Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Can A Pastor Have A Friend?

The longer I pastor, the more I wonder if a pastor can successfully pastor a friend. I can remember John Maxwell sharing that it can be lonely for a leader at the top. Some in the congregation may befriend the pastor for the wrong reason. What are your thouts?

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

a New Addiction!

Pastoring a church with so many in recovery, I see people who switch addictions; and if not careful, the damage can be just as devastating.

From you perspective' how can we encourage people to love Jesus passionately without falling into the trap becoming addicted to ministry?

Monday, August 24, 2009

Go SpeedRacer!

I had a recent experience of a lifetime. About one hundred people from our church came out to see me in a stock car race. I was only the passenger; but what a thrill. The driver leads our Raceway Ministry. He prays with the racers and pit crews every Saturday night before the races begin. We have a biker ministry; and, of course our recovery ministry is the fastest growing ministry in the church. How are you reaching people in "outside the box" ways?

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Apple or PC?

Which do you use for your worship services? What program(s) do you use or recommend for churches and leaders?

Personally, I'm on the verge of making the switch - getting tired of the PC experience (anti-virus ugrade scams....pc slowdowns, etc...) What are your thoughts?

Monday, August 17, 2009

Fall Quarter Kick Off

This Wednesday we will have a Fall Quarter Barbeque Kick Off to announce our fall programs. (pulled pork & beef brisket - yum)

This will include a revamp of our college/carreer class, new marriage class, financial class, connections, etc.

Personally, I will be launching a new mentorship group on Wednesday mornings.

There always seems to be a lot of momentum during this season.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

"Beyond The First Visit"

A few weeks ago I was preaching Jr/High School camps for the Central Cal District. While in my "Man Cave" otherwise known as my modest sleeping quarters I read a book by Gary Mcintosh called "Beyond The First Visit". I want to reccommend this to all of our leaders due to it's simplistic but all to often ignored truths. Several months ago we (our team) began asking some very tough but necessary questions about the "Connectivity" of our church and found this book to be helpful and confirmational to our many discussions. In this book Gary deals with churches and how they handle "Guests" beyond the first visit, an area we and too many other churches struggle in. He covers first impressions, facilities, follow up, intentional discipleship and much much more. We have made some very tough choices in letting some ministries die and letting some leaders go in our church. We have also spent countless hours creating a path for our guests to not only come and experience Legacy, but how they can connect beyond their first visit and this book has helped. Hope you enjoy the book and if you do, let me know what you got from it. If you have already read it, what did you like about it?

Monday, August 10, 2009

1 church, 2 campuses

Eddie raised a great question last week about merging churches. In So Cal we have a number of churches 30 min or less from one another but in different cities. It was mentioned last week in Eddie's blogs about pastor's operating outside their gifting meaning that some should be assisting i n a church and not leading a church. Maybe something for some of us to consider is those pastors who are capable to maybe take on one of those struggling churches that is somewhat close but in another city and place a campus pastor there. Those who have proven that they can build and lead a congregation could take on one of the smaller struggling churches and merge them into 1 church, 2 campuses type of thing. I realize that some of those who "hold credentials" or are looking for "a place to preach" may get upset and it goes against the norm for us but we need to consider the ongoing problem of finding someone to "fill the pulpit". I as a board member hate putting someone in a church simply because we don't have anyone else! We have some great visionary leaders who pastor near struggling churches who could help lead that church into health. We have some hard choices to make and talking about them is only a start!

Your Thoughts!

Sunday, August 9, 2009

my answer is yes

Simple and Straightforward....

My answer is yes. I will do whatever it takes to create a healthy church environment. If we are not creating an atmosphere to Convince the UnConvinced then really what are we doing??

My answer is yes. I have been sharing the thought of church mergers with a couple of other pastors in our city that ARE NOT PCG. So for me, YES, we should do whatever it takes.

Does it really matter who owns the property, NO. It is all God's resource. Does it really matter who is the Lead Pastor, NO. It is God's vision.

There is billions of dollars in property all over the country that is setting almost empty with congregations that have lost vision and almost dried up without a leader. Those congregations should not be allowed to continue without a God-given, Fire burning vision that will kick down the gates of Hell instead of comforting the so called saints.

I don't care who owns the property we call our church. I care that lives are saved fromt the pits of Hell.

So, yes is my answer. I am considering a church merger to continue the vision placed in my heart to reach this city for Him. And if joining forces and becoming one church with one vision can accomplish that to a greater degree, then I am all in.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

would you??

Would you consider a Church Merger with another PCG church??


Would you consider a Church merger with another church that is not PCG??


What are some of the things you are doing now to Parnter with other churches in your community??


What is the one thing that you think keeps us (PCG) from Merger??

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

what is your thoughts??

CHURCH MERGERS

In the past few months i have been doing lots of research on this very subject. Give some thought to this. Why is it we have churches in our communities dying but no one is willing to join forces, why is it we have churches needing space but no other churches will donate their space, why is it we work for the same goal but compete against one another.

I know these thoughts are not popular but really, what keeps us from joining hands with other churches to accomplish Kingdom Expansion. Why is it we have churches in our districts that suffer and we continue to put a Pastor there and they stay a year or two then move on. There is simply one word for it. They are UNHEALTHY. Why can't we merge these churches with other churches to create and environment to create healthy environments instead of just keeping the doors open with a few people, so they can have everything their way??

Read the insert below that i have copied for your thoughts from:
Churches Embrace Mergers through Multi-site Movement by Jim Tomberlin

According to church experts, the majority of churches in America have plateaued or are dying. Hundreds of congregations close their doors every year. The majority of Americans are essentially unchurched. Imagine the results if thousands of struggling congregations in desperate need of vibrant ministry could join the small number of energetic congregations in desperate need of space. Imagine if local congregations decided they could reach more people and serve their communities better by uniting as one church in multiple locations. We could see a revitalized Church that could have a profound impact upon the social landscape across the nation.
In the fall of 2006, The Chapel of Lake County, Ill., became a multisite church in four new locations. Three of those locations were pre-existing churches, but each one had a different merger story. One was a church building for sale without a congregation. A second was a struggling congregation of 50 without a pastor. The third was a solid congregation of 800 whose founding senior pastor was ready to make a ministry transition. Each one had a different journey, but all three transitioned into successful, strong local congregations who are healthier than before their merger.


So why to we continue to operate UNHEALTHY church environments that are not producing Fruit??

Are we afraid to shut down churches or to merge them with a thriving church at the risk of having less churches to count?? But really should we count them if they are not producing??

Tough questions, but it is time to ask these questions!!!