There’s one difference between God and the Church: God doesn’t need to change. But, the most effective and successful churches are constantly changing. The message and the mission never change- that’s a God thing- but the methods and techniques we use to communicate that mission/message are in constant need of re-shaping to reach the ever-changing […]
Category: Communication
A big factor in our growth at Nativity was getting over our unwillingness to learn and borrow methods from growing, often non-Catholic, churches. But in the process we also had to learn what to look for. We realized that adopting successful methods from other churches required first paying attention to their ministry’s purpose-driven strategy, not […]
Last week we began a new message series, which is new for us in several ways because it is a message about sex. And if anything was clear to me about this series, from the time it was first proposed, probably a year ago, until the moment I stepped into the pulpit last weekend, I […]
Recently I came across an interesting poll by Thom Rainer (ThomRainer.com) regarding the experience of first time guests at church. More often than not their experience turns them off and sends them away, never to return again. Here are some of the standouts (the order is mine, given my level of irritation with each): 1. […]
Our senior leadership team just wrapped up two intense days of review and planning for our parish, looking ahead to 2015. We worked with our friend, Patrick Lencioni. Pat is author of more than 10 best selling books all about best practices in business and leadership development. If you haven’t read any of his stuff, […]
Everywhere we go we are asked by parish and diocesan leaders, how do you lead through change? Whether you’re leading an entire organization through a transformation or coaching a single staff person through a transition, leading through change is one of the most important tasks you’ll do as a pastor or pastoral leader. In leading […]
When we first approached the reality that our book was going to really be published I found myself becoming sheepish and shy about it all. Perhaps the prospect of a lot of attention scared me, or maybe it was the idea of seeming prideful or egotistical that was painful. Whatever the reason, I didn’t want […]
As we argued in Rebuilt one of the, if not the main problem in parishes today is culture. Culture is a system of beliefs that guide a community’s behaviors, shapes their priorities, and ultimately determines the allocation of resources. More than ever these days we hear culture discussed in the secular community, especially when it […]
Everybody is talking about Evangelization and Discipleship these days. There are also no dearth of people willing to tell us how to do it (sometimes carrying a hefty price tag for doing so). Then there are the people who are successfully doing it. As I travel the country speaking to parishes and diocese, I have […]
All this week we have been in Denver for the first ever Amazing Parish Conference, and it was, well, amazing. The brain child of several Catholic lay leaders including, most notably, best selling author and business consultant Patrick Lencioni, the basic idea was to bring together parishes from across the country to share ideas and […]
