Pastors and church leaders are constantly faced with strategic questions. How much staff does the church need? How many workers are needed in the nursery this month? When is the right time to start a second worship service? How many people should we train for evangelism this year? How does seating and parking impact worship attendance? When church leaders have questions about planning, running, or growing their churches, they need answers fast!What Every Pastor Should Know...

Perfect book for evangelism-minded churches and small groups. Details nine church-centered principles for reaching others for Christ through networks of family and friends.

Why, when, and how to start a new church service, encourage attendance, evaluate the service, and more.

Wise insight on building a church, growing a church, and keeping costs low. For pastors, leaders, and building committees.

Most church leaders are passionate about their calling to “go and make disciples.” However, despite their most creative thinking, diligent efforts and rigorous assessments, year after year they arrive at the end of a ministry season with no way of knowing for sure whether they have succeeded or failed in their calling. “I want to serve God,” the refrain goes, “and on most days, I believe I’m doing what I’m called to do. But what if my approach is off-track? What if the work we’re doing as ...

Over the past fifteen years, small groups have become a vital way to build community in large churches. Nowhere has this been more apparent than at Saddleback Church. Now Steve Gladen, pastor of small groups at Saddleback, shares the secrets of that ministry's incredible success in creating small groups with purpose.This practical book walks church leaders through the questions they need to answer to develop their own intentional small group strategy. Built around the most commonly...

Youth ministry veteran and bestselling author, Duffy Robbins, offers an updated and revised edition of his book about the important, behind-the-scenes mechaincs of youth ministry. The tasks of budgeting, decision-making, time management, team ministry, staff relationships, conflict resolution, working with parents, and a range of other issues, are the things that keep a ministry together and functioning well. Nobody gets into youth ministry because they want to think about these things; bu...

First published in 1999, Advanced Strategic Planning explains why planning is so important to carrying out the church's mission. Now in its third edition, this classic resource offers•a nine-step strategic thinking and acting model•useful ideas for developing a ministry strategy•diagrams to help illustrate concepts•a new section on spiritual formationThe methods in this book are proven to work, having already helped many churches articulate the...

All churches like to think that theirs is the friendliest in town. But do visitors see it that way? Church consultant Gary McIntosh invites readers to take a look at their church through the eyes of visitors and potential visitors. His starting point, grounded in an understanding of God as a "welcomer," is that churches should see those who enter their doors as not merely visitors, but as guests, and themselves as gracious hosts. This practical book offers sound advice on assessing and imp...

Like nothing else, small groups have the power to change lives. They are the ideal route to discipleship—a place where the rubber of biblical truth meets the road of human relationships. However, church leaders often feel at a loss when it comes to assessing the strengths and weaknesses of group life in a church, and they struggle with understanding and solving the root causes of problems. Group Life resources provide in ebook format the practical tools and training resources needed to dev...

Brandon O'Brien helps pastors and church leaders understand that a smaller church is sometimes better than a big one. He demonstrates the strengths of small congregations, including that today's church "shoppers" want services that are local, personal, and intimate. Also, small churches provide space to nurture close relationships across age and lifestyle barriers, and they facilitate a higher level of commitment from laypeople. And small church budgets are often more effective because of ...

Like nothing else, small groups have the power to change lives. They are the ideal route to discipleship—a place where the rubber of biblical truth meets the road of human relationships. However, church leaders often feel at a loss when it comes to assessing the strengths and weaknesses of group life in a church, and they struggle with understanding and solving the root causes of problems. Group Life resources provide, in ebook format, the practical tools and training resources needed to d...