Articles for tag: Michael C. Mack

March 3, 2016

Michael C. Mack

Are You a Level 5 Multiplying Church?

By Michael C. Mack A number of behaviors (and corresponding behavioral types) affect a church”s capability for multiplying. In Becoming a Level Five Multiplying Church, Exponential director Todd Wilson and Community Christian Church lead pastor Dave Ferguson define five specific levels of multiplying churches, with Level 5 being the most aggressive. “Regardless of church size, growth rate (positive or negative) or behavioral type,” the authors say, “all churches will exhibit behaviors from all five levels; however, we can begin to define a primary level and create profiles for each of the five behavioral types.” Surprisingly, most large churches are Level

March 3, 2016

Michael C. Mack

March Ministry Ideas

By Michael C. Mack Ideas for your church, group, class, or team: Spruce Up the Community. Contact a local parks department, senior living centers, or cemeteries, for instance, or ask members to provide names of neighbors who could use yard help this spring. Ask how your volunteers can do a postwinter spruce-up. Gather all the volunteers and gear you can and love your community through these acts of service. March Forth and Do Something. March 4 is “March Forth and Do Something Day.” Try planning a day of service in your community, perhaps in conjunction with the first idea. Let

February 29, 2016

Michael C. Mack

When to Call On Group or Class Members

By Michael C. Mack Normally, it”s best not to call on individual members during a class or group meeting. As a leader, your goal is to promote discussion, not quiz members. Most people don”t like being put on the spot. Your goal is to create an atmosphere of genuineness, openness, vulnerability, and acceptance. To do that, a free-flowing dialogue works best. Calling out specific people to contribute can sabotage that objective. But there are at least four exceptions: 1. The Quiet Person. Don”t automatically call on the quiet person. That”s the last thing they want to happen, and it may

February 4, 2016

Michael C. Mack

Five Ideas You Can Use This Month

Ideas for your youth group, small group, class, ministry team, or congregation . . . By Michael C. Mack 1.  Deliver roses and chocolates to residents of nursing and retirement homes on Valentine’s Day. 2. Offer a free Valentine”s Day wedding weekend. Parkcrest Christian Church in Long Beach, CA (Parkcrest.org), has offered free use of its facility, an officiated ceremony, and a cake-and-punch reception. 3. February is American Heart Month. Conduct a Valentine”s Day blood drive. Partner with the Red Cross (redcross.org) to set up a mobile unit in the parking lot. Promote the drive in the church and community.

January 14, 2016

Michael C. Mack

10 Things You Can Do for Your Senior Minister This Week

By Michael C. Mack 1. Pray for him daily. 2. Encourage him with notes, tweets, or in person (but not right before the service begins). 3. Help him focus on sermon prep by limiting interruptions during the week or giving him announcements shortly before he preaches. 4. Take on pastoral care responsibilities. A class or group should be the front line of pastoral care. 5. Be a minister. You are part of the priesthood of all believers, a minister of reconciliation, an important part of the body of Christ. 6. Treat him as a person and as an individual. Remember

January 4, 2016

Michael C. Mack

January Ministry Ideas

By Michael C. Mack Snow Jobs. Develop a volunteer team who ministers especially during snowstorms. When the storm hits, team members grab their shovels, snowblowers, and chains, along with their four-wheel-drive vehicles, and head out to shovel walks, pull stuck cars out of ditches, and help anyone else in need. They can take along some hot chocolate and coffee as well for stranded motorists. Skating with Grace. Rent out a skate rink and throw a free skating party for your community. Include refreshments, good music, and perhaps even some lessons. “Free Skate is a friendly witness to our community””and a

