Preaching

Church Revitalization Plan (Part 1)

Church Revitalization Plan (Part 1) Note: This is the first of two brief articles on church revitalization plans. This one maps out a revitalization strategy for an incoming pastor while the second one will explain how to do the same as an established pastor. So the candidating experience went well and the church just called

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Where would you draw the line?

How would you react when the church you’re serving as an intentional interim pastor gets wrapped around the axle over a basic “Christianity 101” doctrine of the faith? The last thing you need is a “headache” but you’ve also got a call – to speak to the needs of the congregation that were surfaced in

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Is it time to dump the Gatorade?

Is it time for you – the Interim Pastor – to give your client church the “Gatorade treatment”? Not the victory celebration. I’m talking about a cold dose of reality, that may be the only thing that will wake a slumbering congregation. The “problem” beneath symptoms and causes Let me suggest that the real problem that

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The right way to hire an interim pastor – Part 2

The first article in this series offered guidance on three issues that churches considering retaining an interim pastor need to address. Deciding on the kind of interim pastor your church should retain. Determining the cost of retaining an interim pastor (and what a church stands to lose if it doesn’t) The church board’s first task

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Book Review: Revitalizing Congregations

Interim pastors, permanent pastors for that matter, will enjoy reading William Avery’s Revitalizing Congregations: Refocusing and Healing Through Pastoral Transitions (affiliate link) for its clear, simple style, for its useful information and for the mirror it holds up for us to look at our ministries. In the preface the author identifies his target audience: The

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