In serving God through mission, we in North America need to learn from our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world.

Hunting through trash for his lost sermon outline, a pastor is bombarded with coveting, unforgiveness, gossip and complaining. His solution? Maybe it's time to throw the congregation away. ...

"There are five essential questions of congregational life," said the Rev. Lloyd John Ogilvie at a conference I attended. "These five questions must be asked and answered sequentially. If you skip any of them, the best that your church will ever do is limp."

Question One, Goal One

The first question is: "What kind of people does God want us to produce in this body of believers?" Ultimately, this is ...

Your church takes on risk in the following categories when it offers counseling services:

Negligent Counseling (Malpractice)

"Malpractice" is generally defined as a failure to exercise an accepted degree of skill in the performance of professional duties that results in injury to another person. Although many courts have rejected these claims against pastors, some have found them guilty of malpractice ...

This agenda is a sample of a format to transact the monthly business of the church. There are explanatory notes in italics with each agenda item. They help clarify the reason for each item, for teaching purposes only.

Central Community Church
Board Meeting
Agenda
October 16, 2006
7:00 p.m.

The Case As church leaders worked to hammer out our first vision statement, one influential leader said, "I'm uncomfortable with this process. It seems like we're following secular business principles instead of being willing to follow the Spirit's leading. We're setting our agenda for the future rather than allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us. Surely God will accomplish what he wants if we simply ...

How do we find out why some visitors never return? Here are some situations that can place barriers before newcomers.

Large family networks. These networks have their own social gatherings in which outsiders aren't included. Such networks can be deadly to assimilating newcomers. Tactfully alert some in these families to the potential problems, challenging them to include outsiders in some of their ...

The conference speaker was clear. "There are five essential questions of congregational life that must be asked and answered sequentially," said Rev. Lloyd John Ogilvie. "If you skip any of them, the best that your church will ever do is limp."

With that opening line, I began to take notes. When I returned from that conference, however, I kept those questions to myself. They guided me personally, but ...

The IRS treats commuting expenses incurred by pastors traveling from their home to the church (and back again) as "personal" rather than "business" miles. It is very important for pastors to be familiar with this rule. The expenses associated with personal commuting can never be deducted as a business expense or reimbursed by the church.

On the other hand, if a trip is for business purposes, such as ...

Launching a ministry to children and adults with disabilities is a daunting assignment. Many churches are already spread thin on volunteers, space, and money—they can hardly imagine taking on another ministry. Other churches don't know where to start, how to find resources, or how to reach their community in this new way.

The following video is an excerpt from the Exceptional Teaching Online ...