Reaching Young Adults

Tobin Perry writing for Baptist Press says, “There’s a surprising new description for unchurched young adults in the United States: spiritual. Despite popular reports that young people aren’t interested in spiritual matters, newly released survey data from LifeWay Research and the Center for Missional Research at the North American Mission…

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Eight Symptoms of Church Decline, Part 1

It is not the newest book concerning church growth and health, but Barna’s book, Turn-Around Churches, still has lots of insightful material to help churches get back on track.  In particular, his Eight Symptoms of declining churches is still relevant in any situation. We will look at the first four…

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Farewell

Today I say farewell as the writer of 28Nineteen. On November 2, 2008, I will assume the Senior Pastor position at the First Baptist Church of Shelbyville, Kentucky. My family and I are very excited about our new assignment from the Lord. Read about our move in this Kentucky Baptist…

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Healthy Church, Part 2

Have you ever thought about what makes a church healthy? In our last post, we mentioned that two ingredients in a healthy church are UNITY and DIVERSITY. Although diverse people from various walks of life usually make up a church, they can still be unified through the Holy Spirit. In…

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Healthy Church, Part 1

I have been a pastor for eighteen years in the state of Kentucky. In my current role with the Kentucky Baptist Convention, I travel around the state and work with churches of all shapes and sizes. In my travels, I’ve seen and heard of churches I would describe as “healthy”…

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Training Opportunities

This past Saturday at the Immanuel Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky, the Kentucky Baptist Convention offered a variety of great training opportunities. If you missed the event, similar training is being offered at five other locations across the state. One of the discipleship faculty was Tim Holcomb, Director of Discipleship…

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Common Leadership Traps

I recently read an article by Rick Warren called, Seven Errors to Avoid if You Want Your Ministry to Last. The title got my attention, and as usual, Rick hit the nail squarely on the head. Rick wrote, “A lot of ministries begin with a bang, then explode with new growth.…

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New Member Class Evangelism

Recent studies by Dr. Chuck Lawless and Dr. Gary L. McIntosh indicate that more and more churches are utilizing new member classes. Although some require the class for membership (31% according to Lawless), the majority do not. Regardless of whether the class is required for membership or not, it can…

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Rainer’s Four Legs of Assimilation

When Dr. Tom Rainer served as Dean of the Billy Graham School at Southern Seminary in Louisville, he ran a consulting company that helped churches across America. In his consultations, he discovered that the overwhelming majority of the churches needed marked improvement in the area of assimilation. As a result,…

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Get Lost, Part 2

Yesterday, I shared part of an article from David Francis, LifeWay Director of Sunday School. In the article he takes a humorous approach to the topic of assimilation by talking about ways to make guests feel unwelcome. Instead of discussing ways to attract and keep guests, he lists ways to make…

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