Thom Rainer

This consultation was indeed a challenge. We told the church leaders that they should not look at our consultation team as a silver bullet for the woes of their church. They said they didn’t.  But they did.

I get it. Numbers are not everything. Indeed, numbers are not the most important thing. But a balanced use of numbers can be helpful.

It is strange to write about the death of the Baby Boomers because I am one of them. Indeed, this article was a reminder of my own mortality.

While we continue to see reports of denominational decline in America, we see fewer reports of the growth of non-denominational churches. It is actually an amazing story.

The two leading presidential candidates in the polls today are 81 years old and 77 years old. Bob Iger returned to Disney as CEO. He will be 73 years old in February. What about pastors? Are they retiring later in ministry?

For hundreds of thousands of churches, the tradition stood the test of time. The majority of churches passed the offering plate (or some type of receptacle) during a designated time of the worship service typically called “the offertory.”

The metaphor has changed. For most of my ministry, we often referred to the up and down of pastoral ministry as a roller coaster. It made sense. One day the pastor will celebrate five new believers in Christ. The next day the pastor is met by a long-term church member who is leaving the church because she is not getting fed (I really loathe that excuse to leave.).

There is no shortage of pundits who are providing to us the gloomy and dismal state of American congregations, and, indeed, of many churches around the world. For sure, I am among the guilty. While personal evangelism is ultimately a heart issue between Christians and God, we do see ways this disobedience to the Great Commission is manifesting itself.

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (BP) -- It is one of the most common questions we get from church leaders: When will all the church members return to in-person services?

Thom Rainer marvels at the positive use of social media for God's glory during the disappearance of Christian author Henry Blackaby.