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A lot of church leaders have a story to tell but don’t know how to get it from brain and heart to paper. They wonder whether anyone would be interested in reading it. And they don’t know how to contact publishers – or whether to go the self publishing route.
It’s not that pastors are stupid, says Geoff Surratt, on staff at Seacoast Church, Charleston, S.C., and author of Ten Stupid Things That Keep Churches From Growing, (Zondervan, 2009) “The challenge is seldom intelligence; the problem is often perspective. Many times we are so close to the action that we can’t see our own mistakes and we end up making decisions that undermine the very outcome we desire.”
Under what circumstances should you attempt to stop a pastor, who is a former employee of your church, from preaching or operating his own church? Should you even try to stop another pastor from spreading the Gospel? That question is a growing concern that many church leaders are wrestling with these days.
How did you spend your Memorial Day weekend? With family and friends I trust, or cleaning the garage? I devoted a number of hours to making sense of my den that doubles as a library — 40 running feet of books, most of them church and management titles collected over 15 years.
On a recent Sunday morning at my church, I saw the future of content and publishing in the face of a woman named Laurie, one of the members of the adult Bible study I teach. At the end of our class time on this particular Sunday, Laurie approached me with her latest purchase, a sleek new Kindle 2, the popular electronic book reading device produced by Amazon.
There are opportunities, believe it or not, for churches and other faith-based nonprofits in an economic downturn. In order to survive, churches have no choice but to continue striking a balance in conducting ministry initiatives, relationship-building and business.
Most people attend church events and services to identify with God, not with their fingerprint. But as new technology progresses and the pace of the world quickens, many “pen and paper” check-in methods have become obsolete, tossed aside as cumbersome and inefficient. In fact, using old check-in systems could be costing you money and lowering the safety of those participating in your church programs.
Cecil Murphey is known as “The Man Behind the Words” in his role as the author or co-author of 112 books, including the New York Times bestseller 90 Minutes in Heaven (with Don Piper), on that list since October 2006. His books have sold millions and have given hope and encouragement to readers around the world.
Many churches use drums as part of their worship bands to add excitement to the service and help increase teenage and young adult participation. Unfortunately, most houses of worship were not designed for these loud percussive instruments and the result is excessive volume levels and unintelligible vocals.
Taking on a building project of any kind just now, in this recession, be it new construction, expansion or refurbishment of an existing space, brings added scrutiny from all parties involved — pastors and staff, volunteer leadership and congregations at large.
