I don’t know about your church, but around 70% of our congregation is still attending online. Depending on where you live, this likely will be the norm for the foreseeable future. So, how do you effectively engage your online church audience? This is an important question to ask right now, but also for the future. Beyond the pandemic, it’s possible a percentage of church attendance will continue digitally.  I have some ideas I’d like to share on how we might effectively engage this segment of...

Giving is good. It’s good for the church, and it’s good for people. It’s good for the receiver, and it’s good for the giver. The scriptures are clear about the importance of generosity, and secular research reveals the same truth. Generosity is good for the soul. Yet, despite all this, we often find it uncomfortable talking about money in church.  I want to share three simple strategies to help you create intentionality around giving conversations in your church this year. Why? Because it will...

I recently moved, and let me tell you, moving a family of seven in the middle of a pandemic is no small feat! I’m still recovering. During this move, I learned a few things about leadership, change, and expectations that I think many of us can glean as we head into 2021.  By the way, I’m still serving at the same church and still part of the Breeze family. We just moved a few miles away from our old place.  Here we go: Leadership lessons from the moving truck. Set People Up to Win My wife is...

If you’re like me, you’re probably asking a lot of hard questions about your church’s well-being right now.   How are we doing?   Are we declining?   Are we losing momentum?   Are we in trouble?   Are we going to make it? Our leadership team has been wrestling with tough questions like these, and how could we not? We’re in the middle of our second shutdown of in-person services, and the virtual attendance numbers are hard to understand and interpret. Maybe you can relate. Amidst these...

Well, many of our churches are back to not meeting in person again. And so, we are back to waiting. Waiting to be back in person. Waiting to preach to a crowd. Waiting for children’s ministry rooms to have children in them. Waiting to perform weddings. Waiting for Bible studies, small groups, and prayer meetings.  Waiting.   Is it just me, or is this not very fun?   And yet, if we carefully read scripture, it reveals that waiting is a very important and biblical idea.   Abraham: Years and years...

Question: How do you lead others when you don’t feel like you have time to do your job? During this season, we’ve all had to flex and pivot into new roles and skills out of necessity. And yet, for those of us who exercise leadership—you manage a few employees or oversee a bunch of volunteers—while we pivot, stretch, flex, and swivel in our own job, we ALSO need to provide decent leadership for the people under our care. I’m guessing some of you just felt a pang of guilt because you feel like...

Let’s be real about something: For many of our churches, giving during the Christmas season is vital to the financial health of our church. We rely on end-of-year giving to sustain our church during months of the year when giving is less consistent. And yet, if I had to guess, your church probably doesn’t talk about it much. I’d like to challenge you to start doing so. In fact, you should have a clear strategy and plan for Christmas giving.   Here’s why: Many people desire to give during the...

Can I be honest with you? I was feeling a little sorry for myself this week. COVID-19 numbers are up, and gathering restrictions are coming back in my state. My church may need to go 100% virtual again soon. Ugh. Maybe you’re feeling like me.    I think it’s important for us to remember that challenges like this aren’t new. The early Christians were constantly under the threat of having their gatherings shut down. In fact, they were always under threat of imprisonment and being fed to lions!  ...

Is your church growing? That seems like a hard question to answer these days if only a small portion of your congregation is showing up for in-person services. If your church is like mine, most of your church attendees are streaming your services online.   So, how do we know if our church is growing or declining? Do we wait until everyone is back in-person? That could be a year from now, and I think it’s important to know the health of our church now. If we’re losing people, we need to know so...

Is anyone else feeling the weight of ministry right now? COVID conditions have many of us feeling overwhelmed, and if your church is like my church, you’re probably seeing about 20-30% in-person attendance compared to pre-COVID. That’s okay if the rest of your people are watching online. But if your church is like my church, they’re not. You’re probably seeing a drop in engagement–a significant chunk of people who used to be part of your church are no longer engaging with your church.   Is...