December 18, 2015

Michael C. Mack

Questions to Ask Before Starting a New Ministry

By Michael C. Mack This is prime time for planning a new ministry in 2016. Here are some questions to ask, and answer, before venturing forward (these are compiled from various sources): What’s the purpose of this ministry? 2. Why do we need this ministry? (Is it really necessary?) 3. Would (or could) people do this ministry naturally without creating a program? 4. Are other people already doing this (and could we partner with them)? 5. Are we keeping the main thing the main thing, or is this ministry just one more thing to do? 6. How does this ministry

December 5, 2015

Michael C. Mack

Celebrate Your Volunteers This Season

By Michael C. Mack This is a great time of year to say thank-you and let your volunteers know how much you appreciate them for their service. Here are five simple but significant giving ideas: 1. Be sure your gift communicates that you care about and appreciate each person as an individual. 2. If you have a large number of volunteers, it may be cost prohibitive to send each one an extravagant gift, but you can send a high-quality Christmas card””not the $3 boxed set of 100 cards!””with a personal note in each one, thanking them for their ministry, letting

December 3, 2015

Michael C. Mack

Holiday Season Ministry Ideas

By Michael C. Mack Give gifts to people in need. Use the gift catalogs from International Disaster Emergency Services (IDES)””go to ides.org, select About Us, and then Newsletters, and then Gift Catalog””or World Vision (www.worldvision.org) to provide people the opportunity to buy useful gifts such as animals, handcrafted gifts, or clean water for children and families in need. You can even create a gift registry to help raise funds. Give gifts of time. In a small group or class, have each person identify one person they know who may need a listening ear or emotional availability from a friend this

November 19, 2015

Michael C. Mack

How to Respond to the Trend of ‘Churchless Christians’

By Michael C. Mack According to a Barna Group survey, the majority (62 percent) of churchless Americans consider themselves Christians. “Most of the churchless in America””contrary to what one might believe””do not disdain Christianity nor desire to belittle it or tear it down,” says the report. This graph provides a more detailed breakdown: How can churches make sense of these surprising findings, and more importantly, what can churches do in response to them? “I think a dissatisfaction with the institutional church is significantly responsible for the result,” says Mike Shannon, professor at Cincinnati (Ohio) Christian University. In The Rise of

November 14, 2015

Michael C. Mack

Thanksgiving Discussion Starters

By Michael C. Mack As Thanksgiving approaches and on the day itself, people will naturally be thinking about thankfulness. Pray for people you will see throughout the week. As you talk with friends, coworkers, or neighbors, or as you get together with family, watch for natural opportunities to ask these simple questions: “¢ What are you most thankful for? “¢ Whom are you most thankful for? “¢ When do you tend to be the most thankful for what you have? “¢ Other than at Thanksgiving, do you think you are generally a thankful person? Why or why not? Next, be

November 7, 2015

Michael C. Mack

November Ministry Ideas

By Michael C. Mack November 21: National Adoption Day. Held the Saturday before Thanksgiving in all 50 states. On this day a number of courts and communities work together to finalize the adoptions of thousands of children in foster care. Ideas: Work with agencies in your community to support adoptions. Plan with adoptive parents in your church to advocate for adoption in your community. Plan your weekend services around adoption, inviting adoptive families from the community. Speak about God adopting Christians as his children (Romans 8:15, 23; Galatians 4:5) in your sermon or Sunday school lessons. November 27: Black Friday.

October 30, 2015

Michael C. Mack

The Place of Video-Based Studies in an Inductive Bible-Study Group

By Michael C. Mack Do small groups that use an inductive Bible study model ever use video curriculum? Yes, many do. It”s a both-and, not an either-or decision. A leader and group who have been trained in how to dig into the Scriptures can do video-based studies in order to explore specific topics or interests. A couples group, for example, might carefully choose a marriage study like The Song from City on a Hill (cityonahillstudio.com) to do together. Or a group might choose a study that helps them investigate an important topic, such as spiritual revival, and choose the new

October 4, 2015

Michael C. Mack

How to Train Small Groups to Study God”s Word

By Michael C. Mack Biblical illiteracy in our culture and churches is a commonly accepted reality today. In a world where moral relativism is more popular than ever, how does the church get back to living by God”s standards? Brad Himes, involvement director at Broadway Christian Church in Mattoon, Illinois, has developed a solution in his church”s small groups. He says the “Just Push Play” model of small groups has set the bar way too low for meaningful discipleship to occur. Churches have recruited hosts or facilitators rather than shepherd-leaders (1 Peter 5: 2-4), and provided minimal if any training.

