By Charlie Carroll Talk to most church planters, and they’ll tell you the same story: Your fifth year is a watershed year; a season of change. It was for me. I just finished mine and experienced more change in my fifth year then the first four years combined. What changed? My perspective, more than anything. It pivoted toward Paul’s perspective of “all things are acceptable, but not all things are helpful.” Unfortunately, for most planters, it takes the first five [...]
By JustinandTrishaDavis A few weeks ago, Trish and I were getting ready to go to bed, and the tension in our room was thick. There had been no argument. There was no disagreement. But there was distance. Something was wrong. You could feel it. As we were laying there, I finally just said it, “What is the deal? What is wrong?” Silence. “Trish, please tell me.” “Ok. You are a workaholic. You don’t know how to turn it off, and [...]
By Ron Edmondson Seven words of wisdom for church planters and leaders from Ron Edmondson. I was meeting with a potential church planter recently and some of the words of wisdom spoken to me over the years flooded my mind. Some of these were given to me by others. Some were learned firsthand by experience. Here are seven words of wisdom for church planters and leaders: 1. Seek approval among people God sent you to minister to. Obviously, we work [...]
by Stephen Newman Do you ever stop and ask yourself, “Why do people visit my church?” Do you ever ask yourself, “Why don’t they come back?” Why is it that churches across the country see people coming in the front door only to have them exit the same door and never return? I know of churches that will draw 1,000 visitors a year, and yet average under 1,000 in worship. What is behind this unfortunate phenomenon? There are many [...]
By Melissa Riddle Chalos • 09/08/2011 Church planters Justin and Trisha Davis on the near death and resurrection of their marriage—and ministry “It’s sad that pastors feel the most alone.” —Justin Davis “There is nothing God can’t work through with a broken spirit.” —Trisha Davis Exponential Network and Ed Stetzer released a survey revealing that one of the greatest needs among church planters is emotional support, especially in their marriages. Justin and Trisha Davis know that reality all [...]
By Troy Anderson How focusing on existing relationships to invite people to church brought spiritual life to Faith Church. Shortly after becoming senior pastor at Faith Church in 1992, Pastor Bob Bouwer went door to door and to the malls of South Holland, Ill., with a church leader and asked community members about their religious backgrounds and needs. “One thing we discovered is that we never met an atheist,” says Bouwer, co-author of The U-Turn Church (Baker). “Everybody had a [...]
by Thom Rainer I remember the first time I went to a mall. Raised in a small town in the southeastern section of Alabama, I was amazed when I went to the “big city” mall in Montgomery. All the stores were under one roof. They were new and shiny. The venture became an adventure for me. But that was fifty years ago. Things have changed. Things have changed significantly. As Jeff Jordan notes in The Atlantic Cities, the future of [...]
by Paul Williams Is the church you’re leading emotionally healthy? How do you tell if it is or isn’t? Is there a way to know if you’re on the path to good health or heading in the wrong direction? Discovering the answers to these questions is vital, especially for new churches For more than 65 years, the Orchard Group has planted churches. For many decades, the churches we planted were small and struggling. But over the last 15 years, our churches [...]
(Photo: Dan Delzell) By Dan Delzell December 27, 2012|9:06 am Many Americans clamor for celebrities….not only in Hollywood, but even in churches. This creates both a challenge and an opportunity for churches today. The challenge in our “celebrity pastor” culture is to joyfully embrace the need to send out more and more disciples to plant new churches. The opportunity is actually identical to the challenge. It is the incredible privilege to turn attenders and members into church planters. Why church [...]
by Brian Orme There’s a lot of discussion that goes on about church growth: what causes it; how to generate it; prepare for it; launch it; build it; cultivate it and even, to some degree, manufacture it. Many of the discussions are helpful, but there are a number of subtle beliefs that still creep up that aren’t healthy. In fact, they’re downright superstitious and, at times, dangerous to the church. I’ve collected these myths over many conversations, coffees and lunches with [...]
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