This is the 3rd in a series. The focus of this post is simple but essential. If leaders do all the talking, no one else gets equipped to speak. Without equipping people to speak when you gather, they will lack the skills and the confidence to speak when they are in their daily lives.

Good language for faith doesn't just happen randomly. It is an intentional process of modeling by leaders and moving from being heard by the listener to a point where they can say it too. This is how all language is learned - by moving from hearing and observing into practice. What people of faith say will be learned from their leaders - our job as leaders is essential to faith being shared!

This is part one of a four part series to think about the keys elements that help people know what they believe and find ways to understand and articulate it faithfully in daily life. This first part is about the content of faith - theology matters!

Evangelism is often seen as a passive byproduct of other ministry. We do what we do and then hope people will invite others in. But good evangelism is an essential part of the church's work and built on foundations that give deep roots from which to then reach out. We'll look at 5 essential elements of a healthy congregation that can help the church share good news within and outside its ministry together.

It is increasingly clear that we have created consumer churches - places where people come to receive faith info. They may volunteer to do things - even service things. But when it comes to faith, many struggle to tell you much about what they think and believe. But vibrant congregations are charting new ground by widening the platform for more and more people to speak and think about faith questions. There are three questions leaders need to ask themselves. The answers will help you move ahead.

To create real community, people have to find ways to know each other. Making this happen is one key to new people connecting with the longer term culture. This activity is a fun and fruitful way to get people sharing and better able to know each other.

While the world (and too many churches) are lifting up candy and the Easter Bunny for the holiday, this is a great week to refocus people's attention on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Don't miss the opportunity!

A good story-based community has taught people to listen well. But sometimes we also benefit from listening to our own souls. How do you regularly make space to listen in ways that open your soul to your own story and what God is doing and saying within you?

Celtic Christianity has three main strands and each bring a specific focus that is essential to the church today. These three strands are ways the church can reach people and help them reflect on how God is at work in their lives - an essential part of a healthy church in today's post-covid world. And each of the three points (awe, community and vocation) are doorways to spiritual depth for people of faith.

People grow spiritually most often through interaction more than information. But most of the time, people have safe but shallow conversations at church. But what if we could change the conversation in ways that help them share faith stories and go deeper? Leaders change the subject and shape the conversation. There are more than a few ways to do this better and this article lifts up three ways to help.

Most of us were trained in churches that have a variety of programs - music, youth groups, etc. But with the median congregation in the United States now with less than 60 people in worship each week, and almost all congregations with less than 100 in attendance, very few places have the capacity to run too many actual programs. So ministry has to try to stop trying to get people to invest in a church that puts on programs and instead focus its work on being a church that invests in people.

This is a short article on why mainline people, who tend to be white and well to do, have lost their passion for evangelism and excused themselves from the work. We have to repent of our mainline-ness and reclaim our gospel grounding.

In the old worldview, church was a given. We all just had to find the one that taught what we already believed. There we would find a place to belong. And over time, we'd grow to be more mature Christians. Evidence shows it didn't work that well back then. And today the order has changed. Now we find a community to belong. There our faith is nurtured and we both come to believe and grow more mature over time. Belonging comes first for most of us. What are you doing about this?

By now, most of us have a picture of the new base from which we are working to move ahead. Not everyone is coming back. But in most cases, the majority of those not participating (either in person or online) are not likely to find their way back unless we do something to reach out to them. And now is a great time to be more serious about inviting new people to join us too.

When all this started as the pandemic hit, little did we know that a few weeks shutdown would turn into years of adjustments and the chance to reinvent ourselves as the church. Healthy congregations are constantly adjusting to new realities and most of the most creative are now recognizing the many things that can be done online well and also focusing attention on the ground too. Hybrid church is here to stay and all leaders will benefit from thinking about how best to move ahead.

The start of the pandemic came with a rush of adrenalin as Easter was approaching. But the pandemic is semi-ending with a slide into summer as people can go outdoors again and vaccination rates increase. Those who simply put things back the way they were are in for a big (and unpleasant surprise). Everything is going to be different. Only those who dig in by inviting new people, using the online world well and thinking about their long-term strategy are going to flourish in the next chapter.

The pandemic has exposed us to new things and n ew ways of being church. But anxiety is running high and people are rushing to get back to normal. But the new normal won't look like the old normal and churches that replicate the old normal are going to be in a mess. So this post has three things to help keep anxiety and even bullying from making quick but bad choices.

There is a nostalgic desire among us to return to normal after the pandemic. But normal for churches in the US simply meant "in decline and aging" in most cases. So going back isn't all it is cracked up to be. You can only go forward and going back to what we had is neither a real option nor a desirable one. Congregations that do well will rethink how they do the work and use the new tools available to them since the pandemic cracked things open.

