articles

The Church In 2062

David Murrow gives some fascinating and believable predictions about the the church in 50 years. I’m hoping for a robotic praise band who will show up on time and play in time! Only God knows the future. But if current trends in Christianity continue, we can expect great change in…

Ten Common Things Church Members Communicate to Pastors

Pastors are like information sponges. If they aren’t studying, they are receiving a regular deluge of information from church members. I asked twenty-two pastors to share with me the most common items they hear from their church members. In the past, this information came in the form of letters, in-person…

Does Your Church Lobby Turn Off Visitors?

Steve Law on musty church lobbies: Your church lobby tells new people in about 3 seconds the kind of people that your church wants to have. Okay, maybe just 2 seconds. It is really, really, really fast and most churches do not even know what they’re doing. I walked into…

Poll: Christmas Music Enjoyed by 70 Percent of Americans

Does your church think it’s too cool to sing Christmas music… at Christmas? You might want to rethink that. Christmas music is nearly inescapable every December — and according to a new LifeWay Research study, most Americans enjoy it, Baptist Press reports. According to the poll, 70 percent of Americans…

A Salute to the Average Worship Leader

Bob Kauflin on worship leaders: Overemphasizing or consistently focusing on technology, skill, and excellence can leave most us with a nagging feeling that our musicians, our leaders, our equipment, and our songs are never quite good enough. We resign ourselves to the thought that we’ll never be as successful, used,…

Cutting Back on Bulletin Printing

Justin Wise on church bulletins: Most churches print a bulletin because it’s the way things have always been done. To change that means to change a process. A process that someone is familiar and comfortable with. So if the communications team is in charge of printing the bulletin, you might…

How One Church Does In-Ears On the Cheap

Trevor McMaken from Church of the Resurrection in Wheaton, IL shares his search for affordable in-ears: Unfortunately, an Aviom system for IEMs can be really expensive—too expensive for many small and medium sized churches to afford. We just quoted one for our church at $ for 8 channels. To transition…

Tips for Solving Church Sound Debates

Brian Gowing shares ideas for solving sound issues: If I had a nickel for every time I’ve gone into a church and heard 3 or more different perspectives on the way things sounded I’d be pretty well of by now. Every church thinks that they’re unique in the sound problems…

10 Steps to Better Tweeting

For those interested in learning what Twitter is all about, or those wanting to improve their Twitter popularity, LifeChurch’s Scott Williams offers 10 excellent tips. I’ll be using them! 1. Share A Quote: There is something about quotes that seem to have a profound impact on people and the way…

Kid’s Worship

For years, children’s choirs have taken the same path as most church choirs – learn a piece and perform it in a service. It’s no secret church choirs are dying – the fact that the choral music industry has dried up is one indicator. Choirs who insist on performing are…

How Advent Can Be Much More Than “The Christmas Season”

Christmas ideas from Glenn Packiam: For the longest time, I thought “Advent” was just a fancy word for “the Christmas season,” a holier, maybe more spiritual-sounding word for an otherwise hectic and overly-commercialized holiday stretch between Thanksgiving and December 25. What I’ve discovered in the past few years of observing…

5 Things Your Church Must Do at Christmas

Earlier this week, someone asked us to list five things that churches really need to do at Christmas. The Ministry Matters team brainstormed the question and came up with the following ideas based on our own experiences (read nightmares). Hopefully you’ll benefit by avoiding some of the mistakes we’ve already…

Church Growth Is All About the Pastor

David Murrow has written a controversial article I must say I agree with – churches with boring preaching don’t grow: Common story: First ________Church gets a new minister – Pastor Joe. He’s not a very good communicator. People start leaving. Within two years attendance has dropped by half. Giving is…

Is Your Worship Service Upside Down?

Worship & Creative Arts Pastor Chris Gambill on worship planning: Do we presume to respond to God before hearing from or about Him? An incredibly simple, yet piercing, question. Sure, by including a well-crafted call to worship, we can hear about God and His character. But if the essence of…

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