September 27, 2015

Michael C. Mack

Reaching Out to Single Moms

By Michael C. Mack Studies show more than a quarter of American adults are divorced or raising children alone. Yet surveys indicate only 5 percent of single parents attend church regularly. What can the church do to reach single moms? One congregation has thrown baby showers for single moms-to-be. The goal is to show love to someone struggling and unsure of God”s love in a difficult time. Women from the church cook, plan games, and act as hosts at the event. The Single Moms Ministry at McCook (Nebraska) Christian Church started a new Bible study group and handed out fliers

September 26, 2015

Michael C. Mack

3 Secrets to Pulling Off a BIG Serving Event (No Matter How Large or Small Your Ministry Is)

By Michael C. Mack Over the summer of 2015, Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, served its community through a wide variety of big, all-in serving events called Love the Ville (#lovetheville) that took lots of planning and coordination and made a huge impact on the community. What does it take to plan and execute big serving initiatives like the ones Northeast carried out? What are the secrets that any sized church or ministry can implement? Go and do minister Randy Gordon provides three vital planning and execution principles: 1. Talk to the right people. Maximize the relationships you already

August 29, 2015

Michael C. Mack

The Importance of Emotional Intelligence

By Michael C. Mack “Pete, I”m leaving the church.” “I sat still, too stunned to respond,” says Pete Scazzero, founder of New Life Fellowship Church in Queens, New York, and author of several books, including The Emotionally Healthy Church. “When a church member says, “˜I”m leaving the church,”” Scazzero continues, “most pastors don”t feel very good. But when your wife of nine years says it, your world is turned upside down.” Scazzero says while he was a successful senior minister by external measures, he was emotionally immature, “a workaholic for God and failing at home as a husband and father.”

August 28, 2015

Michael C. Mack

Make Your Marriage Ministry Proactive

By Michael C. Mack How is your church helping married couples before they get into crisis mode? Lindy Lowry, founder of MarriedPeople (www.marriedpeople.org), says she”s found that while every church spends time and resources on helping marriages, efforts are mainly reactive rather than proactive (see the chart of her findings). Lowry has found five steps beneficial in developing a proactive marriage ministry: 1. Begin with the end in mind. What is the purpose of marriage? To reflect the relationship between Christ and his church (Ephesians 5:32). The purpose of your strategy should match that. 2. Empower and equip leaders. In

August 22, 2015

Michael C. Mack

5 Practical Ideas to Make Your Meetings More Genuine

By Michael C. Mack What”s the most important element on your meeting agenda? People! If you make it a priority to build genuine relationships with your group, class, or team, you”ll find your meetings will be more efficient and successful. Here are five practical ideas: “¢ Don”t plan to start on time. If you open your meetings with an agenda item or Bible study questions, you”re prioritizing program over people. Plan on a casual start to your group by asking people about their day or week. “¢ Include food! Food seems to break down walls of resistance. Eating with your

August 1, 2015

Michael C. Mack

4 Simple Reminders for Small Group Leaders This Fall

By Michael C. Mack This is perhaps the busiest time of the year for small group leaders. If you oversee the groups in your church, you”re probably a couple weeks into a fall campaign. If you lead a group, you”re gearing back up for the fall. Either way, where do you go from here? Here are four simple encouragements. 1. Pray! Leaders can get so busy this time of year that their time with God gets crowded out. Don”t let it happen! Right now you should be spending more, not less, time with God. Pray for your group. If you

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