The last year has meant a lot of adjustments and longings for church leaders. Was it a lost year? Or was it a shift that will change the future of ministry in your setting. Whether 2020 was a wasted year or a watershed year is still up to you. What you do with 2021 will give you the answer. The time to act strategically is now!

We see Christians of many stripes, many of whom are working hard to fight for their rights in what they see has a society that is hostile to the church. But what if we all decided that we would see God suffering with us and calling us to be agents of that God as we take on a commitment to be instrument of the peace that only God can bring? This blog will share an exercise and offer the prayer.

Christmas is one of the windows where the culture is aware of the church's story in at least a semi-conscious way. It is a doorway to witness and invitation that the church has twice a year - Easter and now. Here are four things that you can do to help your congregation connect with people this year. And by the way, most of these ideas are good year 'round!

While the pandemic pressed many mainline congregations online for worship, being online isn;'t only or even primarily about worship. Many congregations simply lack the scale and resources to produce high quality video week after week. But there are four other areas that are much more accessible (low hanging fruit) that every church leader should dig into. The costs are minimal and the results can be huge!

It is easiest to give thanks when things go well. But Christians are called to be thankful in ALL things. What does that mean and how does being a Christian reframe the question of gratitude from the usual "good stuff" to reality of life - which includes an uneven mix of good and bad.

In the COVID crisis there are lots of emotions and there is a huge need to try new things. But some places can be rigid and offer judgment for new ideas and even shun or punish people for things that don't work the first time. Other places are gracious and offer space and grace for new ideas and for adaptive change to happen. Which kind of place are you in and can you help it be healthier?

The pandemic has changed how we do almost everything. But it is also a chance to make 2021 a year for a new beginning. While 2020 was a surprise, we have notice that 2021 will still be a pandemic impacted year. Plan wisely and you can help your church begin to work toward a new vision and be in a different place 5 years from now.

People (including you) are overloaded with technology. And because technology makes things more efficient, that also means we are also just plain overloaded. So your use of old fashioned tactics to connect with people - things like handwritten notes and the telephone - can be a real blessing for everyone as it slows the pace and puts a bit of humanity back in our lives.

Opinions are the center of public discourse and diverse opinions make church leaders afraid to even raise some topics. But opinions are either open and markers on a journey or closed and dead end roads. The church can't afford to be afraid or held captive to dead end roads. And the church can't afford to stop only part way down a path God is calling us to walk. Here are three things leaders can do to help.

Because of COVID, although we dug into it as a crisis, in some ways church ministries entered Summer in some cases starting in March. The long hiatus was overwhelmed by our awareness of the crisis. But Fall is almost here - are we ready to ramp things up in new and creative ways or are we willing to simply live with an endless Summer?

In today's world, ideologies are digging deep to defend their positions. The results are devastating as even the church is often working to drive people apart with judgment. But how we see ourselves as the body of Christ may be a key to both content and style for how we can be more helpful and more transformational. Are we righteous or sinful? While the answer is "both" how we understand this can change the church and its work in the world.

Many mainline congregations have not had strong small group ministries for a long time - a weakness in our discipleship development. But the COVID crisis is still a time to move forward, and small groups are an ideal area to advance the ministry of the church since they work well online.

Many ministries are putting their invitational side on hold, waiting for larger physical gatherings to be possible again. But online ministry is both "real" and here to stay. Waiting for a fuzzy future rather than engaging to world we have, may be a missed opportunity.

In this COVID shutdown, many congregations have gone from busy places to offering just a few online things each week. Some places have had to stop doing lots of things that have been happening for years. In some cases, some things we are not able to do are still core things, we just have to wait for the situation to change so we can resume them. In other, what we are doing is the core of our future and the rest may turn out to be expendable. Time to prune?

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing fear, death and destruction all around the world. Nowhere is this more true than in the United States, which now has more cases than any other country and the numbers are still rising. The stimulus package passed by Congress (the CARES Act) has some provisions that are trying to ease the fiscal pain of the shutdown. There are things in there that can help local congregations as they work through this difficult time.

While our buildings lay empty during this pandemic, it is tempting to simply wait until we can go back to gathering again. But an empty building is also a chance to have individuals do work in the building to make it cleaner and more ready for visitors when gatherings can resume. Can we use this time wisely to be ready for people when people return? Good choices now may make us poised to greet newcomers when church resumes in America!

As the Coronavirus puts more and more of us into lockdown situations, how is the church to function effectively at a time when we are much needed? The advent of technology means that although many of us have not used online tools, creating worship experiences for a dispersed community is not only possible, but already happening in some places before this all began. So, here are some thoughts to encourage you to get started too. It's easier than you might think.

I am just coming back from a sabbatical where I have looked at how churches connect with people across ethnic groups and created multicultural faith communities. The work requires intentionality and advances in work known as "cultural competency" give me hope that the church can advance in this area, if people are willing to work at it. And when cultural competency is done well, people are invited to learn new behaviors - the key to real and lasting change.

