Sending Churches: Finding your next church planter
Developing leaders is rarely easy (or fast). It takes time — sometimes years — to discover...
Resources for Best Practices
Every good church leader has this quality
There’s one characteristic in a church leader that’s invaluable to the church but isn’t easily quantified.
10 Practical Tips for Living on Mission in Your Community
Living missionally in your community requires intentionality, a willing heart and dependency on the Holy Spirit....
Pastoring a church when it is no longer a plant: Finances
“Wait a minute, what?” I thought to myself incredulously, “We are no longer a plant?” This...
Pastoring a church when it is no longer a plant: Momentum
My father was one of the greatest high school basketball coaches in Kentucky history. After watching...
9 characteristics of a church planter: Social skills
Before I knew Jesus, I was a user. Not drugs. Worse. I used people. I am...
9 characteristics of a church planter: Communication
One of the key ingredients of effectiveness is the ability to communicate clearly. Jesus was the...
9 characteristics of a church planter: Leadership
No one has ever called me charismatic. I’m not a raging extrovert. And I’m certainly not...
When it comes to church planting, the old saying is true, “Time is of the essence.”...
Top 10 Posts of 2017: #7 Co-vocational Church Planting: Rethinking Vocation
The idea of rethinking vocation must start with considering the sacred/secular divide, or what some people...
Securing a meeting location: 3 Ways to sustain a partnership
Finding a worship gathering space can be one of the most frustrating parts of launching a...
Securing a meeting location: Forming a contract
The late scholar Mark Seale said, “everyone has a way of ‘leaning into life,’ and the...
Securing a meeting location: Casting a wide net
One of the things I felt least ready for when planting City Church is how to...
If we want to see a move of God in North America, we should pray that...
I was a shy kid with a debilitating stutter and no friends. One night, my dad...
10 Lessons from a decade of church planting: Part 2
2. Rootedness and hiring from within matters. “From the outside looking in, what has been the...
10 Lessons from a decade of church planting: Part 1
Recently we celebrated the 10th anniversary of City Church in Tallahassee. What started with 24 friends...
Stories from Sending Churches: Michael O’Neal
In March and April 2017, we interviewed three practitioners serving on the field as church planters,...
Stories From Sending Churches: Brian Bloye
In March and April 2017, we interviewed three pastors serving in Sending Churches. These are their...
5 Lessons I learned from Adrian Rogers
No one has influenced and impacted my life like the “prince of preachers,” the man known...
Voices that shape us: The Importance of mentors
One of the most influential theologians in my life is a musician. Songwriter Michael Card’s exegetically evocative and...
Developing brotherhood in your city: Why and how it’s successful
Ninja strike teams When I was a kid, we used to jump all over the playground...
Developing brotherhood in your city: Why you need it
Not Karate All over the world, people are being trained in the martial arts. That said,...
Co-vocational church planting: Rethinking vocation
The idea of rethinking vocation must start with considering the sacred/secular divide, or what some people...
The planter as generalist: Delegation
What is the vision God has given you for your church? What are the dreams you...
The planter as generalist: Administration
On a scale from 1-10, my administration skills fall somewhere between 1 and a separate scale...
The planter as generalist: Fund raising
I was recently in a conversation with a friend that was all too familiar. It had...
The planter as generalist: Counseling
Anyone that has ever attempted to start a business quickly learned this truth: There is a...
The planter as generalist: Leadership development
Church planting, when done properly, is proof that God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things....
The planter as generalist: Intro
The label “intern” used to be code word for the person who does anything and everything...
5 Ways to prepare for church planting
For most church planters, the season prior to planting feels much like the engagement season leading...
What does it mean to preach the gospel?
Busy. How many times have you heard someone say that word this week? How many times...
Money matters: Staff and salaries
In 2010, my family moved to Boston (one of the most expensive places to live in...
The spiritual power of habits: Sabbath
For twelve months, I met with a wildly creative leader who wanted to plant a church....
The spiritual power of habits: Time in the Word
Developing a tasteWhen I was a young adult I couldn’t stand the taste of coffee. I...
The Spiritual power of habits: Introduction
“I believe the gospel–I just don’t believe it right now. I believe that at a head level, I just don’t...
How to choose songs for your church
As a worship leader, one thing that I have learned is that art is very subjective...
3 Things church planters should look for in a worship leader
I am approaching the end of a season in life. By the grace of God, I...
How to send mission teams well
Mission teams can be a tremendous help to a church planter, but often they become a...
