If you want to know whether balance is important, ask a tightrope walker or a technician who installs new tires on your vehicle. If you want to know whether balance is important, ask a nutritionist who encourages her patients to create balanced, healthy diets. But, if you want to know whether balance is important, you might not want to ask group ministry leaders.
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I listened to the burden of a pastor friend of mine who, through their broken heart, shared the story of a child who has strayed from faith. I have many other friends who tell the same story—they’ve devoted their lives to ministry, only to witness a child of their own take steps away from God.
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If the first church had a website, the tagline “Together” would have been on brand. The community of faith in its earliest days serves as the standard for every local church going forward. However, pastors today are seeing a deepening apathy toward the value and vitality of biblical community. According to the Greatest Needs of Pastors research, 75% of pastors say people’s apathy or lack of commitment is the most challenging people dynamic they deal with in ministry.
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From the beginning of history, God has worked through agents to carry out His mission. Patrick Schreiner, Associate Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology at Midwestern Seminary, writes, “[God] enacts His mission and furthers His mission specifically through His people.”
What if your church’s most pressing need isn’t another program but a team of deacons who embody servant leadership? What if deacons could significantly impact lives and support your pastoral vision?
A sense of belonging is one of the top needs in life. A study from Lifeway Research found around 1 in 5 churchgoers who left one church to find another say they did so because they felt out of place at their previous church (20%).
As a new school year approaches, many church leaders seek church members who can serve in the church. In a Lifeway Research study of Protestant churchgoers, 66% said they did not volunteer for a charity (ministry, church, or non-ministry) in the last year. Could the gap between desire and action stem from our failure to trust younger generations to serve and lead? One Gen Z churchgoer grieved their experience of the church wanting Gen Z present but not recruiting students to serve.
January is an exciting month with new opportunities. A new calendar is full of possibilities. Many state resolutions; others make commitments or goals. Don’t you love the potential of a new year to become a new you? What if the new year and new you brought about a new church too—a church eager to bring the hope of Christ to a lost world?
