You may have heard the story about a man who, in an attempt to find out what other churches were really like, visited 18 different churches on consecutive Sundays. He always sat near the front of each building. After the service he would walk slowly to the rear then return to the front and back … Continue reading How Friendly is Your Church?
A Balanced Perspective of Church
So you're a pastor. What are you supposed to do with this thing called "church"? Is it a family to simply enjoy and have fun with? Is it an army to try to take the world with? Or is it a business? Gaining a proper perspective on church can be quite a challenge but it … Continue reading A Balanced Perspective of Church
Church Governance
In many ways, churches tend to rise and fall based on the quality of their leaders. Strong godly leadership is important, as is good governance, clear decision-making processes, and appropriate accountability. When it comes to the subjects of leadership and governance, the New Testament presents a fairly fluid and emerging model for local churches. That's … Continue reading Church Governance
The Emerging Church
The emerging church is a recent organic movement among postmodern believers seeking to practice the way of Jesus within contemporary culture. Eddie Gibbs' and Ryan Bolger's book Emerging Churches endeavors to provide a pulse on this diverse grassroots movement. They define emerging churches by nine practices. In their opinion, emerging churches: (1) identify with the … Continue reading The Emerging Church
The Multi-Site Church
Up until this time, the two primary ways for a local church to fulfill the Great Commission has been church growth and church planting. Church growth has focused on growing a congregation in one location, often through the use of multiple services. Church Planting has focused on starting new churches in different locations with the … Continue reading The Multi-Site Church
Mega-Churches
A 'mega-church' is defined as a church with over 2000 people attending each weekend. The number of mega-churches around the world has continued to escalate exponentially despite a variety of criticisms. Foundationally, we need to acknowledge that the church in Jerusalemin the first century was a mega-church with 3,000 people joining the 120 disciples on … Continue reading Mega-Churches