Church Vitality:
Church Growth Articles:
- How Do Congregations Grow, a 6/2024 article from Convergence: Click here
- Does your church need a sabbatical? 3/2022 PRC webinar, Explore how you can use the sabbatical concept through the next year as a way to build momentum for what’s next!: Click here
- Growth and Renewal resources from PRC: Click here
- The Reclaimed Leader podcast with Jason Tucker & Jesse Skiffington: Click here
- The Unstuck Church Report on church staffing trends, 5/2024: Click here
- How Does Church Photography Help You Reach People? Photography could be the breakthrough your church needs to reach more people. A Church Marketing University 2024 article: Click here
- 10 Ways to Grow Your Church Through Engagement, 7/2023 article by Carey Nieuwhof: Click here
- What Is Your Why, 4/2023 article by Debi Nixon of The Resurrection Church: Click here
- Planning Center software – a set of software tools to help you organize information, coordinate events, communicate with your team, and connect with your congregation.$: Click here
- Manual for Developing the Seven Marks of Congregational Vitality from the PC(USA): Click here
- Fresh Expressions, a website helping pastors and leaders equip their church to reach more people for Christ: Click here
- Hemorrhaging Faith: Why and When Young Canadian Adults are Leaving, Staying, and Returning to the Church, a Family Faith Formation Research Project: Click here
- Starting Small Groups… Connection before Content, an 8/2023 blog article from Sharechurch: Click here
- 7 Ways To Build Teams of Great Leaders(when you feel like your team is lacking), 6/2021 (Carey Nieuwhof article): Click here
- The ‘Great Realignment’: Pastors come and go, 6/22/2022 PC(USA) article with stories of several congregations and church leaders who have successfully navigated transitions and offers guidance on how to survive and even flourish in these trying times: Click here
- 8 Steps 4 Change: Steps Required to Transition a Church, Bob Whitesel (article): Click here
Church Growth Webinars:
- Leading Faithful Innovation, a free PRC on demand webinar, 2/2024: Click here
- Using the assets we have: Innovation in ministry, A 3/2023 Outlook on-demand webinar: Click here
- Church Growth Barriers: How to Break Through the 4 Most Common Plateaus, 5/2023 webinar from the Unstuck Group: Click here, and the workbook: Click here
- Discipleship Pathways: Common obstacles of faith formation, a recorded PRC webinar: Click here
- Fun and Meaningful Ideas to Reinvigorate Your Community Outreach, 5/2022 PRC webinar: Click here
- Thriving in a Decade of Accelerating Change, 6/2022 PRC webinar: Click here
- Strategic Ambiguity: 5 things every church can do in times of uncertainty to move towards health, 5/2022 PRC webinar: Click here
- How To Generate Bye-in for Revitalization , Tom Cheyney video: Click here
Consulting Groups:
- AE Sloan Leadership: Click here
- Convergence Group, strategic planning, resources, online learning: Click here
- Cyclical – Founded by Presbyterians, it is an organization working to pave the way for churches to innovate in new ways, and to see what is possible for the future: Click here
- Project Regeneration from the Presbyterian Foundation walks alongside congregations as they work to discern their path into the future, free: Click here
- Pneumatix – provides adaptive change leadership skills for congregational transformation: Click here
- Center For Healthy Churches: Click here
- The Unstuck Group – helps equip churches to grow their impact and effectiveness $: Click here
- Holy Cow Consulting & Data: Click here
- The Tech Chaplaincy Institute – teaches mission driven organizations how to get the most out of their technology $: Click here
- Broken Sheep – helping churches reach the lost in their community, welcome them into the church and introducing them into a life long relationship with Christ: Click here
- CCG (Congregational Consulting Group): Click here
- Church Marketing University: Click here
Hospitality/Welcoming Visitors:
- Open Network videos: 3 Steps for Engaging First Time Visitors, Create a welcoming Environments For New Guests, and Practical Strategies For Recruiting New Volunteers: Click here
- Seven Reasons Your Guests Aren’t Returning, a ShareChurch article: Click here
- Three Characteristics of Excellent Follow-up, a ShareChurch article: Click here
- Getting First Time Visitors to Come Back, a 10 minute video from Church Marketing University with some great ideas to try: Click here
- Three Characteristics of Excellent Follow-Up (with visitors), a blog article from ShareChurch (UMC) 11/2023: Click here
- Operations page (think hospitality & events) of Open Network church: Click here
- First Impressions Conference Magazine, Fall 2023, Hospitality: Click here
- Plan a visit blueprint from Text At Church: Click here
- Secret Shopper Form – Hand this to someone so they can give unfiltered feedback on your church experience: Click here
- A Fresh Start at Strengthening Relationships in Your Church, 6/2021 PRC webinar on getting to know people who are new to your congregation and reaching out to include people on the “fringes” of congregational life: Click here
- The Senior Pastor’s Guide to Reaching More People – Lots of ideas and best practices on how to reach new people PDF from Church Juice: Click here
