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...

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...

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...

September is quickly approaching. School will be starting soon, and people will be returning to old rhythms of life following the summer season. This means more families will likely be visiting your church again. Many people have used the COVID season as a reason to break up with their church. Some of these people haven’t returned to church and sadly won’t, at least not for a while. Others will be coming to your church this September and October because they are looking for a new Jesus...

This week I had the privilege of attending a Global Leadership Summit host site at a nearby seminary. It was an encouraging and challenging experience. If you’ve never attended or streamed it online, it’s definitely worth the investment.   The one presentation that stood out to me was Craig Groeschel’s opening talk. I’ll be wrestling with what he said and what to do about it for a while, and I don’t want to wrestle alone, so I’m going to share it with you so we can wrestle with it together. I’m...