Category Archives: Local church

Inexplicable

At LeadershipJournal.net Steve Gaines writes: I am convinced that one of the reasons so many people are turned off from the idea of church these days is that it is all so explainable. Too many churches are growing simply because … Continue reading

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Beware Doctors in Church

There is a common assumption that those who have earned a doctoral degree are smarter than those who haven’t. This assumption is most unfortunate when it is held by those of us who have earned doctorates. As they exist today, … Continue reading

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Leadership Myths

Here’s my article from this week’s church newsletter: Charge Conference comes around every year (ours is October 7). One of the duties of this meeting is to select leaders for the coming year. Here are some of the confusions I’ve … Continue reading

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Chicken

I live in Camp County, Texas. The World Headquarters of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation is on the northern edge of the county. Lots of chickens live (and die) here.  Chickens are big business here. Pilgrims and the supporting industries are the … Continue reading

Posted in Leadership, Local church, Ministry, Spirituality | 2 Comments

The Bishops are Seeking Leverage

In his Christian Chaos: Revolutionizing the Congregation Tom Bandy says, The primary link between congregation and denomination and denomination is pastoral relations, the key membership of the pastor is with the denominational judicatory, and the most powerful positions in congregation … Continue reading

Posted in church growth, Current events, Leadership, Local church, Spirituality, Theology, United Methodism | 10 Comments

What Kind of Church

Reading Bill Easum’s comments on hiring bring to mind the contrast between the Program Based Church and the Team Based Church. In this piece Easum gives two different models of hiring processes. These models are based on the two kinds … Continue reading

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Looking for Youth Workers

We’re losing our longtime youth director in June as he makes the transition to pastoring. Here are some of the thoughts I’ve had as we figure out what comes next. Thinking about Youth Ministry Why churches hire youth leaders: Availability: … Continue reading

Posted in Leadership, Local church, Spirituality, Youth Ministry | 4 Comments

Churches that “Get it”

Todd Rhoades at Monday Morning Insight did a post early in April on “10 Observations from Churches Who ‘Get It.’” As a pastor who would like to describe my congregation’s as “getting it,” I’m afraid we don’t always measure up … Continue reading

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Free Creativity

At the end of the second service Sunday, while we were singing the last hymn, my wife and Rhett M came up to join me. This is typically the time people come to join the church. Both are already church … Continue reading

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Assessing Changes in the Texas Annual Conference

Bishop Huie, Rick Goodrich, and District Superintendent Jerry Neff led the 2 hour meeting in Longview yesterday. This meeting was mandated last year as a way of assessing the changed in the Conference. You can find a power point version … Continue reading

Posted in church growth, Evangelism, Leadership, Local church, United Methodism | 1 Comment