In 2002, while serving in my first full-time church ministry job as a youth pastor, I attended the National Youth Workers Convention. During the convention, I attended a seminar called Getting Fired for the Glory of God by Mike Yaconelli, one of my spiritual and ministry heroes. It would be Read more…
One of our three key areas of ministry focus is Church Revitalization. There is a prolific amount of writing on church revitalization, including various definitions. Our team at Preparing for Amazement once asked how we, as a ministry, define church revitalization. Our definition of revitalization includes three considerations. Looking like Read more…
As long as there are people, there will be problems. As one of my colleagues and friends likes to say, ‘humans tend to human.’ There is no such thing as a problem-free church, yet most churches have far more problems than are necessary or desired. Over the years, I have Read more…
At first, she looked at me with some confusion. My friend came over to us in order to translate and explain to her what I had handed her. It was the summer of 2018, and we had just exited her corrugated metal home with a packed dirt floor. We sat Read more…
Recently in meeting where a group of us were discussing a discipleship model for academic theological education, I made a statement that I make often about my own formation as a follower of Jesus. I said, “The person I am today comes as a result of three things: Jesus, the Read more…
In our work with churches and pastors, we have found the Stockdale Paradox to be an essential underpinning for leader health as well as church health and revitalization. Jim Collins term this concept the “Stockdale Paradox” named after Admiral James Stockdale, one of the most decorated United States Navy officers, Read more…
We are facing a full-blown pastor crisis. Currently, there is a massive shortage of clergy/pastors and other church staff. The signs are everywhere. Because of the work I do, it is much easier to see the negative than the positive. That said, I generally tend to be a hopeful, optimistic Read more…
Has the church in the United States entered into a Post Christian Era much like Europe? Without a doubt, yes. This question, however, while important, points us to a greater question. Is the emergence of a Post Christian Era in the United States good or bad news? But first, a Read more…
Every church has to make their own decision in their context of when to re-open. It is not an easy decision to make, weighing state and federal laws and guidelines, considering our church population, weighing finances and more. For years, pastors have been leading and serving their people. They do Read more…
While I am not serving full time in a church setting, I have been filling in from time to time in various churches. On Sunday May 10, I led worship and preached at a church for the first time since the Covid-19 restrictions went into place. It was the first Read more…
