All you have to do is drive around the community and take a look at what many churches are advertising on their front lawns. Even easier, check out their web sites. This time of year you’ll find pumpkin patches, crop mazes, haunted houses, “trunk or treat” events, and hay rides. And soon we’ll be treated […]
Category: Making Church Matter
This week, registration opened on our brand new website for our brand new conference, Rebuilt | 2018, check it out at rebuiltconference.com. For a number of years a few of years ago, we hosted an annual gathering each fall for our staff and lay leaders, including the Parish Council. The purpose of this mini retreat […]
Worship in Our New Church These days we are settling into our new church building. It is a thrilling period in the life of our parish and certainly a lot of fun. But it also raises questions and brings challenges, as do any changes or transitions in life. Here are five that have stimulated some […]
This is the time of year when attendance in many churches is down, due to vacations. But as the vacation season comes to an end, (for us in Baltimore County, that would be this week and next) and especially as the school year gets started, you can be sure of one thing: more […]
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 […]
Healthy growing churches are great and that’s what everyone wants for their church. But don’t be fooled: growing churches don’t mean churches without problems. They have challenges just like any kind of church…just different ones. Here are 5: 1. The Pastor Is Less Available When I first came to Nativity I stood by the front […]
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 […]
With Memorial Day fast approaching we face the end of our Spring season here at Nativity. It has been an exceptionally busy one for us. Take a look: Pastoral Activities We celebrated 150 First Communions, 85 High School Students receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation, and 25 Adults who were received into the Church at the […]
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 […]
