Profiling and Discipleship

In my last blog we discussed the research related to reaching young adults and their receptivity to our invitations and ministries.  There have been numerous studies detailing who are more likely to visit our churches or join based on all kinds of empirical data.  New books come out each week…

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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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Barna’s Eight Symptoms of Decline, Part 2

In my last blog post we looked at four of Barna’s Eight Symptoms of declining churches.  They were; Demographic Changes, Inadequate Leadership, Poor Management, and Old Blood.  Here are the next four with a few brief comments. 5. Building Campaigns “From coast to coast, the roadside is littered with the…

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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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Spiritual Growth Myths, Part 2

How do we grow our members from converts to disciples?  How do we lead our churches in the process of growing disciples? In the first part we said that this process is not automatic. If we don’t have a discipleship process/plan in place we are presuming that it will just…

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Church Growth Myths, Part 1

How do you grow your members from converts to disciples? We often think the whole process is automatic.  People will find out for themselves how to grow in their faith. NOT! If we don’t have a discipleship process in place we are presuming that it will just happen.  It’s as…

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Jump Starting Discipleship, Part 3

This is part three of implementing a Discipleship Design in your church. I would love to hear some of your thoughts and ideas! Here are some challenges we face as we seek to grow our discipleship ministry.  I faced these as a pastor and believe they are germane to most…

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Jump Starting Your Discipleship part 2

In our last blog, we talked about three reasons to develop a discipleship strategy in your church. Reason one was…Jesus said so. Reason two…It Works. Reason three…It stops fall out by maturing your people. Now let’s look at some practical helps to jump-start your discipleship ministry. First, know that every…

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