healthy churches Archives » GProCommission

March 31, 2020

Author Barry Voss gives practical how-to's on how to develop your church's strategic plan.

How to Develop A Strategic Plan in 7 Steps

This article on how to develop a strategic plan is a continuation of author Barry Voss’s previous article here where Barry addressed why a strategic plan is necessary in Part One. Develop Your Church’s Strategic Plan Here are some basic steps to use when developing a strategic plan: Step #1: Organize a strategic planning group. The first thing you want to do is to put a team together who will develop the plan. You should pick key people who have appropriate skills or background in what you are planning. Step #2: Outline your Plan. The starting point to any plan is a simple […]

March 26, 2020

Strategic Planning

Planning is an important element in church or ministry leadership. Robert Schuller, author and former Pastor of the Crystal Cathedral in California, says, “those who fail to plan, plan to fail.” Having a clearly defined plan helps a church or ministry organize its resources and apply them in such a way as to best achieve their vision. Without a plan, churches and ministries waste limited resources and valuable time, and inevitably fall short of achieving what God has called them to do. Having a plan does not restrict a church or ministry to a prescribed course of action, but rather lays […]

February 20, 2020

Our perspective is everything as we choose how to adapt to change

Times of Change: Navigating Messy Transitions With Honest and Grace

Excerpted from “Making Peace with Change” by Gina Brenna Butz Change is hard on our hearts. It requires heart energy to adjust to new and different ways of living. Starting new relationships, finding your way around a new place, learning the new job, adjusting to another culture, carving out new routines—these all take an emotional toll. So how do we navigate change well? How do we experience it as a gift with the potential to transform us? It begins with honesty about what we’re experiencing, so we can find the grace we need to receive the lessons God has for us in […]

January 14, 2020

Fight Your Fears

reshared with kind permission from Author and Pastor Joshua Reich. All of us have fears. It might be the dark, failure, snakes (that’s one of mine!), heights, being alone, or being in a crowd. How do you know if you fear the right things? If we aren’t careful, we can be afraid of things that aren’t worth being afraid or we can let fear dictate what we do and don’t do. One pastor said, “What you fear establishes the boundaries of your freedom.” What you fear establishes the boundaries of your freedom. -Erwin McManus CLICK TO TWEET One way to know […]

December 4, 2019

A Leaders Defection: The Goodby Kiss Part II

Dr. Richard’s article on Christian leaders defection and our response reshared and cont’d from PART I. The clincher for me on the issue of eternal life is the very meaning of eternal in that life. If eternal life can be lost for any reason at all, it is not eternal by any definition. In addition is the question of proportionate contribution. To the extent to which one contributes to salvation, to that extent it can be undone. Contribute much to it, undo it easily. Contribute a little bit, undo it eventually, with one too many sins. Contribute nothing, and simply […]

December 3, 2019

Baby monkey clinging to his mother, showing the monkey example of grace.

When Christian Leaders Defect: “The Goodbye Kiss”

Dr. Ramesh Richard shares his wisdom and insight on how to reflect and understand as well as react when high-profile leaders defect from the faith. God has patiently put up with a history of leaders who defect—of whom I am one. I defect often. Although I am more aware of my sins of commission than omission, my every sin denies and defies allegiance to the Lord I love. I must return to the One I belong by confession, quickly and regularly, about attitudes and actions not aligned to His standards. Short History Two higher-profile defections in 2019—a mega-church pastor and […]

December 13, 2018

5 Hard Truths About Healthy Church Growth

Most church leaders I know would love to see their church grow. Similarly, most leaders I’ve met want their church to grow for what we might call the ‘right’ reasons: they sincerely want more people to encounter the love of Jesus Christ. That’s amazing. And yet there’s a strong reaction against growing churches by many leaders. For some reason, many people love to take pot-shots at growing churches and large churches. Some are categorical denouncements. I don’t know what to do with those. Sometimes I sense that underneath the anger are jealousy and resentment on the part of leaders whose […]

February 20, 2018

How to Get Your Church Growing Again

Guest Post from Aaron Buer. Reposted with kind permission from Breeze. From time to time, we all get stuck. Our churches get stuck. We get stuck in our personal lives and we get stuck in leadership. It just happens. It’s normal. Often, stuck doesn’t mean that things are terrible. It just means that things are comfortable. It means we are coasting. I realized a while back that our ministry was coasting. We were stuck in the land of “good enough.” Thankfully, in this season, our church leadership was beginning to take dramatic steps away from “good enough” and toward “excellent.” […]