It’s time for the episode that must happen. It is the episode of episodes. It’s the topic that all pastors recognize is important for church health, but cringe at the thought of talking about, let alone sharing with their congregations. It’s time to talk about money! We all know the Bible talks about money A LOT! There are more than 2300 verses tha…

In 1990, the average age of a pastor was 41. Today, that average age is 55. Although there are several reasons you could identify for the cause of this, it is my belief that one of the main reasons for this shift is that we have lost our intentionality in leadership development. Too often, we forget that one of the big responsibilities we have as p…

Today we are going to talk about a subject that on the one hand most churches generally agree is extremely important, and yet on the other hand, struggle mightily with creating effective strategies more than almost any other subject, and that is the issue of small groups. It’s not a matter of IF your church has small groups, its more a question of …

One of the topics I get asked about a lot in my role in church strengthening revolves around today’s topic: “Developing a Discipleship Pathway”. Every pastor knows that it is crucial to create a way for people to grow in their faith, but struggle with a strategy that works. Most churches do a good job at helping people with the “basics” of their fa…

Recently, I have read some really disturbing statistics. 95% of all Christians have never won a soul to Christ. 80% of all Christians do not consistently witness for Christ. 47% of Millennials believe sharing your faith is wrong. 63% of the leadership of one denomination studied did not lead one stranger to Jesus in the last two years. 96% of the l…

I am super excited for today’s episode. I have invited two pastors to join me. Andrew Ford is one of the pastoral team at Grand Ledge Baptist Church in Grand Ledge Michigan, just outside Lansing. Kendal Anderson is pastor of The Crossing church in Clermont Florida, just outside Orlando. Both have a long and effective pastoral history. The great thi…

Today marks the beginning of season two of Advance, and I am so excited to launch what I hope to be an encouraging series of episodes in the coming months that will help spur your church on to greater health. We’re going to cover topics that will include discipleship pathway, evangelism, leadership development and effective small group ministry jus…

Today we’re going to do something a little differently, so I hope you hang in there as I think you will be glad you did. Two episodes ago I introduced you to Danny Parmelee, Vice President of Church planting for Converge MidAmerica where he talked with us about the topic “Healthy Churches Plant Churches”. If you didn’t catch it, I encourage you to …

Today we are going to continue our conversation about church planting by trying to understand what makes a church planter “tick”. Who are these guys? Why do they decide to plant a church, and what does my church need to be looking for in a church planter when we decide we would like to plant a church? I can think of no one I’d rather talk to about …

Albert Mohler is quoted as saying, “If existing churches do not thrive, there will be no one to plant, sustain, support, and lead church planting. We cannot have one without the other.” I agree with Mohler. Multiplication must be a part of any healthy church, and church planting must be part of a healthy church’s multiplication plan. So today, we a…

Statistics state that 85% of churches in America are either plateaued or declining. For most plateaued churches, that means declining. That is a depressing statistic that doesn’t give much confidence that a church can “turn things around”. Well, I happen to believe that it can happen, that churches can turn things around, and I get up every day to …

In our last episode we talked about what a healthy church looks like in a small town. In this episode we are going to talk about how to make a big deal about a small church. Not every church will be a mega church. As a matter of fact, most churches will not be mega churches. Some would even say that small churches have a unique ability for gospel m…

Statistics state that approximately 80% of people in America live in metropolitan areas and there is evidence that those percentages are growing. As a result, small towns and rural communities are shrinking across America as people increasingly move to these city centers. That population shift is certainly affecting the church in these small towns.…

To help us talk about using digital platforms as a tool for reaching especially young people with the gospel, I have asked Cory Ball, one of our new Converge Midamerica pastors, planting a church in St. Louis. I knew I wanted to have Cory share with us when he shared at a meeting I was at, that Generation Z (under 25 year olds) will not come to our…

Now before you write this episode off as another church growth “numbers” thing, let me encourage you to hang in there. The spiritual reality is, if we don’t work on creating an environment of welcome and follow up in our churches, we will severely limit our opportunity to reach those who don’t know Jesus, giving them an opportunity to even hear the…

The great pastor, A.W.Tozer wrote in his book “Whatever Happened to Worship” the following. “We are brought to God and to faith and to salvation that we might worship and adore Him…Yes, worship of the loving God is man’s whole reason for existence. That is why we are born and that is why we are born again from above. That is why we were created and…

The great pastor, A.W.Tozer wrote in his book “Whatever Happened to Worship” the following. “We are brought to God and to faith and to salvation that we might worship and adore Him…Yes, worship of the loving God is man’s whole reason for existence. That is why we are born and that is why we are born again from above. That is why we were created and…

To help us talk about the issue of the Church board, I have asked Dr. David Clark, theology professor at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul Minnesota to share with us. Not only has Dr. Clark done extensive study and research regarding church boards, he has lived them in his own church experience as a pastor and leader. Dr. Clark has and is a great help to…

Today we are going to address the issue of “The Pastor and Self Care”. It is my firm belief that the single most important aspect to having a healthy church is a healthy pastor. Unfortunately, unhealthy pastors are becoming an epidemic. Even as we are recording this podcast today, the Christian world is reeling once again with the news that another…

The purpose of All America is to mobilize millions in the Body of Christ to pray for and connect with their neighbors until all 127 million households and every school campus in America is adopted for the purpose of praying for the expansion of the Kingdom of Christ and the Gospel. I believe with all my heart, that if we want to see a Spiritual Awa…

Today we are going to address the issue of vision. It’s a term that gets bounced around all the time. We all can quote the scripture in Proverbs 29:18, “Where there Is no vision, the people perish.”, but how it effects us is very different. Some of us get super excited when we hear that term, and others want to run the other way. So how important i…

Today we are going to be addressing the issue of prayer in relationship to a healthy church. Last episode we said that preaching the Word was one of the foundational pillars of the church in Acts 2. Another of those foundational pillars is prayer. In Acts chapter six, pastors and elders are encouraged to focus on prayer and the Word in their minist…

Scripture is clear that the proclamation of the Word is one of the most important things we do as a church. Acts two speaks of it as one of the foundational pillars of the church. Paul encourages Timothy to not shrink away from preaching the truth of scripture, just to name two. However, in the midst of a myriad of things we need to be doing as pas…

This is episode 2 of the podcast, and today I’m grateful to welcome back Dr. Bruce Hopler, Executive Director of Church Strengthening with Converge. Today, let’s talk about evaluating the health of the ministries within the church. How do church leaders go about evaluating that? How does the church cycle bell curve work? How do you need to lead a m…

An introduction to the Advance Podcast. Each episode will have an interview with a pastor or leader who will be encouraging us with content that God has specifically used through them in significant and effective ways. The content will be rich, yet concise enough that it can be shared at staff meetings, board meetings, or with other pastors you are…

This is our first official episode of the podcast, and we’re kicking it off by dealing with the question all other episodes will be trying to answer, “What Is A Healthy Church?” To help us answer this 30,000ft question, I am excited to welcome our first guest, Dr. Bruce Hopler. Bruce is the Executive Director of Church Strengthening with Converge, …