By Thom S. Rainer It has been 15 years since a young doctoral student named Eric Geiger came into my office to share with me his research on churches that had clearly defined processes of discipleship. I saw his genius in those early years and was eager to put my name on a book reflecting […]
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Five Constants in Seasons of Transition
By Kevin Spratt Vice President, Church Answers In the last two months, I have transitioned from one fast-paced organization to another. It’s been fast, busy, and a ton of fun. The only thing constant about life is change and transition. Every day we take one step closer to something new and one step away from […]
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Three Sentences Pastors Hate to Hear
By Thom S. Rainer The most common place pastors hear one of these three sentences is right before they preach or right after they preach. Of course, the prayerful focus on their message is detoured and distracted immediately. Frankly, I don’t see how most pastors make it to their sermons when they have been blasted […]
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Eight Ways Pastors Can Cultivate Long-Term Tenures
By Sam Rainer Generally, long-term pastor tenures are better than short-term pastor tenures. The context where the pastor ministers can impact the tenure. The church body can impact tenure. And the pastor can impact tenure length. Here are eight ways pastors can cultivate their long-term tenures. Elevate your family above your career. You simply cannot […]
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Stop Getting Mad at People Who Question Change
Bold change almost always raises questions from people. Getting mad at people who raise the questions does nothing to help move them through the process of change.
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Five Trends of Retiring Baby Boomer Pastors
We recently asked a number of retired or retiring Boomer pastors what they planned to do in their next stage of life. We received five common responses among them:
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Who Should Select Church Staff? Pastor? Search Committee? Personnel Committee? Congregational Vote? Judicatory Authority?
After working with churches for over thirty years, I have seen these issues become points of unity, and I have seen these become points of divisiveness. As a consequence, I have developed the following guidelines.
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How Pastors Discern Their True Friends
Pastors must work to maintain friends in the church. The stakes are too high. The result of isolation is depression, burnout, or moral failure. You can’t be wise on your own. You need God’s Truth and good friends.
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Ten Surprising Questions Church Leaders Are Asking
Because we have such a large sample of church leaders, I want you to have an inside view of some of the questions we get. They are good questions, but they are not typical questions.
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How Do You Explain Why Members Left the Church to Members Who Stay?
Many exits by church members are the result of self-centered motives. The church members are asking the unspoken question, “What have you done for me lately?”
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