Series: Metrics

September 1, 2022

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

Why Do We Gather?

By Kent E. Fillinger  As a movement, we’ve striven from the beginning to be a church based on New Testament principles. Where the Bible speaks, we speak, and where the Bible is silent, we are silent. No creed but Christ and no book but the Bible.   When was the last time your church staff or elders stopped to consider what these maxims mean when it comes to worship gatherings? When did you last study the New Testament to see what it teaches about our purpose for gathering? Have your church leaders ever considered why you do what you do when

July 1, 2022

Kent E. Fillinger

Behind The Screen: Insights into Online Church

Behind the Screen: Insights into Online Church

By Kent E. Fillinger Prior to the pandemic, most larger churches were already actively and sometimes aggressively using online church as an outreach strategy to connect with more people beyond their physical locations. For many smaller churches, the pandemic expedited their technological timeline and forced them into the realm of online church. Every church I know is still trying to “crack the code” to determine how to shift people from “passive viewers” of online church to “engaged disciples.” Some churches have invested significant time, staffing, and financial resources to expand their online push and to upgrade their technology. Despite these

March 1, 2022

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

Authentic Online Church

By Kent E. Fillinger Yogi Berra famously said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” Since the pandemic started two years ago, there have been an endless number of “experts” making countless predictions about the future of everything—including the church. Plenty of churches offered an online campus or church online on various platforms before COVID-19. Broadcast methods varied by church; the main options were livestreaming, on-demand full service (worship and message), on-demand message only, and rebroadcast (simulated live). A 2018 survey by Vanderbloeman and Jay Kranda revealed the top three broadcast platforms were Churchonlineplatform.com, Facebook Live, and YouTube.

January 1, 2022

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

The Preacher Pipeline Problem

A ministry friend recently worked with the Slingshot Group, a church staffing firm, to find a new ministry, and they told him he was one of 19,000 candidates they were helping. I imagine this represents people from a multitude of denominations and backgrounds, as well as those seeking a variety of church ministry roles. Either way, it’s clear there’s a sizable number of people currently in ministry who are looking for something different or somewhere new to serve. But what does the future “preacher pipeline” look like based on who’s leading our Christian churches today? A Long-Term Look at Lead

November 1, 2021

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

How Churches Are Serving Their Communities

By Kent E. Fillinger Some churches create “holy huddles” that are internally focused and address only the needs of their own members. Their mantra could be, “Us four, no more, close the door!” Other churches are more externally focused and spend time, energy, and resources serving their local communities and meeting practical needs. Church leaders should periodically ask, “If our church were to close today, would our community realize it and miss us?” Answering that question will help a church assess where they fall on the internally focused versus externally focused spectrum. Local Community Involvement Our annual church survey for

September 1, 2021

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

The Faith Practices Churches Emphasize

What people believe really matters, according to a 2017 Canadian study of 22 churches and more than 2,000 churchgoers. Churches that adhere to conservative theology are more likely to grow than those that do not, and people who attend growing churches reported praying more often and reading their Bibles more often than those who attend declining churches, the study showed. What churches teach impacts the spiritual practices of their attendees and, in turn, the health of the church. Our 2020 annual church survey asked church leaders this question: How much does your church emphasize the following personal and family faith

March 1, 2021

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

The Truth about Bible Reading

By Kent E. Fillinger Biblegateway.com offers 61 different Bible translations and paraphrases for readers to choose from. I’ve half-jokingly said for years that most Christians choose to read the MOV(My Own Version) Bible. The Jefferson Bible—more properly called The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth—may be the most noteworthy example of trying to make the Bible fit one’s personal perspective. Our nation’s third president, Thomas Jefferson, like many at the time, shed his orthodox Christianity in stages. He started by doubting the Trinity, then Old Testament miracles, and then New Testament miracles. During his presidency, Jefferson extracted, reduced, and

February 1, 2021

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

How to Change Your Church Scorecard (in an ‘AC’ World)

What’s the score? Who’s winning? Both are common questions during a sporting event. Fans of the winning team often point out the scoreboard to the opposing team’s fans at the end of a game. “Keeping score” can be a positive or a negative depending on the situation and the underlying intent. Churches have traditionally used metrics like the ABCs (Attendance, Baptisms or Buildings, and Cash) or the three Cs (Church attendance, Conversions, and Cash) to “keep score” and to measure their growth and effectiveness in accomplishing the mission. The new norm for many church leaders seems to be the sharing

January 1, 2021

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

Money Strategies for Ministry

Money helps fuel ministry, so it’s critical for leaders to pause and understand the state of their church’s finances as they start a new year. I encourage leaders to consider short-term strategies to keep their congregation focused on the mission and a long-term approach to develop disciples who are generous. Here are four steps you can take to improve the short-term and long-term financial health of your church. Conduct a “Giving Audit” People’s giving habits can be indications of their spiritual journey; a church typically has givers at various points on that journey. PushPay identified the following eight categories of

