Pastor Gary Moritz and his wife Jana say they fell into church revitalization by default. City United Church in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, thrived in its heyday with a daycare, a Christian school, a radio station and a 1,000-seat auditorium. However, when Gary and Jana were called to serve there in 2012, the church was in bankruptcy, and fewer than 70 congregants remained, marking a significant challenge for their church revitalization efforts.
As the church navigates a post-pandemic world and ongoing economic pressures, budget constraints remain the biggest challenge to prioritizing new technology purchases, with the majority of churches (58%) allocating 10 percent or less of their annual budget to technology spend. Other top barriers include staffing, implementation, ease of use, and support.
While acknowledging hits to the credibility, reputation and psyche of the church's collective witness, they passionately and practically encourage readers to see this not so much as a problem but an opportunity for the church to understand the times and know what is the best course of action to take (1 Chron. 12:32) in pursuit of systemic transformation for the sake of the gospel.
If you want to move from languishing to flourishing, there are no easy answers. And there are no quick fixes. But this I know for sure: You won't get there without cultivating an attitude of gratitude.
Research indicates that church small group growth is important, with 44% of current weekend worship attendees involved in a small group, Sunday School or similar group, showing a slight decline since 2010.
For far too long, the church has held up years of service as a marker of a successful pastor instead of the overall effectiveness of servant leadership and pastor longevity effectiveness.
It is not just your future that is at stake. It is also the meaning and value of your life, especially concerning conscious being existence. Does your life have purpose? What is a life? What is purpose? If the path of your life reduces to the paths of point particles, can you have any assurance that your future is bright?
The author describes several “construction” problems with constructing any being like you. He then seeks to develop a more complete theory of nature and origin of personal beings.
In Virtuous Persuasion, Michael Niebauer delves deep into the basic questions of the mission of God, connecting it to the life we live. He argues that missio Dei, church planting and dialogue fail to provide adequate thinking on human morality.
I believe the single most effective weapon against our joy in Christ and becoming who we are made to be is the lie that God is not who He says He is and you cant trust Him. This article explores the obstacles to trusting God's goodness.
