From a simple prayer by a seminary intern in 1990 (Lord, even as we enjoy the Super Bowl football game, help us be mindful of those who are without a bowl of soup to eat) to a movement involving over 250,000 youth in 2010, the Souper Bowl of Caring has been a youth-led movement to help hungry and hurting people around the world. According to the organization's website: This prayer . . . gave birth to an idea. Why not use Super Bowl weekend, a time when people Read More …
National Porn Sunday (#0166)
In 2005 Craig Gross and Mike Foster debuted their documentary, "Missionary Positions," and began talking in local churches about pornography and the problems they believe it creates in people's lives. These experiences were marketed as "Porn Sundays" and later became the foundation for an annual National Porn Sunday. To date, over 300 congregations have participated in this event. In 2011, National Porn Sunday has been moved to February 6 to coincide with the Read More …
Becoming an Effective Leader (#0165)
Scott Williams is the Campus Pastor of the Northwest Oklahoma City Campus of LifeChurch.tv, which launched three years ago and already has an average weekly worship attendance of over 3,500. He is also on the teams of both MinistryStrategies.com and The Vanderbloemen Search Group. To connect with Williams, read his blog, watch him on youtube, follow him on twitter, or friend him on facebook. Earlier this week, he wrote about becoming an effective leader. Read More …
5 Ways to Use Social Media (#0164)
Scott McClellan is the editor of Collide: a magazine for church leaders who use media and technology to communicate Truth. Additionally, he is the director of Echo: a media and tech conference for creative church leaders. To learn more about McClellan visit his website, friend him on facebook, or follow him on twitter. Earlier this week he wrote about five ways your organization can and should use social media: Listen: follow thought leaders, culture Read More …
Net Neutrality Matters for Faith Communities (#0163)
Net or network neutrality is a new term and one that is important to understand. According to the PC Magazine Encyclopedia, network neutrality is defined as, "A level playing field for Internet transport. It refers to the absence of restrictions or priorities placed on the type of content carried over the Internet by the carriers and ISPs (Internet Service Providers) that run the major backbones. It states that all traffic be treated equally; that packets are delivered on a Read More …
Handling the Issue of Homosexuality (#0162)
Research conducted earlier this month by Public Religion Research Institute in partnership with Religion News Service provides a unique look into an important topic. The second survey question asked, "If you had to grade America's places of worship on how they are handling the issue of homosexuality - would you give them an A, a B, a C, a D, or an F? A: 5% B: 11% C: 30% D: 18 % F: 24% Don't Know: 12% The third survey question asked, "If you had to grade your own place Read More …
Controversial Marketing (#0161)
Recently, Christ Covenant Church in Beaumont, Texas launched a controversial billboard campaign carrying the message that Christians are jerks. According to an article by Kate Shellnutt, the church's billboard (pictured at right) has "confused and surprised drivers along I-10 near College--is meant to direct people to the Christ Covenant website and their new sermon series: What a Bunch of Jerks: Teachings of Jesus too Often Ignored by the Church." A page on the church's website explains Read More …
Positive Picketing (#0160)
Jeff Boes, moderator of the Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ in St. Joseph, Michigan, wrote an interesting article for Church Marketing Sucks about his congregation's experience with positive picketing. Boes shared these "notes on our tactics and lessons learned:" Make it quick and easy None of our picket signs identify the church Good locations and good causes Don’t ask permission Keep learning and improving So What? Negative picketing done in the Read More …
Are You Going to Burn Out? (#0159)
Perry Noble is the Senior Pastor of New Spring Church, which has been recognized as one of America's largest churches. According to the Hartford Institute, this Southern Baptist congregation averages over 9,000 people in attendance on a weekly basis. You can connect with him by following him on twitter or by reading his blog. Noble writes extensively about leadership on his blog, including a recent piece about seven reasons leaders flame out: We Allow Our Schedule To Read More …
Learning from The Five Levels of Leadership (#0158)
John C. Maxwell is perhaps the best known living Christian author in the field of leadership. He has written over fifty books, including three that have sold more than a million copies: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Developing the Leader Within You, and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. To learn more, visit his website, read his blog, or follow him on twitter. Recently, he unveiled a graphic overview of his next book: The Five Levels of Leadership, Read More …