Six Secrets for Successful Change

Dr. Charles Arn, President of Church Growth, Inc. says that people, by nature, tend to resist change. Consequently, how you introduce a new idea in your church will greatly affect whether it is eventually adopted. Do not assume that the idea will be naturally accepted on its obvious merits. It will not. In fact, you are much safer (and more likely to be correct) in assuming that the idea will be resisted. People are allergic to change.

In a national study on churches' responsiveness to change, Paul Mundey, director of the Andrew Center (Elgin, IL), asked pastors the question: What is the most difficult change you have attempted to make in the church? "Overwhelmingly," he reports, "respondents listed something connected with the worship or the Sunday morning schedule as the most difficult, including:

- The addition of a worship service (especially a contemporary one).
- A change in time for the existing worship service.
- A change in time for Sunday School.
- An attempt to introduce more contemporary elements into an existing
worship service.

Follow this link to six guidelines for successfully introducing change which will be helpful any time a new idea is presented in your church and others must be convinced.

Emerging Church Models: How Churches Are Navigating Change

American culture is changing rapidly and dramatically. Churches no longer have to change locations to be on mission: new cultural, social and philosophical mission fields are springing up all around them! To remain effective, churches are adapting to these mega-shifts in a variety of ways.

God by His nature is a creative God. One only needs to look at the vast array of beauty in the colors of the rainbow to see God’s handiwork in action. Will McRaney, Jr. says, I will never forget driving on a mountain road in Hawaii with my wife when suddenly we were struck with the beauty of a double rainbow that looked as though we could almost touch it. Similarly, God is creative as He expresses Himself through different types of churches.

How can we understand and evaluate the emerging models of doing church? Follow this link to explore how churches are adapting.

Church Health Is The Result Of Balance

Rick Warren, Author and Pastor, says that a healthy balance occurs when a church has a strategy and a structure to fulfill what he believe are the five New Testament purposes for the church: worship, evangelism, fellowship, discipleship, and ministry.

He states that if a church doesn’t have a strategy and a structure that intentionally balances the purposes, the church tends to overemphasize the purpose that the pastor feels most passionate about. When a church emphasizes any one purpose to the neglect of others, that produces imbalance – it’s unhealthy. It stunts a lot of churches.

Warren believes that for a church to be balanced, four things must happen. First, you’ve got to move people into membership. Second, build them up to maturity. Third, train them for ministry and Fourth, send them out their mission.

Saddleback Church uses a baseball diamond to illustrate that. They have a scorecard to evaluate progress. Just like when you go to a doctor and he checks all your vital signs, the health of a church is quantifiable. It is possible to measure how many more people are involved in ministry this month than last month.

It is also possible to discern the attitudes and perceptions of church members in each of the five purposes plus prayer using the Church Health Survey. This process allows your church to ‘look in the mirror’ before embarking in any new direction.

Your church can also utilize the Church Health Survey to discover why you are not growing, or why your church’s spirit seems to be less excited. Some churches conduct the survey annually just to be informed and ready for new opportunities.

Another tool that is similar to a complete physical exam for the human body, is the Comprehensive ChurchHealth+Plus Consultation that provides a complete assessment of the health of your church body. Conducted on-site by a professional church consultant, using tested ministry analysis tools, you receive a comprehensive evaluation of the strengths and areas of growth for your church. Specific and practical recommendations are part of the ChurchHealth+Plus Report, so you can begin taking steps immediately to strengthen your ministry effectitiveness

Rick Warren believes a far better focal point than church growth is church health. He encourages pastors to focus on helping their church become balanced and healthy.

Warren says, “If churches are healthy, growth is a natural occurrence. I don't have to command my kids to grow. If I provide them with a healthy environment, growth is automatic. In the same way, if you provide your church with a healthy, balanced environment, growth will occur naturally.” To read Rick Warren’s full article follow this link.

God is ready to do ‘a new thing,’ but is your church? God promised us in Isaiah that he has a new path planned for our lives and our ministry: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:18-19).

To schedule a Comprehensive ChurchHealth+Plus Consultation Contact William E. James and Associates

Taking the Ten Commandments to Court

—Terry Eastland from Beyond The News
The Supreme Court is prepared to hear cases alleging that public displays of the Ten Commandments are unconstitutional. Should the Court agree with this notion, you have to ponder the implications.

