Articles for tag: Church Health

May 16, 2014

By Will Thomas All churches count “noses” and “nickels.” That”s a good thing. Most of the time, attendance and finances provide a helpful barometer of what”s happening. But other factors also matter. Churches count what they do because they can. The harder-to-measure goals may too often remain hidden beneath the surface. Some churches look beyond the obvious. All churches could. In fact, looking beyond the obvious is probably one of the common characteristics of larger, growing churches. They know numbers for the sake of numbers seldom lead anywhere. Their leaders know a big church needs a big foundation. Churches that

May 2, 2013

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Church Growth

Do You Measure What Matters?

Some churches and church leaders avoid measuring ministries in the church out of fear or from a desire not to be held accountable. Are you afraid of discovering something you don”t want to know? By Kent E. Fillinger “The church is in a difficult time. But the church doesn”t understand it”s in a difficult time because it doesn”t know the truth about itself,”* said Dave Peterson, senior pastor of Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas. “Rich Stearns [president of World Vision] observes that a segment within the Christian culture seems to say, “˜We”re good people doing good things, and

October 8, 2008

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Preaching

Church Health and Attendance Numbers”“How Do They Relate?

By Mark A. Taylor Is growing attendance a reliable indicator of church health? American Christians generally answer yes. Perhaps this is because we live with the effects of corporate pressure for quarter-by-quarter growth in sales and profits. For several decades now, the American mind-set has equated “bigger” with “better.” But not everyone accepts that conclusion any longer. Speaking at the Energizing Smaller Churches Network conference in Lincoln, Illinois, last month, Paul Williams listed 10 signs of a healthy smaller church. His first point: “Measure by relational growth as well as by numbers growth.” Many of the smaller church”s problems can

April 13, 2008

Kent Fillinger

Church & Ministry Church Growth

The Best Indicator of Church Growth

Baptisms reveal whether churches are reaching the lost or just shifting believers. This article examines megachurch baptism ratios, giving-per-baptism figures, and why retaining new disciples matters for long-term growth.

July 15, 2007

Darrel Rowland

Church Leadership Pastoral Transitions & Succession

TRANSITIONS: Facing the Facts of Transition

Russell Crabtree, Holy Cow Consulting, The Elephant in the Boardroom, pastoral transitions, succession planning, Disciples of Christ, Episcopal Church, Columbus Ohio,

July 3, 2005

Eddie Lowen

Church & Ministry Church Growth

Megachurches and Their Leaders – Big and Bad?

Eddie Lowen addresses common criticisms of megachurches, pointing to the New Testament church’s large beginnings and offering observations about what healthy large churches can look like in practice.

May 29, 2005

Jon Weece

Leadership Development Church Leadership

Simple Gifts, Teachable Moments

A popped balloon becomes a lesson in contentment, and a pastor’s journal becomes a window into harder questions: how Christians respond, why church health matters more than formulas, and how leaders can resist the bitter pull of cynicism.