Presbytery of Arkansas Recorded Theological Discussions:
- Theological Discussion with Tod Bolsinger from the 6/2022 meeting of the Presbytery of Arkansas: Click here
- Adaptive Change, Theological Discussion with Deborah Wright and the 148th Meeting of the Presbytery of Arkansas, 10/2021: Click here
- Theological Discussion with Jason Tucker from the 6/2021 meeting of the Presbytery of Arkansas: Click here
Reaching Millennials/Gen Z:
- Strategies for Reaching and Developing Gen Z, an on-demand webinar from PRC: Click here
- 5 Things You Need to Know About Gen Z in 2024, a 9/2024 Barna article: Click here
- Let Me Introduce You to Gen Z, a quicksheet from the PC(USA): Click here
- Strategies for Reaching and Developing Gen Z, a PRC recorded webinar from May, 2024: Click here
- Not Done Yet with Beth Seversen, a webinar from Therefore Go Ministries – A conversation focused on best practices for the church as we seek to connect with emerging adults.: Click here
- Returning to ritual: Gen Z and religion, 2/2024 Outlook article: Click here
- A Sneak Peek into 5 Characteristics of Gen Z Church, Carey Nieuwhof 3/2023 article: Click here
- Who Teens Really Listen To, Why Adults Fail to Connect with Gen Z, and Creating a Better Soundtrack for the Next Generation, 11/2022 Carey Nieuwhof podcast: Click here
- Renegotiating Faith: The Delay in Young Adult Identity Formation and What it Means for the Church in Canada, a Family Faith Formation Research Report: Click here
- 3 Ideas For Increasing Your Influence With Gen Z, 5/2022 article from Carey Nieuwhof: Click here
- What does the next generation actually want from your church? 8/2021 (Carey Nieuwhof podcast episode): Click here
- Black Millennials and the Church forum, 9/9 at 7:00pm, intergenerational: Click here
- Articles on Millennials from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership: Click here
- Articles on Reaching Younger People from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership: Click here
- 5 Surprising Characteristics of Churches That Are Actually Reaching The Next Generation, a Carey Nieuwhof article: Click here
- What Millennials Want When They Visit A Church, 3/2015 (a Barna Group article): Click here
- 5 Things Millennials Are Looking For in A Church, a Carey Nieuwhof article: Click here
- Reaching Millennials: Proven Methods for Engaging a Younger Generation by David Stark, Bethany House 2016
Resource Pages:
- The Colossian Forum: Lead Through Conflict, free and $: Click here
- Church Answers, Tom Rainer resource page: Click here
- Carey Nieuwhof resources on Leadership, (articles, podcast, & more) free & $: Click here
- Lewis Center for Church Leadership (articles & podcasts): Click here
- Fresh Expressions with Michael Adam Beck, resourcing church leaders to serve the present age (UMC): Click here
Volunteers:
- Getting and Keeping Talented, Engaged Volunteers, 10/2021 PRC webinar: Click here
- Getting Volunteers To Say Yes, a 1/2024 article by Susan Beaumont of The Congregational Consulting Group: Click here
- Is Your Volunteer Recruitment Working, a ShareChurch article: Click here
- Five Ways To Show Volunteers Appreciation, a ShareChurch article: Click here
- 3 Things Every Volunteer Needs to Know, a 3/2023 Church Juice article: Click here
Suggested Resources:
- Building Up A New World: Congregational Organizing for Transformative Impact, edited by Ann Dunlap & Vahisha Hasan, 2023 The Pilgrim Press – Click here to preview
- Developing the 7 Marks of Congregational Vitality, an online booklet from the PC(USA): Click here
- Neighborhood Church: Transforming Your Congregation into a Powerhouse for Mission by Krin Van Tatenhove & Rob Mueller, 2019 – and it’s study guide: Click here
- Sailboat Church: Helping Your Church Rethink Its Mission and Practice by Joan S. Gray, 2014
- Part-Time Is Plenty: Thriving without Full-Time Clergy by G. Jeffrey MacDonald, 2020
- The Art of Hospitality: A Practical Guide for a Ministry of Radical Welcome by Yvonne Gentle, Abingdon 2020
- Flow; Growing a Spiritual Yoga Practice in Church by Susan Springer, a 3/2023 review: Click here
- The Adept Church: Navigating Between a Rock and a Hard Place by J. Douglas Powe, Jr., 5-week study, 2020 Abingdon $
- What Next? A creative tool from the PC(USA) to help ministries and communities of faith re-imagine our programs and life together. This tool will help you identify and discern creative new approaches, new ministries and new ways of being the big C church in a post-pandemic age.:
- CULTURAL COMPETENCY: Partnering with your neighbors in your Ministry Expedition (The Greatest Expedition), by Paul Nixon, 2021 $14.95
- Our Connectional Church: The Hopeful Future of the PC(USA) by Gradye Parsons, Westminster John Knox Press 2018, $15
- Part-Time is Plenty: Thriving without Full-Time Clergy, 4/2020 by G. Jeffrey MacDonald, recommended by Rev. Deborah Wright of Pneumatrix. $19
- Six Questions About the Future of the Hybrid Church Experience, State of the Digital Church Series from Barna, $18
- We Aren’t Broke: Uncovering Hidden Resources for Mission and Ministry by Mark Elsdon, 2021
- 100 Days to a Healthier Church/Worksheets, Karl Vaters, free downloads: Click here
- The Seven Pillars of Church Revitalization & Renewal by Tom Cheyney (2016, $12.99)
- From Embers to a Flame: How God Can Revitalize Your Church by Harry L. Reeder III (2008, $12.99)