By Bill Wilson One of the most excruciating congregational projects I’ve ever experienced was a strategy planning process at a church where I served on staff early in my ministry. Over the course of 18 months, I watched as a…
The conversation churches do not want to have
By Bill Wilson Our current economy and the ongoing transitions in congregational life and ministry focus have combined to create intense pressure on church staffing models. With finances tight, congregations are being forced to take stock of the number of…
The day the bodybuilders met the Baptists
By Bill Wilson I recently attended a national gathering of Baptists that was a stark reminder to me of the desperate need for congregational and clergy health. It wasn’t so much that this group is any less healthy or healthier…
Jason’s upside-down world
By Bill Wilson If asked to identify a favorite New Testament character, most of us go with the predictable and obvious: Barnabas, Mary, Nathaniel, Peter, Lydia, Timothy, Phoebe. You know the list. Let me remind you of an obscure character…
Becoming a green-light church, again
By Bill Wilson Over the years, I have made the case that ministers and churches must cultivate a spirit of and appreciation for entrepreneurship if they are to thrive in the 21st century. Living in a post-church and post-Christian culture…
Top 10 reasons people cite for not attending church services
Bill Wilson The photo below is of a perfect attendance pin for Sunday school. Many of you have never seen one. There was a day when it was a regular feature in churches all across America. If a person attended…
The night Dean Smith came to the RA banquet
By Bill Wilson RA — shorthand for Royal Ambassadors. It was a weekly group for grade-school boys that sought to blend scouting-type activities with a call to missions. Lawndale Baptist church in Greensboro, N.C., where I grew up in the…
The two most dangerous words
By Bill Wilson “Yes, but …” Two of the most dangerous words in a minister’s vocabulary. Two of the most destructive words a congregation will ever utter. “Yes, but …” The order of their utterance is important. First we say,…
Our hidden addiction
By Bill Wilson You know all too well that our society is prone to addictions. We do nearly everything to excess. Not just the obvious culprits — alcohol, gambling, pain-killers, sex, work. There are a multitude of things which, done…