One of the oddest incidents in the Book of Exodus occurs when Moses’ father-in-law Jethro visits him in the Sinai wilderness (Exodus 18). Moses and the Israelites had just witnessed some of the greatest miracles in the Israel’s history: the plagues, the Passover, the Exodus, the crossing of the Red Sea, and the provision of …
In the two previous installments of this series on Alpha ministry in the local church, I’ve looked at Alpha as an evangelism tool and as a discipleship tool. Now, let’s consider Alpha as a community-building tool. Once a church grows beyond “family size,” in which Sunday morning attendance ranges from 3 to 75, it often …
Jesus’ model of discipleship involved both teaching and on-the-job training in ministry. The content of his teaching centered on the meaning of the Kingdom of God; his training of his disciples immersed them in actual ministry to others in His name, with the power and authority of His Kingdom. In my experience, much of the …
I’m not sure I could overstate how much Alpha has impacted the revitalization of our church. In the more than 25 years that we have continuously offered the Alpha course, hundreds of people from all walks of life have taken it and entered the Kingdom of God through faith in Jesus Christ. We have mostly …
When I first experienced intense church conflict, it took me by surprise. I had never known anything like it in my life. As I related in Part 1 of this series, Minimizing Conflict, the clash occurred in the tenth year of my first pastorate. A small but influential group of long-time parishioners, mostly from one …
Conflict reared its ugly head during my tenth year as pastor of a mainline Congregational church. Prior to my arrival a decade earlier, the church been in steep decline for 30 years, and when I arrived, it was functioning more like a country club. The message from the pulpit was increasingly theologically liberal. Because this …
Overseed coaches Mark Warren and Matt Furr are also lead pastors of two New Hampshire churches. Mark noted “Matt and I have been coaching pastors for three years. We are hopeful about impact but are waiting to see what God will do. Revitalization is hard and a long haul. It can beat-up pastors so much …
A common mistake seen among church replanters is their failure to do the hard work of discerning the starting point of their church. If the church replanter fails to grasp the starting point then their plans and ideas are often unhelpful and typically face resistance. The difficulty of determining the starting point is compounded by …
Church replanting is the intersection or the merging of two key ministry centers; a Chaplaincy and a Church Plant. The Chaplaincy focus consists of loving the people who are there. In most New England church plants, those who are there are elderly. They have worshipped at that church for much of their life with a …
Churches have been in need of revitalization since the New Testament church began because churches are made up of sinners who individually and collectively need to be sanctified. Typically, churches go through seasons of growth and decline. Unfortunately, some times the decline is not addressed and the decline continues. The attendance numbers decline, the mission …
