Over the years I’ve come across a lot of material, books, seminars, blogs, podcasts talking about how to guarantee that your church will grow. Some of the advise sounds to me like practical wisdom, for example if you have a building that is 80% full then you have reached capacity. Some of it is good… Continue reading Church Growth or a battle for market share?
Category: Church life
The toxic danger of gossip for both men and women
I recently engaged with an article that described gossip and slander as “the curse of women.” The article has since been withdrawn, I suspect one if those articles written in haste and frustration at specific circumstances. However, the association of women specifically with gossip is a common misconception. I found that phrasing unhelpful because I don’t… Continue reading The toxic danger of gossip for both men and women
Is it a sin for a pastor’s wife to go out to work?
Occasionally I get mailings or see advertisements for events that the organisers believe will be helpful for my wife. However, she cannot attend them, so they aren’t much use. Why? Well because those events are set up to run during the working day. I suppose that some ministry wives might be able to get some… Continue reading Is it a sin for a pastor’s wife to go out to work?
Does conservative theology and practice put off younger people from church?
One of the points of discussion arising from the articles about aging church demographics was whether conservative evangelical theology acted as a barrier, putting off young people especially where it clashed with their social values. One claim is that people might be drawn into evangelical churches because of the passionate focus on the Gospel or… Continue reading Does conservative theology and practice put off younger people from church?
Rumours of Revival
There have been some incredible reports coming from Asbury University in Kentucky of God moving in a powerful way starting at a chapel service. These reports describe people to come, stay, come back to an extended gathering where there has been praise, prayer, Scripture reading, preaching and testimony continuing over a number of days. Testimonies… Continue reading Rumours of Revival
What should we make of an aging church?
John Stevens, National Director of the FIEC has recently shared a couple of articles looking at the most recent data for church attendance.[1] John notes two things, first that we’ve long argues that the percentage of born again believers has always been much smaller than the percentage of church attendees generally. Secondly that a key… Continue reading What should we make of an aging church?
Signs of life or evidence of death?
We want there to be signs of life, signs of hope. It’s hard to give the message that there are none and hard to receive such a touch message too. Our temptation is to keep looking for glimmers of hope. This is true when we are talking about churches. It is hard to tell a… Continue reading Signs of life or evidence of death?
Emerging adults -what to do about a missing generation
What can and should we do about the problem of losing “emerging adults” from the church? This is the question that Rebecca Glover posts here. By “emerging adults” she means those aged 18-25. She talks about those “Too old for the youth group but feeling too young, too out of place really to feel part… Continue reading Emerging adults -what to do about a missing generation
How should Church Discipline work between churches?
In my articles responding to the Stephen Sizer case, I’ve argued that one of the problems that prevented an effective response to the problem of antisemitism in the church was a failure to do church discipline well. This affects both the immediate local church context and inter church relationships. So, I thought it might be… Continue reading How should Church Discipline work between churches?
If you want to look after your pastor, just let him have a normal weekend off!
I’ve just read one of those Twitter threads which outlines how churches should look after the pastors. This current one talks about things like using paying the pastor a decent wage, paying for any counselling they need, letting them have marriage enrichment weekends, praying for them, giving them sabbaticals and also giving then a “sabbath… Continue reading If you want to look after your pastor, just let him have a normal weekend off!
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