November 22, 2020

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

The Year That Was Supposed to Be (and Nine Action Steps for 2021)

The year 2020 and the new decade seemed a perfect opportunity for preachers to capitalize on the “20/20 vision” metaphor. The fanfare and excitement quickly turned from bright and crisp to blurry and cautious, however, as the coronavirus forced churches to turn off their lights and close their doors for weeks or even months. In January, when I surveyed over 400 churches, among the questions I asked was, “What is your church most looking forward to in 2020?” I planned to use the responses to generate potential articles detailing the exciting plans and ideas churches of all sizes had for

October 24, 2020

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

The Future of Evangelism, Missions, and the Church

The headline “51% of Churchgoers Don’t Know of the Great Commission” from a Barna report in March 2018 caught my eye and caused me great concern. The report said that for 25 percent of churchgoers, the term “Great Commission” sounded familiar, but they could not remember the meaning of it. Only 17 percent of churchgoers said they had heard of the Great Commission and knew what it meant. Although not even half of any age group knew the term Great Commission well, the youngest adult generation was the least likely to recognize it. Only 10 percent of millennials (those born

September 22, 2020

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

Beyond the Pandemic: How the Church Can Respond to Three Urgent Needs in Their Communities

By Kent E. Fillinger The full impact of COVID-19 goes well beyond the number of confirmed cases, the death toll, and the unemployment rate that many are tracking. The pandemic has exacerbated several preexisting problems like anxiety, depression, suicide, child abuse, drug abuse, and others. These often overlooked “killers” are affecting scores of Americans today, and some experts say these conditions have reached epidemic proportions. Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz, assistant U.S. secretary for mental health and substance use, said in late May, “The increase in the number of suicides, fatal drug overdoses and instances of domestic abuse will be broad, deep

August 17, 2020

Christian Standard

Kent E. Fillinger

2019 Annual Church Survey

This year we share not only average attendance numbers but also other vital stats such as the fastest-growing churches and top baptism ratios in each category. The churches in our survey saw many amazing kingdom accomplishments in 2019. For instance, one church had 4,371 baptisms, a record over the history of our surveys. Also, two churches, a new church and an emerging megachurch, grew by more than 100 percent in 2019!  A total of 439 churches filled out our survey this year (another record number!). We thank every church for participating; better participation makes for more accurate data. We celebrate

August 15, 2020

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

Church Finance FAQ

By Kent E. Fillinger The COVID-19 pandemic has dominated our time and attention for much of 2020. This month’s article provides an overview of church finances based on our 2019 survey of 439 churches, while next month’s article will share findings from a separate survey that seeks to determine the impact of COVID-19 on the financial health of our churches. How Much Money Was Given to Churches Last Year? The total amount given last year to the churches we surveyed was $872,134,383. This included giving to the general fund, capital campaigns, building funds, and other sources. This reflected less than

July 15, 2020

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

Coaching Matters

By Kent Fillinger A lead minister serves as a sort of head coach of the church team and has a major influence on the church’s health and growth. There are many reasons for this influence, but surveys indicate much of it involves the minister’s communication skills and ability to explain Scripture. That said, a 2019 Lifeway survey found that more churchgoers say their minister preaches longer than they prefer (27 percent) than shorter than they prefer (13 percent). This article examines findings from our 2019 survey of 439 churches to explore several factors related to the lead minister’s impact on

June 14, 2020

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

A Political Self-Evaluation

By Kent E. Fillinger CLICK HERE to download the printable version of this list featured in “The Final Word” of our July 2020 issue. The votes of white evangelicals impacted the last presidential election in a measurable way. A Lifeway Research study determined 4 of 5 such voters (80 percent) cast their ballots for Donald Trump in 2016. But it’s wise to understand that “evangelicals” are not a homogenous group. The same LifeWay study found that 4 of 5 black evangelicals (82 percent) voted for Hillary Clinton, while Hispanic evangelical voters were evenly split—47 percent Clinton, 48 percent Trump. Looked

May 17, 2020

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

Report: State of Discipleship

By Kent E. Fillinger Discipleship is a hot topic in church ministries and global missions today. Churches are placing a greater emphasis on disciple-making. And missionaries are more focused on trying to establish disciple-making movements around the world. As I prepared to write this article, I received an evite to attend a webinar about “discipling people online” in response to the COVID-19 lockdown. In our annual survey, we asked a series of questions about disciple-making processes in churches, and we also asked leaders to evaluate the effectiveness of their efforts. Would you describe your church today as a “disciple-making church”?

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