The long and short of sermons
“HOW LONG, OH LORD?" By Hershael York That lament echoes through the Psalms, appears in Habakkuk, recurs in Revelation—and pervades the meandering minds of restless parishioners obliged to suffer the pastor’s preaching past the point of effectiveness and endurance. An...
10 habits of highly effective small group leaders
by Paul Sohn Steve Gladen, pastor of small groups at Saddleback Church for more than a decade, gives brilliant advice to take your small group to the next level. What makes a group system thrive? Definitely, strong leadership, welcoming groups, small group guidelines....
GuideStone announces release of its Ministers’ Tax Guide
By Roy Hayhurst DALLAS — GuideStone Financial Resources will release its popular annual tax guide in two phases. The Federal Reporting Requirements for Churchessection is available now at GuideStone.org/TaxGuide. This section details filing requirements for Forms W-2...
WMU Foundation adds to missionary kids scholarships
By Candice Lee (BIRMINGHAM, Ala.) — Jan. 15, 2016 — The WMU Foundation will grant a greater number of college scholarships to missionary kids (MKs) this year, thanks to two estate gifts totaling $65,000. The Foundation recently received the gifts and will add them to...
State Conventions should learn from farm trends
By Tim Lubinus, BCI Executive Director/Treasurer When I was growing up on a farm in Iowa we raised pigs, cattle, chickens, and even a few ducks. In the field we planted corn, soybeans, alfalfa, and oats. We had all the equipment needed to prepare the ground, raise the...
Eight things your church website must have
By Jonathan Howe “Must” is a strong word, and I realize that. But hear me out. Over the past few years, when we’ve written or discussed church websites, Dr. Rainer and I have continually stated “the two most important elements you need to have on the front page are...
What are the top evangelistic churches doing that mine is not?
By Joel Southerland “A church cannot develop an excellent evangelism strategy without planning far in advance.” –Nathan Lorick in Dying to Grow The evangelism decline among Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) churches has been well documented. When you look at the...
Six Simple Ways to Minister to Ministers
Being a pastor is a blessing, but it can be discouraging, too. Here are some ways you can encourage your pastors. by Ed Stetzer and Chris Martin According to just about every stat I hear, pastors hate the ministry, feel miserable, and would get out of the ministry if...
Building a Volunteer Culture in Your Church
It can be difficult, at times, to recruit volunteers at church. How might we create a volunteer culture in our churches? by Jill Fox “Pull a Henry.” Their heads tilted; some brows furrowed. They thought I was crazy. It was working. When you are given the 8 p.m. Monday...
National CP 1.26% ahead of last year through 1st quarter
by BP Staff NASHVILLE (BP)--Year-to-date contributions through the Southern Baptist Convention's portion of the Cooperative Program are 1.26 percent ahead of the same time frame at the end of 2014 and 1.85 percent under the SBC Cooperative Program Allocation Budget...
