Breeze Blog

For those of us who are in church ministry, we’ve just finished pouring ourselves into launching our fall ministries. They’re now up and running, and if you’re like me, not as many people are coming as you had hoped. Add to this the ongoing COVID pandemic and restrictions, church staff and volunteers are feeling weary. Also, is it me or does it seem like a lot of people are struggling personally? Anxiety. Marriages. Depression. Life truly feels tough right now.   Let’s put it this way: Morale...

How engaged are the people you lead? Are they fully in? Are they bringing their best, or are they going through the motions? Do they own their role and their work, or are they passive?   Lack of engagement is a sign trouble is on the horizon…or perhaps is already here. If your people aren’t bringing their best creativity, problem solving, communication, and pastoral work, the ministry will slip in effectiveness.   However, a fully engaged staff and volunteer team can accomplish just about...

We’re excited to get the Breeze team together for our annual company retreat happening the week of October 25th-29th. As a 100% remote company, an in-person retreat is a memorable way to build relationships and strategize how we can support our churches even better in the coming year. Plus, we’ll get the opportunity to spend time with some of our new teammates from Tithely! To allow all Breeze employees to attend the retreat, we will not be able to provide email and phone support October 25-29,...

I wonder if this season of ministry feels like an uphill climb for you. I wonder if you were thinking things this fall might start to feel more like they did before COVID. Perhaps you were hoping all of the challenges, resistance, and opposition we’ve been experiencing this past year and a half would disappear. I know I was.   How are we supposed to do effective ministry when it feels like there is significant opposition around every corner?   I bumped into something this week from Paul’s...

We’re a couple of weeks into the fall season. For those of us who serve in churches, this is about as intense as it gets. Especially in this season where we are attempting to rebuild our churches from COVID—and, COVID and the accompanying restrictions don't seem to be going away tomorrow. The situation feels as confusing and complex as ever.   How are you doing? I mean for real. How are you doing?   Are you healthy? The last 18 months have been insane for church leaders. You’ve been through a...

It was 1992, and I was in 7th grade. It was a roller skate party. The music dropped from the driving beat of “Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer and slid into the subtle beginnings of “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston. That song only meant one thing… couples skate.   Maybe you’re young. Maybe you never experienced the sheer terror of skating up to a cute girl and stumbling through some version of, “Will you skate with me?”   What if she says no? What if she says yes?!? Keep in mind, I...

What’s the one area of your church that, if you could improve it, would dramatically impact the effectiveness of every ministry of your church? Giving? Preaching? Small Groups?   While you could make an argument for each of these, in my opinion, it's volunteerism. Imagine if your church was full of highly committed, skilled, veteran volunteers. The effectiveness of every ministry would skyrocket.   Because of the season we’re living through, this probably feels like wishful thinking. Maybe your...

When I started Breeze more than eight years ago my heart had one desire–provide every small and mid-size church with incredibly easy-to-use software to help them magnify their impact for God’s Kingdom. At that time, I could have never imagined all God would do with Breeze. Today, we have nearly 50 incredible team members serving over 9,000 churches around the world. It’s truly humbling! Earlier this year, I began to dream of what it might look like for Breeze to be better equipped to serve the...

Many of you may be listening to or at least have heard of the Christianity Today podcast, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. It’s the story of Mark Driscoll and the church he founded in Seattle, Mars Hill. The story is alarming on many levels and I believe there is much we can learn from it as leaders. What scares me the most is the potential damage a leader can inflict on a congregation. I don’t ever want to be that leader. And yet, it keeps happening.   We need to be realistic about the...

I bet I know your least favorite topic to talk about from the stage. Money.  Ugh.  It can feel so uncomfortable.   Money is awkward to talk about and critically important to the ministry of your church.  Most people want to be generous but aren’t as generous as they’d like to be. In addition, people are happier and healthier when they are generous.   But, how do you grow generosity in your congregation, both for the sake of the kingdom and also for the personal well-being of your...