Bil Cornelius: When Church People Leave

Bil Cornelius Lead Pastor
Bay Area Fellowship Corpus Christi, Texas

TURNING POINTS

A turning point for our ministry was when I realized people will come and go. It wasn’t my job to keep everyone happy but to move with the “movers.” Not everyone will agree with your vision. Your burden for lost people must be valued more than your desire to please saved people.

MEASURING SUCCESS

For us, it comes down to people receiving Christ and committing to getting involved in the church. How many people get saved alone will help you change lives. How many commit to the church’s vision by being involved gives you the momentum to change a city.

GETTING DOWN TO WORK

My first priority is to listen to God long enough to have his direction, then take action toward those ministry objectives. I truly believe the most underutilized weapon in a pastor’s arsenal is his prayer life.

BAY AREA FELLOWSHIP Corpus Christi, Texas
A 2013 OUTREACH 100 CHURCH
Website: BayAreaFellowship.org
Twitter: @BilCornelius
Founded: 1998
Affiliation: Nondenominational
Locations: 9
Attendance: 6,957
Largest: 80

Bil Cornelius
Bil CorneliusBilCornelius.com

Bil Cornelius is the lead pastor of Bay Area Fellowship, which he and his wife founded in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1998. He is the co-author with Bill Easum of "Go Big: Lead Your Church to Explosive Growth" and the founder of the Exponential Business Conference, which began in 2007. Find him on Twitter at @BilCornelius.

Ed Stetzer: Who We Are

We are called to cultivate human flourishing and societal transformation throughout the world as a testimony to the truth of the gospel.

5 Keys for Sharing Your Faith

We do not need to be contentious and argumentative. We can be kind and grace-filled even when we disagree with others and offer them a whole new worldview.

Embrace Church: Real Transformation

The church’s success is a testament to divine grace working through flawed people, Pastor Adam Weber insists. Embrace’s goal-setting process, called “traction,” has also multiplied its congregation.