Church Growth Archives - Page 51 of 51 - Church Executive


A church’s culture is the atmosphere in which the church functions

When it comes to a church, what is a church’s culture? Samuel R. Chand says “culture is the strongest force in any organization. The best way to understand culture is the statement: ‘This is how we do things here.’”

Consultant Sam Chand has written Cracking Your Church’s Culture: Seven Keys to Unleashing Vision & Inspiration (Jossey-Bass, 2010, a Leadership Network publication), and says, “It is the atmosphere in which the church functions. It is the prevalent attitude. It is the collage of spoken and unspoken messages.”

“The strongest force in an organization is not vision or strategy — it is the culture which holds all the other components,” says Chand. Every leader at some time or the other has asked the same question: “Why is it that we are not where I know we should be as a church?” Now, you know the answer — it’s your church’s culture.

He recently gave an interview to Church Executive:

Say I’m new to a church. Should I be able to pick up on its culture sitting in the pew? Absolutely! You can go to a new church and sniff culture! Have you ever been to a new place and said to yourself (or others!), “Something’s not right.” Without knowing what it is you just smelled culture. Think about the different cultures in different restaurants, schools, churches and even homes.

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Volunteer steps

With the recent economic downturn, some churches are closing their doors due to

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When attendance drops

Case study on church attendance suggests a systematic methodology that takes time and effort, but will produce a more reliable conclusion.

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‘The Church Doctor’ has some strong medicine for congregations

Kent Hunter leads Church Doctor Ministries from Corunna, IN, and has become known as The Church Doctor for his 35 years of consulting with churches and training consultants throughout the U.S.

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Seismic change is coming to the church in a new demography

In 1988 General Motors started an aggressive advertising campaign aimed at lowering the average age of Oldsmobile buyers. The ad theme, “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile,” did not work. The slogan not only alienated loyalists, it did not attract the next generation. The brand that represented respectable middle-class achievement in the 1960s and 1970s lost to the “cool factor” of the 1980s and 1990s.

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When being an unbeliever qualifies you for a church job

“Get Paid to Go to Church.” This headline appears in classified ads all over Missouri, and it’s catching the attention of unchurched individuals everywhere. It’s not a gimmick or a scam. It’s a mystery visitor program designed to provide feedback to church leaders on how their worship services are experienced by first-time visitors.

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A gentle revolution arises among the ‘New Elders’ in the church

You’ve heard of the 10/40 Window, an area of the world with great poverty and the largest population of non-Christians, extending 10 to 40 degrees from the equator across North Africa to China. But there is another window opening on the world, one that many in the church have grown so accustomed to, we don’t even think of its being there. It’s the 40/50 Window.

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Why churches don’t grow: Reasons might be you and your church

Healthy organisms grow. Healthy people grow, healthy animals grow, healthy trees grow, healthy plants grow and healthy churches grow. It is a characteristic that God supernaturally breathed into all living things. And the body of Christ — the local church — is a living thing.

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