One frieze, on the south wall of the Court's own courtroom, portrays Moses holding two overlapping tablets. They're written in Hebrew, with commandments six through ten partially visible. Will the court deem this display in its own courtroom unconstitutional?

And what about the presence of the Ten Commandments elsewhere in the Court's own building? They're depicted on the East Pediment, in the Great Hall, and on the support frame of the courtroom's bronze gates. Are the justices prepared to break those tablets, too?

Let's hope not. Let's hope that common sense and the Constitution prevails, and that the Court understands such displays for what they are: suitable acknowledgements of the role of religion in American life.

Terry Eastland is the publisher of The Weekly Standard.
Read Terry Eastland's latest column at The Dallas Morning News.

Evaluating Your Church’s Ministry

by James W. Moss, Sr.
How well is your church doing? How do you know that? I think a pastor and church council need to constantly be evaluating the ministry of the congregation. I don’t think it is easy to do. The results may not always be what we want to hear. Will the church be willing to take the conclusions of a sound evaluation and make appropriate changes to increase the quality of ministry?

What does God want your church to do? Any serious evaluation has to begin here. I am a firm believer that the Lord will reveal his will to any people serious about serving him. Is your church being obedient to the Lord’s will? That can be a challenge when God’s will isn’t our will. Prayer is the essential ingredient to discerning and doing God’s will.

What is the state of worship? Are people able to experience the presence of God in your services of worship? Do the people of your church emerge from worship challenged and uplifted? Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).

Does your church serve people? Describe special ways that your church uses to serve the people of the congregation? Describe special ways that your church uses to reach into the community to serve none attendees. Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39).

Is your church winning new people to Christ and his church? How many new people have begun attending in the past year? What strategies have been employed by the church to walk new people through the door? Jesus said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations …” (Matthew 28:19).

Do your new people feel as if they belong? What percentage of the people who have joined your church in the past seven years are still active? What percentage of the people who joined in the last seven years were not related to persons already in the church? Jesus said, “Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit …” (Matthew 28:19).

Describe the state of the teaching ministry of your church? List the various teaching opportunities available to the people of your church? What percentage of the people in your church are participating in some teaching ministry of the church? Jesus said, “Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20).

What is the attendance pattern for your church? Your people also tell you how they feel about the state of the ministry of your church by their attendance or lack of it. Do you take attendance in worship? Whose attendance patterns have changed in the past year? Who has become more regular? Who has become more irregular? Both indicate spiritual changes. We are not taking this walk alone. That is important to remember. The church is God’s! Jesus said, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

© Copyright 2000-2003 New Life Ministries (www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org). All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.

National Servant Evangelism Conference

The upcoming National Servant Evangelism Conference will be held in Cincinnati, Ohio April 14 - 16. This will be a super worthwhile time for anyone in the Servant Evangelism world. People from around the world will be converging in Cincinnati for three days of encouragement, ideas swapping, very practical teaching and vision imparting. Flights to Cincinnati are at an all-time low with Delta.

Here’s the information on the conference. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call 513.910.1996 for more information!

Steve Sjogren is known as the pioneer of Servant Evangelism. He started some 20 years ago going out with a handful of hearty souls with bags of groceries going to the needy during the winter months in Cincinnati. Since then that little group of people has grown into a movement several thousand churches worldwide that are following the model of SE. Steve calls this the “Up and Out Conference” – how to find God in a deeper way and give him away to our wondering culture.

In order to effectively reach out to our culture we need to have a strong sense of God’s heart for that culture. We need to have the heart of God deep within our heart. Servant Evangelism is an activist movement. This conference is the joining together of both the inner heart for God and the outer heart for the city.

As always, Steve will have a full cast of amazing speakers that will stir your mind and heart around the area of Servant Evangelism. This year they are bringing people from around the world to speak at the conference. It is appropriate that this conference will meet in Cincinnati in that here the concept of Servant Evangelism was pioneered. There are a number of larger churches in the Cincinnati area that have been launched on the power of SE as their leading strategy. Several of those churches will be leading workshops during the conference. Visit the Servant Evangelism web site by clicking here.

