By Joe LaGuardia A pile of rubble and a towering, broken steeple are all that is left of the historic Scott Boulevard Baptist Church building on the corner of Scott Boulevard and North Decatur Road in Decatur, Georgia. To many…
Creative destruction and disorienting missional engagement transform congregations
Creative destruction and disorienting missional engagement are essential practices for congregations after the first generation of their journey. Focusing on these two things will positively impact the vitality and vibrancy of congregations. When the first generation of the journey of…
The multi-church movement
Upon reading the title of this article, you might wonder, “Does he really mean ‘multi-church’ and not ‘multi-site’?” Nope! The multi-church movement is taking hold in England and is serving rural congregations exceptionally well. The Arthur Rank Center (a rural-church…
Shallow congregations only take off their shoes and socks
Since they only plan to wade into the shallow end of the pool, or a few feet into the river, lake or ocean, the typical congregational participant only needs to remove their shoes and socks. And we are not talking…
Can congregations stuck in an overly churched culture change?
[Note: This is a follow-up post to Many Congregations Are Stuck in an Overly Churched Culture] The Situation Congregations where 30 percent or more of the active membership is at least 60 years old, and they have been professing Christians…
They want their next pastor to do what?
Beyond the ability to be faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, what else do congregations want from their next senior or solo pastor? At the request…
If I am not growing spiritually, should I sue my pastor for malpractice?
Ouch! The question itself raises a variety of emotions; and not all good ones. I posted this question on Facebook to see what responses I would receive. The origin of this question was somewhat different than how it was posed….
Presumed guilty
Not long ago, my wife Helms and I were having one of those mornings where nothing is going quite right. We were late for everything, we weren’t getting things done, and to top it off, we had forgotten to grab…
What if a generation of women in ministry planted new congregations?
It is hard to believe it has been more than 35 years since I was ready to leave seminary in Louisville, KY for what I thought would be my first full-time church pastorate. Although I had grown up in Baltimore…