By John Pavlovitz Being on the other side of the Exodus sucks, don’t it? I see the panic on your face, Church. I know the internal terror as you see the statistics and hear the stories and scan the exit…
Andraé Crouch, Expensive Pianos, and Church Priorities
Unless I slept walked through it, I never had the chance to see Andraé Crouch perform live. I heard plenty of his music. But I was never in his presence. I have been places where he performed, but only years…
Nine observations about announcements in worship services
To have or not to have announcements in the worship services? That is the question many church leaders ask today. And indeed there are several tendencies or trends related to announcements, and they are often related to the size of…
The only two questions any pastor should be asking right now
Pastors spend a lot of time solving problems, and that means asking questions. Unfortunately, most of those questions are unimportant, even trivial. I know this because I’ve wasted plenty of my own time wondering about these same things.
DNA of an Unfriendly Church
Categories: Church Culture, Culture Imagine the worst church experience you have ever had. Perhaps you can relate. I walked in wondering if anyone had ever visited this church. I do not believe we should have a critical attitude towards churches….
Why do we have all these church programs?
My colleagues hate it when I read, especially something that isn’t religious, theological or churchy! For instance, when I read Googled: The End of the World as We Know It I ended up in a conference in California, and we…
5 Things I’ve Learned in 5 Weeks Out of Church
Consider this official. I am issuing an apology to every member of every church that I have served over the last 20+ years. Two weeks ago, we set a personal record that I never thought I would reach. We hit…
Soar past tithing on your way to becoming wildly generous
Should we forget tithing? Is it passé? Does it set up an artificial target on which too few people actually agree? Tithing seems like an obvious principle–10 percent of your income–yet too often it becomes a negative point for confusion,…
This kind of denomination IS dead
Anyone who has followed my lifelong trek through the maze of denominational staff service, and consulting and coaching with denominational organizations, knows that I believe in denominations. I also believe they have a future that respects their past and present….