Outreach opportunity
As the world begins to open for larger gatherings again, people are starting to look for fun things to do. I work with a pastor who started planning father/daughter events as soon as his area opened up. The events filled up more quickly than anticipated and largely...
Reaching the unchurched- the point of church planting
Church planting is not intended to be a means of collecting people who are already Christians and rearranging them. It’s a means of reaching out to people who need and want to know more about Jesus and bringing them in. Therefore, it only makes sense that one of the...
Church planters must be responsive to the community
The term Dr. Charles Ridley uses for this essential church planter competency is “contextualizing.” A planter who is responsive to the community, “discerns the culture of the local context and implements redemptive ministries that meet the needs of people.”...
The worship bear
A while back I was on a trip to the east coast to a church in Rhode Island and saw what looked to me like a great outreach idea. In the center of each pew, someone had placed a “worship bear.” During the service they announced that if you knew of someone who...
The country church and the town church
A man I know pastors two congregations: one in a rural area and another in a small town. As he was talking with his coach about how to get effective discipleship processes in place in both contexts, he pieced together some principles that could be helpful to many...
Light of the World? The Missional Church
The Missional Church You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine...
Building Communities of Care
Today’s entry is by guest blogger, Dr. Parnell Lovelace. During my time in leadership of a local church of 3,500 people, we decided to create and implement tangible outreach objectives that would impact child welfare and health in our community. Disparities in health...