Managing the Downside of Your Groups Approach
There has been ample debate on the approach a church takes to their small groups. Should the groups be “open” or “closed”? Should the groups meet on-campus or off-campus? I rejoice that the discussions take place because this means pastors and ministry leaders are wrestling with how to help people live in biblical community. At […]
Trade-Offs on Where Your Groups Meet
Michael Porter has famously said that strategy is about making choices, about making trade-off decisions. As an example, IKEA is known for making the trade-off decision of offering great prices over offering great service. It is not that they de-value service, but they have chosen to value “low cost” more. This strategic choice impacts organizational […]
The Trade-Off Discussion: On-Campus and Off-Campus Groups
Michael Porter is a well-known expert on strategy. Porter has articulated “strategy is about making choices, trade-offs.” An effective strategist thus understands the landscape and deliberately chooses a path with awareness and understanding of the trade-offs. A leadership team that is strategic is able to say, “Here are the potential benefits and the potential pitfalls […]
Mapping, Making, and Meshing in Ministry
In his book Die Empty, Todd Henry provides a helpful framework to plan, execute, and develop yourself as you work. He divides work into three broad categories: 1) Making: This is what many consider the actual work. It is the doing of the work. 2) Mapping: This is the planning of the work, the necessary strategic thinking that happens before […]
Programming and Your Church Strategy
Your church has programs. Or environments. Or whatever it is that you call things where people gather/attend/meet together on a regular basis. Many church leaders struggle connecting strategy or discipleship process with church programming. It is common for a team to gather to discuss discipleship process or strategy and fail to see implications of their […]
God’s Gracious Mocking
Because “the sorrows of those who take another god for themselves will multiply,” God is gracious to show us the futility of pursuing something other than Him. He is good if He mocks us in our attempts to find life outside of Him. Augustine captures this beautifully: I was still eagerly aspiring to honors, money, […]
Simple Church Epilogue Part 3
It has been nearly eight years since Simple Church was first released. Now after eight years of discussions and observations with church leaders, I have been posting a series of blog posts on the five most significant lessons learned from Simple Church. Here they are: 1) Churches drift. 2) Thinking “process” is a mammoth shift. 3) Simple is reproducible. Whether you […]
Simple Church Epilogue Part 2
It has been nearly eight years since Simple Church was first released. Now after eight years of discussions and observations with church leaders, I am offering a series of blog posts on the five most significant lessons learned since then. The last post was about the proclivity for churches to drift. The second lesson is […]
Simple Church Epilogue Part 1
Almost eight years have passed since the initial release of Simple Church, and to say that we are overwhelmed with the response would be a vast understatement. Our shock with the response is not a statement of humility (unfortunately) but the reality of the nature of the book. Let’s be honest—it was a nerdy research […]
3 Disadvantages of “Non-Traditional” Theological Education
Because I often get questions from young leaders considering seminary, I recently shared three advantages for attending seminary in a “non-traditional” manner. I went through seminary the non-traditional way in that I took classes on the side at a slower pace while serving full-time on staff at churches. I found that studying while serving constantly […]