By Sam S. Rainer III I enjoy a little friendly competition. Last October, I used my kids as a front to scope out another local church’s Fall Fest. That, and they had a large amount of free candy. My affinity for candy corn sucked me into their festivities. The pastor and I are friends. The […]
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By Sam S. Rainer III Christmas Eve is the most likely time an unchurched person will walk into your worship space. It’s a huge opportunity. My fear is some churches go through the motions since Christmas Eve is the peak of busy season and volunteers are short in supply. Your Christmas Eve service is worth […]
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By Trevor Eppehimer, Ph.D. “Social relevance” serves as a holy grail for those whose careers depend on the ability to identify current patterns of thinking and spot contemporary cultural trends. Success follows, conventional wisdom holds, the politician, recording artist, filmmaker, or company that can locate, commodify and project “social relevance.” In North America, where persons […]
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C3LA funds key initiatives after growing digital giving by 372% in 3 years C3LA is a young, vibrant multi-site church in the sprawling city of Los Angeles whose vision is to help people know God personally, find freedom from their past through the power of relationship, discover their purpose through servanthood, and ultimately grow into […]
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By Sam S. Rainer III I am in the third year of serving as lead pastor at West Bradenton. Thankfully, my first two years were more joy than angst, defined by encouragement and not disillusion. But even in a healthy church, the third year can bring frustration — for both pastor and congregation. In the […]
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By Tim Spivey The most overlooked and underrated trait of people who serve in healthy, growing churches is a positive attitude. This isn’t to be mistaken for blindness to obstacles or a “yes man/woman” posture. I’m talking about one’s primary attitude, and whether it is oriented toward self/others and criticism/encouragement. What weather do they produce […]
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By Sam S. Rainer III I’m weird. I like meetings. They are an opportunity to interact with people. Being an extrovert, I enjoy the collaboration of teamwork. Not all meetings are created equal. Church staff meetings can wander into theological briars and get stuck. Discussions about facility requests can circle on a roundabout like Clark […]
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By Eric Spacek, JD, ARM With winter on the horizon, you and your church need to be prepared. In addition to the cold, snow and wind, winter conditions can cause substantial damage to buildings. Even prior to winter, the fall can bring about wear and tear due to the changes in temperature and moisture levels. […]
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Due to the nature of their work, churches are held to a high standard of accountability by internal and external stakeholders. Without a financial solution designed to comply with non-profit accounting standards, it can be challenging to demonstrate transparency and fiscal responsibility to constituents. While commercial accounting software can be configured to meet basic financial […]
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By Joe Garecht Many faith-based organizations worry about making fundraising asks. They think that because they have a religious mission, making direct asks of donors is somehow unethical or will damage their reputation. Other faith-based non-profits focus solely on making group asks from the pulpit, or through mass-communication mediums like direct mail or e-mail. These organizations avoid […]
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