Marriage is one of my favorite topics to preach on. More that 50% of my congregation is married and the balance of the church wants to tie the knot. That means, whenever we announce a series of teachings on marriage, everyone is excited. That doesn’t mean there aren’t a few challenges associated with teaching on marriage. Some singles get frustrated about talks on marriage. It’s somewhat difficult to teach in a new and fresh way. However, the benefits outweigh the challenges. So I thought I’d share 5 reasons for you to keep a marriage series on the preaching calendar every … Read More
Why Churches Stay Small (and Never Break 200)
This year Calvary, the church I pastor, was named the 5th fastest growing church in the United States by Outreach Magazine. There was lots of clapping by our congregation, congratulations by ministry colleagues, and even a cake from my staff. However, I remember when Calvary was a struggling church of 50 trying to reach people and get into triple digits. Over the last year I’ve been many times to explain how Calvary went from a church that reached new few people to a vibrant congregation. However, that’s not the real question people are asking. They want to know how their … Read More
How Does Your Church Get Results With Direct Mail?
This question shows up in my inbox every week. Though we are in a digital age, people are still opening their mail every day. In fact, with the flood of email we get, you actually have a better chance of standing out with an actual mail piece. At the same time, if you don’t know what you’re doing with direct mail, you can waste a lot of money. So, here’s 5 things you must know if you’re going to get great direct mail results: #1 – You must know who you’re trying to reach – most churches have no idea … Read More
Darth Vader On Leadership
I loved the New Start Wars Movie (comes out on DVD soon!) but I will say that I miss our classic villain: Darth Vader. So today I’ve got 3 leadership takeaways from this villain who got it all wrong. Takeaway #1: Insecurity You remember the scene. You were probably 5 or 6 when you first saw it, but by now you’ve seen it close to 150 times. Darth Vader walks into a meeting on the Death Star and someone challenges his authority. So what does this leader do? He decides to choke the guy until he agrees. He even throws … Read More
Need More Church Staff After Easter?
I’ve been talking to a lot of pastors, especially those in our coaching networks, and a lot of them experience a lasting bump in growth each Easter. If you’ve broken a certain threshold, you might now be thinking about bringing on another staff member. So how do you go about finding the right person? When it comes to staffing, most leaders start with a person they’re looking to hire. I believe that’s the wrong approach. When you’re looking to add someone to your team, the place to begin is with a job description. This is important when staff come to … Read More
Mastering a Pastor’s Time
Easter came and went like a whirlwind. Now we’re celebrating what God has done, following up with guests and new believers, starting a new series, getting ready for Mother’s Day…and the list goes on. Obviously, I don’t personally do all those things. We do it as a team. But as the leader, people ask me all the time, How do you get your “to do’s” done? So here’s what I personally do… #1 – Group tasks together – I don’t know why, but it takes me only slightly more time to respond to 5 email as it does to 30 … Read More
Fix Your Follow Up For Easter
I learned a ton about plumbing a couple of years ago. A leaky pipe burst and left me without a kitchen for the better part of a month. I learned that when you have a leaky pipe, you have to pump twice the water through the pipe to get 1/2 the amount H2O when you open your faucet. Here’s how this relates to church leadership and outreach… Your church can spend lots of money on outreach and fill your seats on Easter. However, if you don’t have a good follow up system and newcomers and new believers, they will slip … Read More
Easter Week Facebook Outreach
Our Facebook promotion is exploding this week as we’re gearing up for Easter. And this is the time to do it. People are making their plans for the weekend right now. So make sure they’re planning to come to your church. Here’s what our Facebook engagement looked like this past week: Almost 11,000 people reached in the last week and we’re just getting started. More importantly, this is just our church’s page! A majority of the post engagement is happening through our congregation’s personal pages. Here’s my simple guidance if you haven’t gotten the ball rolling yet on Facebook: Create … Read More
Promoting Easter On The Cheap
I had a Pastor email this last week and asked, “If you were on a shoestring budget and Easter was 1 week away, how would you get the word out about your church?” I responded with one word. Facebook. I love Facebook ads. Why? Because it’s the cheapest way to drive traffic to your website and let people know about your services. Think about it. Facebook lets you… 1. Pick who your want to market to 2. Set a maximum budget 3. Constantly tweak and change your ads 4. Create different ads for different people at no extra cost And … Read More
Can I trust your church?
The latest Nielsen study showed one of the most effective forms of advertising is a recommendation from someone you know: at 84% up from 78% in 2013. The reason: In the ever-expanding world of the net, TRUST is paramount. That is why platforms like Facebook and Instagram are so important for spreading the word about your church. They provide your congregation with the opportunity to recommend their church to everyone they know. The question is: How are you helping your congregation reach their friends? Let me give you three things that you can do: 1) Post pictures from your service. … Read More