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Reimagining Church in a Changed World

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Most North American churches are in crisis mode. Decline. Division. Lack of direction. Even closure. These are the realities you likely know all too well. It’s old news. In response to these negative trends, I typically hear one of two lines of thought. The first just involves doing what churches already do, only better. Welcome people more warmly. Lead better worship. Be more transparent. Preach more effectively. Make your facilities more inviting. Serve nicer coffee. Have snazzier kids’ classes. Use social media more successfully. The list goes on and on. Standing-room only crowd for our workshop at the 2023 Harbor Lectures This set of strategies stems from the reality that most church leaders have a church-shaped mission. In other words, they know how to do one thing: Sunday morning worship. And since that is what churches do, that must be the tool to turn things around. The mission must fit church as they know it. The second line of thought is less optimistic. It embraces dec
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I Survived the Church Renewal Movements. Re-Missioning Is What We Need Now.

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To read my latest article on the Mosaic ministry site at Abilene Christian University, please click below: https://www.mosaicsite.org/main/2023/4/11/i-survived-the-church-renewal-movements-re-missioning-is-what-we-need-now
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The Church of Scotland Is Changing Fast. Can the Churches of Christ Follow Suit?

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To read my latest article on the Mosaic site, please click the link below: https://www.mosaicsite.org/main/2023/2/7/the-church-of-scotland-is-changing-fast-can-the-churches-of-christ-follow-suit  
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Communique about Relocation & Planned Sale of Our Church Campus

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On Sunday, January 22, 2023, the College Church of Christ elders hosted a meeting for church members. During this meeting, they announced their unanimous decision to sell the church’s existing property and relocate to a more appropriately sized property elsewhere in the Fresno/Clovis area. Each elder and minister shared their own words of affirmation about this decision. This move is not taken lightly and no doubt evokes sadness in many folks. Still, the church leaders believe this is a crucial, positive step. Despite the many memories that fill this campus, the church's current needs are no longer a match for this property. Selling and relocating will help the College Church more fully live into its mission and vision for the future. A brief bit of context may be helpful. In early December, the elders asked church members for ideas about what to do with the building and property. It was acknowledged that the College Church sits on an expansive 9-acre property with nearly 45,000
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Five Books I Appreciated in 2022

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Here are five books I read & appreciated in 2022. Not ranked in any particular order: Book #5, Church for Every Context by Michael Moynagh If you’re familiar with any of my recent blog posts about my sabbatical partly spent in the UK, then this book by Mike Moynagh explains a big piece of my research before our trip. I also got to visit with the author this summer in Oxford. Mike is incredibly pragmatic, knowledgeable and humble. This is one of the best books on “doing church” I’ve ever read. Actually, I can’t think of a better one. I honestly don’t understand why this book isn’t being universally used in seminaries to train pastors and church leaders. It’s that good. Why so overlooked? Well, it’s got the weight of a doorstop. And it doesn’t seem as widely available in the US as it is in the UK. So perhaps those are obstacles. But why is this book so important, in my opinion? First, it’s written through the lens of mission. Mike grew up in East Africa, the son of missionaries. Like
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Discovery Number Four: Build on Unlikely Characters

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On my sabbatical this summer, I rediscovered several important priorities about how to "do church" in the 21st century. Instead of endless controversies about what should or shouldn't happen in a worship service, the church needs to rediscover a sense of mission outside the bounds of traditional worship gatherings. Simply put, the church must become a people once again shaped by the mission of God. In writing this, I am not at all down on the traditional worship gathering. Regular assemblies are an enormous blessing to many existing Christians, myself included. We need to continue to slowly walk these gatherings toward being healthy and edifying for those who depend on them. As we continue to do this, however, it's time to STOP putting the wrong expectations on these worship gatherings, be they comfortingly traditional or radically contemporary. We should NOT expect worship to carry the load for evangelism, education, revival, fellowship, and every other necessary asp
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Discovery Number Three: A Mission-Shaped Church instead of a Church-Shaped Mission

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The Sunday morning church service comes once a week. That hour occupies such a small sliver of a person's waking hours in a week (about 1%). Yet churches pour a huge amount of time and resources into thinking about, planning for and executing the weekly gathering. And no matter what they do or how well they do it, the vast majority of people will never show up or even consider showing up. This is true for nearly every church I know. The Sunday morning worship gathering is what churches in North America know how to do. Those with bigger staffs, newer buildings and more money are obviously able to do it at different level from most churches. Regardless of size, however, churches tend to measure their success based on that one hour. It's the primary focus. It's the main entrance into the church family. It's how churches teach, train, disciple, encourage, communicate, and evangelize. And yet, year by year, despite such massive investment, the number of people who show up fo
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