the week for you to catch your breath, wrap up Easter, and look ahead to summer. If you concentrate on […]