Scrolling through the list of celebrities who died in 2016 seems to take, depressingly, forever. There also were the personal losses and, for many, a political and cultural landscape that seems upside-down. And those are just the personal and domestic…
Small churches ideal for Millennials if members, pastors avoid temptation to isolate
It isn’t easy being a small church. Their pastors and members know it all too well. They are usually under-resourced — fewer members often means fewer dollars, fewer teachers and lay leaders, fewer books, workshops and experts focused to overcoming their…
Preaching tops in choosing new church, survey finds
It doesn’t take an academic or congregational consultant to see that a lot has changed in the church since the end of World War II. Fewer people attend and fewer people give than ever before. Worship styles have proliferated and…
Clarify those expectations, experts tell pastor search committees
It seems obvious that a church searching for its next leader would be clear on how it understands the role of the pastor in its own context. But the hard truth is congregations are often fuzzy on that detail. “If…