It’s the New Year, and most people make plans for a year more successful than the last. So lets resolve to put to rest some of the old and tired excuses, myths really, that tend to hang around unsuccessful churches and their leaders. Here are five of the most common. “We don’t need to grow.” […]
Category: Making Church Matter
The dawn of a new year brings new promise and fresh hope despite whatever difficulties and challenges we might be facing. It is important to name those promises and focus on that hope. Here are some things we are looking forward to in the year ahead. Strategic Planning & Staff Development Our Strategic Leadership Team […]
“He’s making a list and checking it twice…” Anyone who serves on a church staff or volunteers around a church office knows that along with the joy, preparing for Christmas can be a stressful and busy time of year. There’s a lot of work that goes into pulling off a successful and inspiring Christmas celebration. […]
Advent is upon us. If I can say that I have a “favorite” season of the Church year, then this is it. While things get hectic, commercial, and all that, there’s a beauty that remains and still inspires. It’s a season when life change often happens. Here are three things on my mind as we […]
Rebuilt tells the story of what happened to us, what we learned, and what we now know about growing a healthy parish. It is all about the twin exercises of discipleship and evangelization, or what we have come to call awakening the faithful, while also, and at the same time, reaching the lost- oh, and […]
This weekend at Nativity we’re hosting our annual Small Groups Launch, when we make a parish wide push to get parishioners who have been hesitating into a group. Here are just five of the reasons why small groups matter to any church. Small Groups Are an Easy Way to Start Rebuilding Plenty of studies indicate […]
This Sunday our parish celebrates our annual Kick-Off Weekend. While the Church’s liturgical year runs from Advent to Advent, most families plan their year, especially if kids are involved, from September to June. So we make this weekend- the weekend after Labor Day- a special celebration each year. Nothing is different liturgically, of course (it’s […]
I knew an enthusiastic pastor who came to a church that was brimming with potential. He had terrific ideas and couldn’t wait to get going. Fast-forward five years, he’s no longer there and all that potential remains untapped. Ever wonder how your leadership potential gets crushed? It happens easily and more often than you might […]
Healthy things grow. That’s just how life works. But looking around, there isn’t always evidence our churches are alive. In nature, growth is simple- it takes a seed, some good soil, sunlight, and water. When it comes to growing churches, it’s really not that much different in essence- the Gospel, planted in a good community, […]
Politics and the pulpit. For some church leaders they are oil and water- always separate. For others, it’s fire and gasoline- always setting off some conflagration. Whatever you say, some of your congregation will want you to be more political, others less. The Catholic Church officially never endorses politicians or parties, nor should it (though […]
