Kenneth S. Hemphill

"Mom, my knees ache!" I can still remember what my mother called "growing pains." Like most early teens, my physical growth was not gradual and manageable, it was sudden and explosive. For mom and dad the pain of my rapid growth was felt in the wallet as I outgrew my clothes before I would break […]

The issue of leadership has become a hot topic in recent years. Leadership conferences and tools are now found in growing abundance. Nearly everyone agrees that leadership is a key component in healthy church growth, but once that single issue of consensus has been reached, little else seems to be agreed upon. What style of […]

We have heard plenty about the plateaued and declining church in America. I have seen research that indicates that somewhere between 66 and 80 percent of evangelical churches would be found in one of the two categories mentioned above. Our concern is magnified by the reality that a declining church has downward momentum that could […]

If you have been reading this column for the past year, you are aware that we have been looking at the characteristics of a Kingdom-centered church. None of the eight characteristics that we have covered are goals in and of themselves, but they are character traits which the Holy Spirit molds together in the church […]

I had a college friend who played basketball in prep school with Pistol Pete Maravich. My friend could also score with the best of them. Their prep school program had several other athletes that had been selected by major college programs. When I heard him list all the "stars" on his prep team, I asked […]

Not long ago I was invited to preach for a good friend who was pastor of a rural church in Morganton, North Carolina. This was the town where my mother lived, and he used this fact as a subtle bit of pressure to get me to come for a revival emphasis. When I drove into the church parking lot, I noticed that much of the land was occupied by a cemetery. This is usually not a good sign when it comes to church growth since it is difficult to park on headstones. My meager expectations were quickly exceeded as the building was filled night after night.

"Houston, we have a problem!" Do you remember those words? Thus began one of the great crises-to-success stories in recent history. A space shuttle in great peril was saved by a team of people determined to find a solution. We have a stewardship problem. Perhaps you are familiar with it. It begins with spending. The […]

Words like loneliness, isolation, and alienation describe how many people feel about their existence. We have become such a transient people that few people live near their nuclear family. We move so often that we find it challenging to make friends; as a result, many people simply don't try. The people around us are little […]

Southern Baptists have determined to focus their energies and resources through a process we have called Empowering Kingdom Growth. Tom Elliff challenged us to recognize that the foundation of all that we do is the home, and thus we looked at the Seven Pillars of a Kingdom Family. Our two mission agencies reminded us that […]

What comes to mind when you think about worship? Do you think about something that occurs on Sunday morning, or do you think about the total context of your life? Do you "hear" worship in terms of Southern Gospel melodies, contemporary choruses, or a multiplicity of tongues with strange melodies? Worship has, in some quarters, […]