Blessing of the Bikes
Pastor Daniel Kerlin’s Pennsylvania congregation wanted to reach people who wouldn’t normally come to church. They came up with a novel idea — a motorcyclist worship…
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Pastor Daniel Kerlin’s Pennsylvania congregation wanted to reach people who wouldn’t normally come to church. They came up with a novel idea — a motorcyclist worship…
Scott Chrostek, pastor of Resurrection Downtown, visited thirty-three coffee shops during his first month in Kansas City with a daily goal of having thirty-five conversations…
Lovett H. Weems, Jr., and Tom Berlin discuss how congregations can reach more members and visitors through Special Focus Sundays that emphasize a particular cause…
Roger Ross, author of the book Meet the Goodpeople, looks to the Wesleyan Revival for examples of effective ways of sharing faith. He says seven…
Saint Mark United Methodist Church in Wichita, Kansas, recently launched a new worship service at a second campus in southeast Wichita that became part of…
“Fresh expressions” is a movement that began in the Church of England and British Methodist churches but soon spread to other denominations in England and…
Does it seem that you still see the same people in worship on Sunday but not as often? For a number of years, declines in…
For much of my ministry, I had a recurring fantasy each time I was moving to a new church as pastor. I would imagine myself…
For four years, I’ve been the pastor of Women at the Well, a congregation within a women’s prison in Mitchellville, Iowa. I meet some amazing…
On the weekend of my first Easter as a church planter in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, I made the drive from my house to a local…
How can everyday places in your neighborhood become sanctuaries where people receive blessing? Increasingly, churches find they can extend their spiritual presence beyond their own…
Reaching a new generation requires a new conversation. Congregations say they want to reach new and younger people, many of whom are simply turned off…
We attend dozens of worship services in different churches every year. Way too often we hear the preachers implore along the scripted lines: “Come back…
Churches have long assumed that new people would engage their congregations by first attending worship. When they are not growing and attracting new people, people…
When people think of your church, what comes to mind? Is your church seen as similar to other churches? Different? How would church members answer…
Given the title of Linda Ranson Jacobs’s new book, Attract Families to Your Church and Keep Them Coming Back (Abingdon Press, 2014), one might assume…
The Church of England set out to learn from the 18 percent of their churches that grew in the decade up to 2010. A study…
Perhaps there was a time when inspiring worship and great music brought people to church. Today, however, in an increasing number of places, the quality…
Worship attendance matters. Learn how to improve it, so that your congregation bears more fruit. Our churches exist to glorify God and to share God…
For years, Harvest Church hosted a community-wide dodgeball event for teenagers. We advertised it well, and hundreds of kids participated. The winners got cool prizes…
One of the disciplines of a disciple of Jesus Christ is to establish relationships with people we do not know — the unconnected — therefore…
The church can no longer fling open the doors and expect the crowds to rush in. We are no longer a “come here” organization as…
When congregations and their leaders think about worship or about mission, it often appears that they think of the two as compartmentalized and entirely separate…
Traditionally, worship has been regarded as the primary venue through which individuals enter the life of a congregation. In The Inviting Church (Alban, 1987, 74-75),…
Churches are struggling with their evangelistic outreach. What worked in the past doesn’t seem to work today. In studying African American churches, I have come…
While my husband and I were out recently, a young college student took our order at a fast food restaurant. Noticing her name tag, I…
In the last year, several friends who live in different parts of the country have returned to church after a number of years of inactivity.…
The first decade of the 21st century was one of highs and lows for U.S. congregations. In the wake of the tragedy of 9/11, many…
The community where I live in South Korea is one of the five top places where Koreans want to live. So to reach new disciples…
Every church believes itself to be a welcoming and friendly fellowship, but this isn’t always true. If our churches are to become spiritual communities where…
This article is reprinted by permission from Leading Ideas, a free e-newsletter from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary available at churchleadership.com.