How Leaders Can Cultivate Godliness
The following is a guest post by Dr. Nathan Finn. Nathan serves as director of the Center for Spiritual Formation and Evangelical Spirituality at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he teaches courses in church history and historical theology. He also serves as one of the pastors at First Baptist Church of Durham, North Carolina. For this reason […]
4 Principles for Building a High-Performing Team
The following is a guest post by Faith Whatley. Faith serves on our team in the Church Resources Division at LifeWay and is the director of adult ministry. She is an incredible leader and it is an honor to serve churches alongside her. While some of her articles on our leadership channel are directed to women […]
The First 11 Minutes at Your Church
If you ever check out multiple churches in a short period of time, you will likely be surprised by the differences in hospitality expressed to first-time guests. In some churches a guest knows exactly where to park, is graciously welcomed, escorted to the children’s area to drop off kids, and introduced to several helpful people. […]
30 Really Important Seconds in Your Church
When I first entered local church ministry, I heard leaders describe the importance of the first few moments of a first-time guest’s experience at a church. Because many guests decide in those few moments if they will return, it is important for a church to express hospitality to guests. We want to welcome others because […]
3 Pseudo-Communities in a Local Church
We are prone to build community on something other than Jesus, on something weak. Even as Christians, there is a proclivity in our sinfulness to drift from Jesus as the unifying foundation of our community. When we don’t build community on Christ and His work for us, we will build community on something less. In […]
A New Way to Develop Aligned Group Content: Smallgroup.com
This week, churches across the world will not only meet together to sing songs of the faith and sit under the preaching of God’s Word; they will also meet in homes and classrooms to study, share, confess, and pray for each other in groups. These groups matter greatly as God uses community to mature His […]
Offer a Map, Not a Menu
Some church leaders offer the people in their churches a menu—a menu of all the programs, studies, activities, and events that the church programmatically offers. Essentially the message is “Here is what we have; choose what you want.” With this approach, churches have expanding menus as something can always be added. Churches with menus grow […]
15 Tips for Successful Leadership
The following is a guest post by Faith Whatley. Faith serves on our team in the Church Resources Division at LifeWay and is the director of adult ministry. She is an incredible leader and it is an honor to serve churches alongside her. While some of her articles on our leadership channel are directed to women […]
2 Leadership Imperatives in a Difficult Season
You will lead through a challenging and difficult season. You are a leader in your context precisely because there are challenging seasons in your ministry or organization. In some sense, leaders are not really necessary if there are not challenges and difficult seasons. Leaders are both developed and revealed in the trials of a difficult […]
2 Thoughts on Circumcision, Church Identity, and Mission
We must understand the difference between preserving the gospel and advancing the gospel. A preserved gospel always advances, as people in awe of the gospel always want to advance it. But it is possible to advance a pseudo-gospel, another message in place of the real thing. Just as there is a distinction between the gospel […]