This post is grounded in insights from the 2019 Mosaix Conference in Dallas, TX. While most other aspects of public life continue to look more and more diverse, many congregations are still pretty much mono-ethnic and mono-cultural. How can the church be more connected to the diverse realities of the world around us and foster true participation from people who look less and less like just one slice of the world, but truly reflect the community in which the church lives and functions?

Often the Christian life is overwhelming. But a simple set of words I saw in a congregation recently, reminded me that it doesn't have to be complex. The three words in the title may be enough to help people see the road ahead and journey along it faithfully.

I hear pastors from time to time say they "can't wait to retire." Recently, a pastor wrote in the Christian Century about how he was so glad to have retired so he didn't need to attend church anymore - it wasn't fulfilling use of his time. This notion bothers me and it should bother you. How are we advancing God's work, and if we are not, what are we doing to not simply take up space until our pension arrives?

Increased congregational vitality is grounded in the spiritual vitality of the people who make up the church. That fact seems obvious. So how do you begin to engage people in ways that help them be more alert to God's presence and work in the world and invite them into what God is up to? That question should guide much of how leaders in churches plan and lead every Sunday gathering. Here are some thoughts to help us all do a bit better.

We keep trying to renew congregations as systems that need to change (which they are). But underneath that they are comprised of people who need to grow spiritually and be passionate about the same things Jesus is passionate about. If we try to change the church without renewing the people who make it up, most of the efforts we do are like pushing a boulder up a hill. The key to renewing the mainline church is rethinking membership and spiritual development.

In my recent conversations I have discovered that it appears that over half of the people in our congregations do not even have the simple spiritual practice of praying before a meal. With such limited spiritual practices in place, it is nearly impossible for these folks to imagine a spiritually dynamic congregation. We need to change that!

Generic churches are dying all around us. Sadly, most congregations are relatively generic. A details may be different but the messages are generic and sound pretty much the same. If your congregation is going to really make an impact, you have to help people know the core of your take on the faith and help them own it and share it.

We have been taught to do good work and that is witness enough. But actions without words are not a witness to the God we meet in Jesus. They are simply a witness to ourselves. If we don't include words with our actions the witnessing that Jesus charges us with never happens. So, the mainline church needs to lift up why it does what it does and the name of the one who calls and empowers us to do it.

The words, "You're fired," spark reality TV images and make many of us long to have the power and status to be able to simply send problem people away. It is the root of a lot of things that are troubling our culture. But the church of Jesus is called to a different way of being with people.

Mainline church attenders generally report not finding a connection between the Bible and how they lead their lives. But conservative evangelicals and fundamentalists report the opposite. Why is this happening and how can mainline leaders reframe our teaching to help people reconnect with scripture as they seek to follow the risen Christ in their world today?

We often meet a visitor in our congregation and try to find a "fit" for them. We look at the program list and see which one is closest. But what if we tried to sell church less and instead we were more curious. The outcomes could be more authentic and more meaningful. Everyone might come out ahead in a new way.

We've reflected on the three stories that every Christian needs to know: the biblical/theological story, the congregation's story, and the personal faith story. But as I have written these, I recognize the need to mention one more story. You can't share a story well unless you know your audience. So, while you probably won't spend a lot of time saying it to others, it is essential to be know your community, know it well, and to love it since the people there are the neighbors God has given you.

This series has focused on the three stories that we need to be able to tell in order to share our faith in meaningful and invitational ways. This final post looks at the personal story of how each person understands God's work and calling in their life.

Every Christian needs to know how to share three faith stories - the biblical story, the congregational story, and their personal faith story. This post looks at the second of these stories - the congregational story.

There are three stories that every Christian needs to be able to tell. The biblical story, the congregation's story and their personal faith story. Each is essential. This post looks at the Biblical story and some key theological grounding that has to be included in telling it well. We'll explore the congregation's story and the personal faith story in the remaining posts in this series.

People of faith can influence others and invite them into the faith communities where they participate. But it is more and more clear that their ability to understand and share the faith story from a biblical, personal and communal perspective really makes that work stronger and more effective.

The God we meet in the Bible is experimental and tries things that don't always turn out right the first time. Shouldn't we be more willing to try new things and experiment?

Covenants provide a basis for sustaining a relationship. New information about Millenials shows that they are more successful and sustaining marriages than many couples in the generations before them. Could there be something in how they view covenanting that would inform the church about how to rethink developing new and lasting relationships with younger adults?

Traditional evangelism efforts use some sort of fear based starting point - usually God is mad at you and you are going to hell. The good news is, if you accept what Jesus did then he takes your punishment and you get to go to heaven. But society is changing. Most people aren't concerned about going to hell and most people don't see guilt as their biggest issue.