Dan Rather, Meet Teddy Stallard

Separating fact from fiction. Here is a lesson on how trust is earned (and lost). Thousands of preachers have used the moving story of Teddy Stallard - a little boy whose teacher enabled him to do great things. But it's not true, in common with a great many other motivational 'true'stories. Read what Mark D. Roberts, Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California, and teacher at Fuller Theological Seminary has to say on the subject of separating fact from fiction.

15 Lessons From Church Leaders Who Reach The Lost, Part 1

Leaders whose churches reach the unchurched make a hign priority of the lost. They value personal evangelism and an atmosphere of love and acceptance among their congregations. These leaders teach us 15 lessons about outreach. Read Part One.

Part 2
Reaching the unchurched world is hard work. It requires a life of prayer and an evangelistic spirit. It also requires leadership skills. Here are eight more lessons on reaching the lost. Read Part Two

Is Church Health Important?

"The issue is church health, not church growth!" declares Rick Warren. "If your church is healthy, growth will occur naturally. Healthy, consistent growth is the result of balancing the five biblical purposes of the church."

No significant decision should be undertaken in any church until the members' attitudes and perceptions are discerned. The Church Health Survey process allows your church to "look in the mirror" before embarking in any new direction. Your church can also utilize the survey to discover why you are not growing, or why your church's spirit seems to be less excited. Some churches conduct the survey annually just to be informed and ready for new opportunities.

What is the Church Health Survey? The Church Health Survey is an effective tool a church can use to measure and discern its health in areas key to fulfilling its mission.

What are others saying about the Church Health Survey? Click here!

Children’s Outreach Site

Outreach sites that can reach unchurched children, and which do not largely resemble to online Sunday School lessons, are very rare. Check out the newEnglish/French HiKidz for a refreshingly different approach!

Blog Awards For Christians

Evangelical Underground has instituted the 1st Annual Evangelical Blog Awards: Click Here!

The World We Live In

UK is proposing a new law to prevent the insulting of religion, to replace the existing law on blasphemy. Such a law is already in place n Australia and has resulted in two pastors being arrested. They were convicted in December, and await sentence. Although prison is a possibility under the law, it is said to be unlikely. There can be no doubt that militant followers of other religions will use such laws to take Christiansto court. Other countries are likely to attempt to legislate similarly. Better, I would feel, to have no blasphemy law at all, than this. A fullbriefing can be found at the Christian Institute: Click Here!

Pastors Reveal Major Influencers on Churches

Billy Graham may not be as active or as publicly visible as he once was, but he remains the most trusted spokesman for the Christian faith in the U.S. His ministry peers also regard him as the person who has the greatest influence on American churches and church leaders. That is the assessment of a national sample of pastors of Protestant churches in a survey conducted by The Barna Group (Ventura, California). The survey also discovered that the ranking of the most influential and the most trusted spokespersons varied among different groups of pastors – with the exception of Mr. Graham topping both lists among every segment of the clergy.

Read the full details

Church Priorities for 2005 Vary Considerably

What are the top ministry priorities of Protestant churches? George Barna asked a national sample of Protestant Senior Pastors to identify the top three emphases of their church for the coming year and received a clear sense of the ranking of what churches are focusing upon. Read their answers – and how different types of churches are distinct in their priorities – in this week’s Barna Update
Read the full details

Today's Christian Culture

The average church in America is not growing and most are declining in attendance and membership. Thousands of churches will close their doors this year. Most Christians do not even realize that 'Christianity' is now a counterculture. There is a culture crisis and the real cultural crisis is that today's Christian culture according to some is destroying 'Christianity.'

By today's Christian culture we mean the vast network of people in churches, ministi\ries, businesses, bookstores, magazines, musicians, TV & radio programs and the like who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ today.

While individual differences ceretainly exist among them, a consistant pattern is easily detected: the culture it represents is indistinguishable from the world it seeks 'to save.' It is worldly at its very core.

Today's Christian culture so resembles the world, that standing against the world, in opposition to its culture would amount to standing against itself. What is most tragic is that it has borne a multitude of misled, deluded 'disciples' who are scripturally illterate.