MissionalCOG Blog Changes

Guys and Gals,
A lot of things are happening in my world at the moment.  We’ve recently started a third service.  We are about to launch a second campus in Islamorada/Plantation Key.  I have about 6 months left in my coaching network.  I’m starting a Pastoral Covenant Group.  In December, we’re starting recording for Anthems for [...]

Church Metrics

LifeChurch.tv is set to release a Church Metrics web application to track attendance, giving, baptisms, etc… across a single or multiple campuses.  It is ad free and totally free.
LifeChurch.tv has led the way in making high-quality resources available to the Church for free with no obligations.  What this has done has raised the quality of [...]

My Interview with Troy Gramling on the Potential Podcast

Back in February, I was on the Potential Podcast (audio here) with Troy Gramling, Raul Palacios, and Heredes Ribeiro of Flamingo Road Church.  Troy pastors one of the fastest growing and most innovative churches in America and has a really strong leadership podcast.  They have a great team there.
In the podcast, we discuss a little [...]

The Two Most Critical Attributes of a Church Planter

Aside from calling and spiritual considerations, what are the most critical attributes of a church planter?
According to Nelson Searcy, the two most critical determinations the Journey Church makes when deciding whether or not to support a church planter is the planter’s ability to 1. raise funds and 2. to recruit a worship leader.
What are the [...]

Growth Plateaus: Agree or Disagree?

Click the image below to enlarge the .jpg or download the Growth Plateaus PDF document.

What numerical barrier are you facing?
Do you think Bob Gilliam’s Growth Plateaus accurately depicts where you are?
What next steps are you working on to overcome organizational barriers that inhibit growth?
Do you generally agree or disagree with Gilliam’s Growth Plateaus model?

Lessons I’ve Learned From Starting Additional Services

Yesterday, we launched a 3-service schedule and had 526 people.  We launched a 2-service schedule September 16, 2007 and had 292 people.  Here are some things I’ve learned in the process:

Never add a service to an existing schedule.  Change the entire schedule or people won’t adopt the new schedule like you need them to do.
Get [...]

Farming Your Neighborhood

Kelly and I moved into our neighborhood just over two years ago.  It was a brand new community of about 80 homes.  We were the first to build and the first ones to move in.  Research shows that people are more prone to make a decision for Jesus Christ while they are in life transition [...]

Pastoral Dysfunction #1: The Too Serious Pastor

I’ve been out of pocket for a bit with no opportunity to kick out a new topic.
I spent the last three days in Fayetville, West Virginia with 15 pastors (who are now my friends) from Tennessee, West Virginia, and Florida and Milton Carter, our facilitator.  The setting was beautiful complete with mountains, valleys, the New [...]

A Few Book Reviews to Share

Here’s a little treat if you’d like to skim a few of the bulleted book reviews I’ve done.  That’s right.  I do all the hard work and you get the benefit.  Enjoy:

E-Myth Manager by Michael Gerber
Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath
The Reason for God by Tim Keller
How to Win Customers And Keep Them [...]

Friday: Around the COG blogosphere in 60 seconds

Hurricane Ike has me a little tied up with some other things. So, I’m not going to be able to knock out the full version of this weekly feature. In fact, I’m going to mix things up here with a little twist, COG Blog Excellence Awards.
So, without further delay, I present the [...]

Are You Blunting the Effectiveness of His Mission?

We can talk about being missional all day long.  We can actively live out the mission of Jesus in our daily lives.  And, we can see lives changed  But, if we fail to bring intentionality to the organizational side of ministry, our missionary influence will be blunted and our ministry will be unable to expand [...]