Most of us have education that is heavily based on class time to gain information in the church. But Ephesians 4 seems to point to a model where in addition to info, we also equip people for lab time doing the work of ministry. What if we spent more time equipping people and less time informing them?

There are lots of programs that claim to help redevelop a congregation. But ignore the spiritual renewal of your people and you can rest assured, none of them will be likely to work. But there are spiritual grounding practices that can allow people to enter into renewal differently. This article covers four of them.

Leading in the church may include a number of the same skills that leading in other settings uses. But leading in the church really is grounded in discipleship and includes following God's guidance - not just doing what the leader thinks is smart.

Although we often wish that people would grow deeper in their commitments to following Christ, there are some common pitfalls that may mean that our ministry doesn't always produce the results we hope for. This post will help you deal with five of them that are common barriers to making better disciples.

This post begins part 1 of 3 in a series of guest posts by Dr. Bob Logan. Bob is one of the authors of the discipleship materials that formed the basis for the new resource, A Discipleship Guide for Lutherans. Bob has been Dave Daubert's coach for nearly 15 years and has been a helpful partner in ministry for a long time. Enjoy the chance to learn from this well respected and renowned ministry leader.

This is part 3 of 3 in a series about ministry in a bubble. Who we meet with dictates who we work with. Embodying the reign of God in your place may be radically changed by starting to meet with people you don't meet with and finding ways to work together.

In a Bubble (Part 2 of 3) Many congregations are homogeneous in makeup but live in communities that are diverse. If we wait to get our worship diverse, many of us will never worship with people from other groups of people. But if we find ways to connect, we can begin to worship with new folks almost any time we decide to make it happen.

Who we eat with dictates a lot about who we see and who we don't. Changing just one lunch every month may make all the difference in you crossing a bridge you need to cross.

We often hear that practice makes perfect. But it is not always true. If we practice doing something wrong or not helpful, we can actually practice and get worse! So, if you are a church leader, what are the people you lead practicing and is it the right stuff?

The average member of a mainline congregation spends far more time getting info from pundits than from the Holy Spirit. If we are going to renew the church, we need to spend more time listening to God.

In the struggle to figure out how to help congregations thrive, we often move too quickly to "What are we going to do?" But Christians believe that God always goes first, so learning to ask what God is up to is the first step in a different kind of church.

The musical, "Jesus Christ, Superstar" was shown live on TV Sunday evening. Well done, the reviews and response were overwhelmingly positive and people woke up Monday morning talking about it. You'd think the church would be excited that so many people are suddenly talking about Jesus. But many Christians are once again whining about the details and simply pouring negative feedback into the conversation. The church can (and must) do better! Another opportunity blown?

Having the best theology is not enough to energize a congregation. And having the worst theology doesn't guarantee a congregation's failure. The difference seems to be whether the people are passionate about the power of their faith to make a difference in their lives and in the lives of others. So how do mainline Christians, whose teaching is solid and centered on grace, restore a passion for the gospel that inspire movement again?

For people who are outside the church, having a clear path to moving from outside to inside the church can be both helpful and important. Having simple but helpful steps can provide the clarity needed to encourage someone to begin the journey toward meaningful membership in a faith community.

If there is one common denominator that congregations that renew all share, the pastors there are all pressing for renewal and part of making change happen. This is more than just hard work - it requires a willingness to do the hard work of transforming.

The front line of ministry in the church is the congregation. There is little doubt about that. But national church bodies and regional judicatories also play key roles. But if congregations are going to renew, then the closest outside point of contact in the church system is the judicatory in which they participate. These judicatories MUST focus almost all their energy on renewing congregations and developing leaders.

The days of attraction are over. PR is a minimal tool. We must go introduce ourselves to the neighbors if we want to meet them. They are unlikely to ever come in and introduce themselves to us!

Every congregation sustains itself in the short term by the involvement of the people who are there now. But in a changing world, the old ways of simply counting on the future of the congregation to happen are gone. In this missional era, the future relies on people you haven't even met yet.

Many congregational leaders don't want outsiders in their church buildings for activities. They want to keep it for members. But you can only do evangelism with people who aren't Christians.

Congregations routinely want new people to come, join in and be a part of the life of the church. But most are just waiting around hoping that the neighbors will take the initiative. But Jesus is clear - being neighbor is on us first!

As I worked with a congregation and sensed their resistance to change, I helped them see four things they needed to own if they were to have any chance at transformation. These four things are true for most of us, too!

Good leaders not only lead but also scout for people with potential with whom they will invest some extra time and energy.

Often, when Protestants talk about vocation, they talk about various arenas in which we live out our baptismal calling. These usually include our work (occupation), family, community and the church. We have responsibilities in each of these places. But what if church isn't one arena in which we live but our identity as Christ's people that permeates all of life. Seeing the church that way redefines what we do when we are together for the sake of what we do when we are apart.