Worship brings heaven to earth; it gives opportunity for us to really engage with God, to spend time alone in his presence, or to come alongside others and experience glimpses of an eternity in praise. Whichever way you worship, the environment you are in can affect how you connect with God. It can truly enhance…
Church and Ministry
25 posts
When Andy Oliver was appointed senior pastor at Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg, Fla., in 2016, the 100-year-old church was in significant decline and thinking about closing. They’d been shrinking in attendance since the 1960s and were down to only about 40 regular members. The remaining congregation wanted Oliver to cast a vision…
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14 NIV While Jesus went out of his way to welcome children, churches aren’t always so good at it. Sure, we’ve got nurseries, kids’ church, and child check-in, but as a parent…
As church ministry staff with some variation of marketing/communication in our title, we spend a good percentage of our time focused on promoting things. We want our people and our visitors to know about all the options available to them so they can feel connected with our church family and grow closer to God. But…
Our church banned announcements about one-year ago. Yes, I’m serious. Yes, we still get people to sign-up for stuff, in fact, we’re doing better than ever. Admittedly, when we first talked about the idea I got looks from folks on our team that implied they thought I was a bit crazy for suggesting this concept.…
Everything we do communicates something. That’s kind of a cool, trendy sentence, but sometimes that fact is super annoying, isn’t it? From your parking lot to your worship space and everywhere in between, people are taking note of what your environments communicate—even if they don’t realize it. A very important (and fun!) part of your…
Announcements are kind of the worst, aren’t they? In most worship services, the pastor wants more time to speak, the band wants more time to play, and the congregation sure doesn’t seem to care what your executive pastor has to say about next Sunday’s bake sale for your missionaries in Thailand. And yet, all your…
Too often in churches the Sunday morning announcement is the go-to communication channel. When anyone wants something communicated, they want a platform announcement. That’s a terrible idea. Announcements should be the last resort. Do something else. Ministry leaders may love church announcements, but they’re not exactly the most effective: The more you announce, the less…
“Anyone who disobeys orders will be beheaded on the spot.” -Ching Shih (1775-1844) Ching Shih commanded a deadly pirate fleet that terrorized the China Sea in the early 1800s. She’s known as the most successful pirate in history. And OK, Ching Shih is more villain than hero, but her notorious antics teach us a valuable…
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” -Galatians 5:22-23 NASB Remind your congregation about the fruit of the Spirit with these free social media graphics. Inspiration Over Information Often churches are tempted to share information over social media, announcing…