Reduce Friction in Your Relationships, Especially with God

To those who are contemplating leaving the United Methodist Church

I write this letter with an aching heart. I have heard the pain in the voices of so many of you, wondering if it is time to “shake the dust off” and leave your local church. As your bishop, I cannot ask you to stay in a place where your soul cannot be at rest. However, I will share with you why I, a

Why the Church Struggles with Confirmation

When children are in their early elementary school years, their minds are actually at the peak time for easy rote memorization. And yet, many Protestant churches begin formal confirmation instruction years after this formative period. What are the effects of this lapse in time? Too often, young teens fall away from their church after confirmation—a(...)

What alcoholics can teach churches

Daybreak Fellowship blends language of addiction recovery with Christian worship

How to attract millennials to your church

How can your church help millennials see the value in church as a way to grow closer to God?

Real happiness is more than putting on a face

What makes us happy? A United Methodist pastor and a professor agree that it is not about externals we receive or achieve, but an 'inside job.'

How to Volunteer for Heifer with Your Church

Are you looking for inspiration for how to volunteer for Heifer International with your church? Need some direction in how to impact the fight to end hunger and poverty even though you may live very far from your closest Heifer representative? Look no further than a church that has been working with Heifer for the past 72 years, and yet still continues to surprise us with their generosity and spirit of compassion.

Biblical Literacy in the Church: Three Benefits

Biblical literacy is critical to healthy church members and churches. Explore the Bible can help your members dwell in the Word as it dwells in them richly.

What Millennials Want When They Visit Church

Like it or not, consumer culture has shaped people’s expectations for church, and this is more true for Millennials than any other generation. So what do they think of church? What pushes them away and draws them in? And when they do visit a church, how are they hoping to be approached?

Why Do Churches Focus So Much On Families?

In an era of evangelicalism where there are church ministries built around the idea of “family,” marriage has become the focus of countless books and sermons and “family friendly” entertainment has become synonymous with “Christian” entertainment, is there a risk of distorting what the biblical inte

Why You Shouldn’t Give Up On the Church

I grew up in the Church. No really, I grew up in the church.<br>As a pastor’s kid, I spent countless hours in church and doing church activities. I am a church native and familiar with all its quirks and cultural oddities, with all its strengths and all its failings. As the son of prominent evangelic

Go Big or Go Home: How "Big" Has Invaded the Church

Is our obsession with big churches rooted in mission our just our desire for “big”?

Shut down the bus tours: What older church members should really be doing

So how do you engage older church attendees… say people over age 50? The question’s been around a long time. And, as most church leaders could tell you, it’s a bit of a loaded question. It’s also a question I’m...Read More→

Seven Reasons Why We Should Not Accept Millions of Years

There is an intensifying controversy in the church all over the world regarding the age of the earth.

3 Tips for Reaching the Dechurched

Every church should be thinking about how to reach the dechurched

How to Deal with Methodists at your Red Church Doors

Revitalizing Church—Steps to an Outward Focus

Churches must understand—and move toward—an outward focus

Your Unchurched Friends Want to Know About Your Faith

And while they don’t want to go to church, they’re likely up for attending other church activities with you, LifeWay reports.

Building Up the Body of Christ

Through research and real stories, this guidebook offers church leaders a plan for developing and nurturing church environments that are psychologically and spiritually healthy.

We’re getting a new pastor! What can I do?

When leadership changes, so do churches. A pastor who has been there before shares lessons learned and tips to make things work well right from the start.