Why a church café?
From fellowship to ministry-supporting revenue potential, there are lots of reasons to consider a church café.
Read More >Outreach Archives - Page 35 of 40 - Church Executive
Phase 5: giving & follow-up
The fifth and final phase of a capital campaign is all about a commitment to consistent communication. Here, Paul Gage explains why this is so critical, and how to make sure it happens.
Read More >Only 42% of churches accept online donations — new survey results
Only 42% of churches accept online donations. This stat was one of the eye-opening revelations uncovered by Dunham + Company in their latest church survey. Perhaps more startling though, is that of those churches who do offer a digital option, they only see 11 percent to 13 percent of their total contributions come through that method, on average. To better understand these numbers, and what churches can do to improve upon them, I jumped on a call with Rick Dunham, president and CEO of Dunham + Company.
Read More >Welcome to worship: how to recognize hearing loss — and provide solutions
Those among us who have it, often prefer to try to cope with it, live with it, or hide it from others. And yet, this so-called invisible disability affects about 20 percent of American adults! This means that potentially, one out of five of congregants are not hearing messages and music that inspire them each week in your house of worship.
Read More >How scheduling tools can streamline your ministry efforts
Scheduling can be a nightmare. Overbooking rooms. Double-booking church equipment. Accidentally scheduling two big functions on the same day. No matter the church size, the story is the same.
Read More >Using technology to tame the volunteer schedule headache
Perhaps no other part of church is as important or as complicated as managing volunteers.
Visitors coming to the church are greeted by volunteers — those first few impressionable moments are left to volunteers. The same is true for the nursery, our children’s ministries, guardian angels patrolling the parking lot, and especially the lay leaders that lead out bible studies, Sunday school classes and children’s programs.
These critical roles in the church are bounded by a number of important concerns: Who has volunteered? Are they gifted in that way as a volunteer? (Just because you want to be a teacher, doesn’t make you a great teacher.) Have we checked their background — especially in regards to children’s ministry? Are we using them? How often do they serve? Are they burning out? What are their preferences in serving? Do they like to serve with their families? What rotation works best for them?
As a leader of volunteers, your concerns are more aggregated: How are my volunteers performing, and do they enjoy their roles? (Because if they don’t, they won’t volunteer much longer.) Do they have feedback that can make the position better, more efficient and more fulfilling?
Read More >THE CE INTERVIEW: JONATHAN STOCKSTILL
Jonathan Stockstill was 30 years old when his father, the Rev. Larry Stockstill, turned over to him the leadership of Bethany Church. Interestingly, Larry was the same age as Jonathan when he took over for his dad, who founded the church in 1963.
Jonathan has led music at Bethany since he was 17. He says he always felt that he would be in full-time ministry, but it was not until he was in his mid-20s that he began to sense a pastoral call upon his life. At the time, he was leading worship and traveling with a band called Deluge. He wrote songs, recorded projects and did music tours, but he says God was dealing with him about a different kind of ministry. Jonathan also did several evangelistic crusades and went through a season where he felt he might plant a church in his late ‘30s.
“But God had a different plan,” he says.
Read More >An unforgettable guest experience
What do we need to do at our churches to avoid this chasm in developing a great guest experience?
Read More >Leaders: don’t miss the power of symbols in your church
Symbols are powerful. They add a richness to routine. They inspire hope. Symbols arouse emotions more quickly than reasoning. Symbols elevate the “why” above the “what.”
Read More >3 leadership practices every young minister can do right now
I recently had coffee with a young(er) minister. He asked a great question: What can I do right now? The young minister (he’s around 20) wanted to know how he could lead better. Starting today. He caught me a bit off guard. After all, leadership is learned and refined over time. Pastors spend years growing. He knew that, but he also wanted to know what could be done immediately.
I’m not that far removed from being a “young” pastor (at 35, many might still categorize me in this way), but I have learned — some things the hard way — from pastoring for 10 years. There are a few practices young ministers can do right now that will help them grow immediately. Here are three leadership practices I shared with him.
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