Are we leading with our whole brains? Overcoming half-brained leadership by N. Graham Standish Is your leadership whole-brained or merely half-brained? Even more, is the mainline church decline really a matter of our being a bit too half-brained? Back when I was in high school there was a book that was the rage for a… Read more »
April 3, 2019
Hopeful Church
Are we leading with our whole brains? Overcoming half-brained leadership by N. Graham Standish Is your leadership whole-brained or merely half-brained? Even more, is the mainline church decline really a matter of our being a bit too half-brained? Back when I was in high school there was a book that was the rage for a… Read more »
Our God-given superpowers Spiderverse reminds us of Christ’s incarnation by Samuel Son We are approaching end of January so by now, your Christmas lights are rolled up, ornaments neatly boxed, and scattering of pine leaves vacuumed. My 13-year-old, though suffering from teen cynicism, surprised her parents by protesting our removal of the decorations, saying, “Christmas isn’t… 
Are you a Sears or an Amazon? Churches need to adapt to a changing world by Richard Hong Christmas is coming! Even though I don’t know what I’ll be buying for the people on my list, I am pretty sure I know where I’ll be buying it: Amazon. Like many other people, I have… 
Timing Emails for More Opens Detailed data helps you improve By Richard Hong Most of us communicate with our congregations using mass emails. If you are using MailChimp, Constant Contact, or Vertical Response, you can track your “open rate” to see how many people are reading your email. Crafting a gorgeous, information-filled message is… 
Getting to know you Your church is the people by Richard Hong “A church is the people, not the building.” Would anyone think of this as a controversial statement? Yet we need to explore fully what this means at a practical level in our churches. Sure, a common complaint is that there are some… 
Are we yelling too much? How to train church leaders effectively by Graham Standish I used to get yelled at a lot. Anyone who’s ever played sports has gotten yelled at, but I felt like coaches yelled at me more than most. Someone once told me that it’s when coaches stop yelling that you… 
Remembering Honestly The truth behind our patriotic holidays by Samuel Son I attended two different churches on the Sunday before July 4th. They incorporated the holiday differently in their worship. One church had each military division carry their respective flags to the stage while the orchestra and the men’s choir played a rousing tune. Then… 
Maybe We Just Don’t Get It! … or teaching old dogs new tricks by Graham Standish “Dad,… you just don’t get it!” How many times have I heard that refrain from one of my daughters? “Okay,… help me get it,” I reply. They just roll their eyes and mutter, “Never mind.” Not getting it is the… 
Summer Projects Use the summer to make improvements by Richard Hong We are almost at summer. Time to exhale, right? Relax – a little. But September is coming, and now is when we should start making the changes we want to have in place for the new program year. I don’t know where I…