Fewer Christians are attending church each year. This is true in North and South America, Eastern and Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, you name it. There are lots of reasons why. The culture of religion has been usurped by professional and kids sports. Add that to a list that includes secularization, rejection of authority, the […]
Category: Evangelization
Church health and growth are dependent on many factors, for sure. But bottom line, at the end of the day, churches don’t grow because they’re not healthy. And they’re not healthy because they’re focused on themselves. For all the talk about evangelization these days, the truth is that many churches remain resolutely focused on themselves, […]
This week we are in Austria for a Rebuilt Conference. We love our friends and partners here and greatly enjoy working with parishes in this beautiful country. Today we took the morning to visit one of the most popular tourist attractions here, the Schonbrunn Palace, the home of the Hapsburg monarchs and their family. It […]
For the vast majority of Catholics in the world, the faith is lived and learned and experienced in the local parish. The parish is the heart of the Church. But our hearts aren’t always that healthy. It’s an encouraging sign that there are a growing number of parishes and organizations who are making good progress […]
OK, so the crowds aren’t exactly Easter size. But unless it was truly a horrendous experience, you can bet there will be more than a few people coming back to visit you again. It’s important to keep in mind that while, yes, there are those Catholics who “religiously” show up only on Easter and Christmas, […]
We have a saying here at Nativity: “You’re always in a season.” Just as in nature, we always find ourselves in corresponding seasons of growth and fertility, seasons of maturation and harvest, seasons of decline and death. Knowing what “season” you and your church are in can be a great help for reflecting on the […]
Christmas and Easter. We all know those Catholics, right? They go by many (not so nice) names and acronyms that churchpeople like to throw around this time of year. But seeing as name-calling is a reliably ineffective strategy for increased attendance, it’s time for churches to re-evaluate our attitude towards Easter guests. Easter Starts on […]
Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. Jesus said: “Roll away the stone.” John 11.40 As odd as it sounds, recent statistics consistently show that many people who don’t go to church or describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated, nevertheless still profess a belief in God and […]
Churches that are focused on something other than growing disciples eventually stop growing. That’s where a lot of churches are today. But if a church is healthy, there’s no real reason why it should stop growing both wider and deeper. That’s the vision we believe God has for his Church. Here are 5 of the […]
This weekend we’re hosting our annual “Winter Small Group Launch.” We’ve found this event is a great point of entry for new members to join, new groups to form, and new leaders to step up. Making the most of a launch can go a long way towards building a culture of small groups. Here are […]
