Increasing Community Involvement in Your Church

I just received some information from Sermon Central about a new program distributed by Zondervan and Outreach. The program, called Faith in Action, is a four week program that is designed to increase the level of community involvement in your church. The FAQ page is pretty helpful at explaining the program. The Idea Bank looks to be a very helpful resource if you are looking for ideas for what to do in the community, whether you want to implement the program or not. I'd be interested in your thoughts about this.

Outreach idea

If your church is planning on hosting a booth at the local city carnival, craft show, or whatever else may be going on in your neck of the woods, here's a clever idea from Seth Godwin on how to promote your church at that event. Link

A Very Helpful Resource

Copying what other churches do is not the answer to church growth or success, however you may define it. Learning from other churches however is a smart thing for any church leader to do. That's why I get really charged when I see other churches make the their resources available online for free. Thanks to the folks at NewSpring for recently doing this very thing. Check out this link where all their "stuff" can be downloaded for nothing!

Just Let It Out!

I came across a blog the other day by a guy who calls himself the "Fearsome Pirate". I'm cautiously sending you the link. The guy is crude to say the least, yet he says some pretty good stuff when it comes to changing the way many churches operate. I think he just needed to get some things off his chest! I'd be interested in your thoughts. Here's the link.

Preaching To The Unchurched

Most pastors and church leaders have been "in the church" so long that communicating with those outside of faith in Jesus is something that takes intention and work. In his recent Toolbox, Rick Warren offers some excellent tips for preaching to the unchurched. Here's the link.

Being Watchful

Temptations come in all shapes and sizes for leaders. Because our lives affect so many people, it's extremely important that we be watchful in regard to how we live. Perry Noble gives some good advice for this kind of thing. Link

What To Do With Ushers

Many churches don't have ushers, and those that do have not taken the time to adequately train them. There is so much more we could be doing with ushers without even realizing it. In this short article Leadership Journal lists ten questions every usher should ask. Here's the link.

A One Year Personal Growth Plan

We don't usually think of "planning" and "growing" as going together. Most leaders believe that growth, whether it be personal or within the church, is something that just kind of happens when all the right pieces are in place. Nelson Searcy of The Journey Church in N.Y. City has written a marvelous article about the value of establishing a one-year personal growth plan. Here's the link.

More Help With Communication

I've recently been on a kick of reading books that deal with improving communication skills. This is an area I am always seeking to improve upon. My most recent book was Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. Whether you're a small group leader, children's teacher, or a primary leader who preaches on Sundays you'll find some helpful information as to how to communicate your ideas in such a way that your points will not soon be forgotten.

Community Involvement Helps Cancer Patients

Effective community involvement for a church needs to be practical, helpful and done in conjunction with other community agencies or services. Here's an excellent idea that contains all these elements. What a great way to offer real help to those battling cancer. Link

Picking Your Team

Who you serve with on your team is one of the most important decisions you will ever make as a leader. Shawn Lovejoy shares some good information in this post about what to look for when putting a team in place.

Are You "Coachable?"

Marketing guru, Seth Godin recently posted on the topic of "coachability". Coaching, or mentoring as it's called in many churches, is a very important aspect of a leader's growth in God. Seth gives the following reasons as to why people are not coachable.

• Challenging the credentials of the coach
• Announcing that you're being unfairly singled out
• Pointing out, angrily, that the last few times, the coach was wrong
• Identifying others who have succeeded without ever being coached
• Resisting a path merely because it was one identified by a coach

According to Seth, "Years ago, at the great Bolshoi Ballet, auditions for the troupe were conducted among 8 year old girls. That's because it took ten years to become great. How did the auditions work? The teachers weren't looking for the best dancers. They were looking for the dancers who took coaching the best. The rest would come with time."

Resting Even Though You're Not Finished

As leaders, rest is one of those things we know we need, but many times the thought of resting means we won't finish the tasks at hand, which is often deemed as unacceptable. The result is that we don't get the rest we need. Shawn Lovejoy has some good things to say about this topic.

This Church Gets It!

Gayle and I had a great time in CO a couple of weeks ago at the Externally Focused Church Conference. In light of our experience there, I was pleased to read Devin Hudson's recent blog post about how GracePoint Church serves the city of Las Vegas. This is an excellent article that serves as a great example for what it means to serve the community. Link

Never Too Young To Learn

A 13 month-old baby reading! Are you kidding me? Not sure what the ramifications are for our Children's/Nursery ministries, but it's quite unbelievable nonetheless.

Eschatology & You

For years now John Lanferman has been talking about the connection between our eschatology and how we live our lives. I'm so very grateful for the impact this instruction has had on my life. Bob Roberts recently posted about this very topic and he sounds ticked! Here's the link, I think you'll enjoy it.