“Chris, how do we change the perceptions of personal evangelism in our congregation when our members seem hesitant to talk about their faith?” I’ve been asked this question many different times over the last three years since I started EvangelismCoach.org It is regularly asked by pastors, members of regional governing bodies, and a few church …
Dr. Kevin Yoho,General Presbyter Newark Presbytery has put together a presentation called The Reciprocal Church. I like what he’s done in calling “the church” back into the nieghborhood, using the idea of reciprocity. Does the church give benefit to the community in exchange for the investment that the community makes in the church? Or put …
As I continued to read through Ron Crandall’s book, he gives a list of principles for church renewal and revitalization from the ages of church history. It may seem like a no-brainer, but at least observations through church history back it up. 1. Personal renewal. Renewal of a church begins with renewal of the individual. …
This week and next, you’ll be reading about small church transformation, particularly the role of evangelism, based on a study of small churches first done in 1995 and then updated in December of 2008. These first few posts setup some of the background and are meant to be in small blog-size portions for easy consumption. …
The first edition of Turnaround and Beyond: A Hopeful Future for the Small Membership Church was released in 1995 and was re-released and updated in December 2008. In the study Ron sought to explore strategies that enabled struggling and often run down small churches to experience lasting turnaround. “Turnaround” has gone by various terms in …
A dying church made a decision that helped them re-engage the neighborhood. Out of that, they church was re-vitalized instead of closing their doors.
During this past month, I’ve talked with several pastors who are in church transformation contexts: Dying churches in survival mode. Churches on life support that don’t want to revitalize. Churches that put all their faith and burden in the pastor to save the day and make it grow, as if the pastor is a savior …
What is the key, the Holy Grail, in transforming a church? Is there one? In the work of evangelism training, I’ve been asked on many occasions about the role of evangelism in helping a church get out of the rut, get unstuck, or get excited about inviting others to follow Jesus.