I am a huge fan of great mission team experiences. Over the past 13 years of...
How to use technology to reach your church and community
Everywhere you turn these days, you can’t help but hear the term “big data.” Retailers, app...
How to be a more productive minister
My guess is that on most days you find it hard to reconcile your calendar with...
Why strategic communications matter in the local church
One of the most famous movie lines of all time comes from the 1967 film Cool Hand...
Church planter coaches: The value of a great coach
Coaching is like noise-canceling headphones; it takes all those voices, internal and external, in Matthew’s life...
Week of Prayer: Resonate over riches
The past seems almost foreign to church planter Jacob Dahl. Like many college students, Jacob went...
Week of Prayer: From death to life
After feeling what Kelly and Brandi Perrish desciribe as a “holy discontent,” they moved their family...
Week of Prayer: First year church plant gives back
After more than 30 years in ministry, Pastor Garth Leno stepped down from his role at...
How to tell if the ministry has become all about you
Sadly, most of us can all too easily recount stories of pastors who betrayed their congregations,...
Why friendship is important as a church planter
I read a recent survey about friendship that was disheartening, but not terribly surprising. Since the...
The Coach TestThe church planter coaching “frequently asked question” list is always growing. We love this...
Things pastors shouldn’t do in 2017
In 2017, I’m going to stop allowing those who know our church the least to define...
How to remain an effective pastor in 2017
Over the past few years I’ve grown increasingly convinced that my (over)dependence on technology is having...
Things I won’t do in 2017: Brian Bowman
In many wonderful ways planting Valley Life Church has been church planting fairy tale. Healthy financial support...
Most popular of 2016: #4 Raising kids to love the church: Jeff Christopherson
The North American Mission Board is blessed by a wide array of voices that speak to...
Most popular of 2016: #5 Preacher notes: Danny Akin
The North American Mission Board is blessed by a wide array of voices that speak to...
Navigating dark days: Dark places
“The iron bolt which so mysteriously fastens the door of hope and holds our spirits in...
Nine reasons we must connect our churches with cities
Even if you have no interest in urban settings and ministries, I plead with you to...
How to get visitors to return to your church
There are so many elements that determine if guests will return to your church after a...
What are the internal barriers to growth in a church?
There is rarely a simple explanation for the decline of a church. It is often a...
Three reasons why every Christian should vote
We are in the midst of a presidential election that, even to this political junkie, becomes...
How to raise kids to love the church
I’ve been part of church plants ever since I can remember. My dad took over as...
Raising Kids to Love the Church: Laura Christopherson
Six months into our first pastorate, I had a real “aha” moment. I didn’t even know...
Raising kids to love the church: Jeff Christopherson
Laura and I always invested our savings in the next church plant, so we were constantly...
Two ways to drive our roots deep into the gospel
I’ve recently been reading a new book by Tim Keller, Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering....
How to look at Christian miracles
I know a lot of people who really get tripped up by miracles in the Bible....
Methodology to aid a planter in understanding their context
Gaining an accurate understanding of context is critical to successfully plant a new church. Barry Whitworth...
Kingdom focused church planting
Have you ever missed something in conversation? You know, times when you’ve assumed something a person...
I know different planters and pastors have different strategies for the ministry of the Word–topical or...
When we first started City Church, we had one weekly worship gathering. I would have a...
Redefining Success: Family Culture
What makes a church successful? Is it the number of those who attend the weekly gathering,...
Discipleship is messy because our lives are messy. One size certainly doesn’t fit all. How can...
Yesterday I was talking to a good friend about his next ministry assignment and what is...
Wise leaders understand the importance of words. They grasp the importance of language in describing the...
Lessons learned from church planting
My friend Jenny was over recently, and my youngest son bounded into the room. He’s getting...
The importance of prioritizing as a church planter
This summer I stood in front of a room full of church planting wives and took...
Why spousal support from pastors is important
One of the more pleasant surprises of this blog the past few years is the opportunity...
11 Ways to Evaluate Your Preaching and Teaching
The more important our work is, the more imperative it is we strive to improve. If...
Nine Ways To “Pay” Your Volunteers
I recently spent some time with long-time pastor Steve Stroope, who’s been in the ministry now...
When You are Sick of Saying It, Your Leaders Have Just Heard It
The following is a modified excerpt from Gaining by Losing: Why the Future Belongs to Churches that...
Church Discipline: The Outcome of Church Discipline
THE OUTCOME OF CHURCH DISCIPLINE As we have faithfully practiced discipline as a body, we are...