articles

Daniel J. Mathew offers BGV tips: A lot has been said about worship leading, about the responsibilities both musically and spiritually a person has when leading a congregation in corporate musical worship, and whilst most points are relevant to all members of the band and creative arts, often they’re specifically…

Catalyst director Brad Lomenick on team building: So what about when someone completely drops the ball? We all have experienced this as leaders. I know I have. So how do you respond? You give a big assignment or project to someone on your team, and they lay an egg- totally…

Eric Dye on sound levels: My first experiences with church sound level complaints was pretty flippant. I thought, “Seriously? Have you nothing more important to think about?” However, the truth of the matter is, church volume is something that cannot be ignored. If you have people in your congregation that complain about the…

Jaime Brown on song keys: I was recently watching a well-known worship leader lead worship at a church that was broadcasting its service online. His leadership was excellent, the band was playing well, and the songs were really good. There was one problem, though. The keys were all way too…

Kristen Gilles on worship in the midst of tragedy: Our nation was jolted last week by the tragic, civilian “war zone” created at the Boston Marathon after two terrible explosions killed 3 people and horribly wounded nearly two hundred others. The news media photos depicted bloody carnage on the streets…

Jason Hatley compares the Disney culture to ministry: Recently, I was asked to speak to a group of pastors in Orlando and while I was there, I was invited to go on a “behind-the-scenes” tour of Walt Disney World. Needless to say… I was excited! Sure it was going to…

Dr. Thom S. Rainer on a church in decline: I was their church consultant in 2003. The church’s peak attendance was 750 in 1975. By the time I got there the attendance had fallen to an average of 83. The large sanctuary seemed to swallow the relatively small crowd on…

Russ Hutto: What does the word perform even mean? Is it a bad word? Growing up as a kid of the church (my dad was a youth pastor, worship leader, pastor), I’ve heard just about every church cliche you can think of. Being a youth pastor and media/music pastor myself…

Joe Porter on inexpensive communication ideas: “If I had an unlimited communications budget, then I would _______.” I would make a pretty confident bet that no church has dedicated an unlimited amount of funds to communications. In fact, most of us operate on what we consider a limited budget. This…

Chris Vacher describes his Good Friday service: At Compass we do a Good Friday service where we focus squarely on the crucifixion of Christ and what it means for us. Good Friday is a holiday in Canada and most people are able to attend a daytime service. Good Friday becomes…

Matthew Hoskinson on ministry salaries: It seems awfully unspiritual to talk about pastoral remuneration, especially during the candidating process. After all, if the Lord wants you to minister somewhere, hasn’t he promised to provide for you? And didn’t George Mueller pray meals to the front door of his orphanage? Why…

Phil Cooke on the new show “The Moment” for the USA Network: Our team at Cooke Pictures recently spent a few days in San Jose working with Grace Hill Media shooting a promo for NFL great Kurt Warner’s new show “The Moment” for the USA Network. It’s a program that…

I have yet to meet anyone who has a full and clear understanding of copyright law. One thing I know for certain is that most people (and this includes churches, schools, businesses, and pretty much everyone) take liberties beyond what the law allows. In a church situation, this can be…

During tax season many Americans review their 2012 finances, including a look at how much and to whom they donated money last year. In a new poll from the Barna Group, more than half of Americans said they have donated money or items (or both) to a cause they cared…