I've spent my entire life in church. More specifically, I've been a part of a dozen congregations affiliated with a group of denominations most continue to label Mainline Protestant (for more on my departure, check out Giving Up Mainline Protestantism). Defining Success Individual congregations rarely provide stakeholders with a clear definition of success. As a result, most members and many active participants are left to assume their congregation is doing just fine provided it Read More …
buildings
Maximizing Your Church Campus (#1730)
In all of my many years of visiting faith communities I've yet to encounter one that proudly proclaimed its church campus was designed for use for an hour or two on Sunday morning and designed to go unused the rest of the week. I have, however, encountered plenty of churches that use their sanctuaries and other worship spaces only a few hours a week and/or have entire wings or buildings that are unused or used less frequently than once a week. For Members Only For some Read More …
Stop Redecorating & Start Making Real Changes (#1476)
Tom Ehrich, a writer and Episcopal priest, recently slammed the work of an Episcopal task force. For him, the task force's focus on what can be done at the level of the denomination "seems a bit like redecorating and recalibrating the home office of a company in which the home office plays a minor role." The time for that type of change ended decades ago. The mainline denominations (a group that includes Episcopalians) are a shell of what they once were, and are now "down more than Read More …
WHCB: Church Buildings (#1187)
Christian Piatt includes church buildings on his list of five things that are holding Christianity back. He suggests that "they have become an albatross rather than an asset." Reality Check Most American congregations own buildings. The costs associated with maintaining these structures is significant. In congregations that are in the midst of extended periods of plateau or experiencing years of declining membership, the percentage of the annual budget needed for their upkeep Read More …