How can a pastor in a rural community with a small congregation make a meaningful difference? You believe a church community is a good thing, but many people in your small town think churches are a waste of real estate and a tax burden. Tony Warriner shows how to see opportunities to make your church a light for the community and a champion of the gospel.

What you give your time to shows what you value. Worship and preaching occupy most of the time most of Sundays that Christians gather. What if an occasional Sunday throughout the year was used to lift the value of sharing the gospel in your community? All it takes is a little inspiration to create momentum.

How can a pastor lead change in a traditional church? Evangel Church was one of the most traditional churches in its District. Inward focused. Isolated from the local community. Twenty years later it is one of the most outbound, community-engaged churches in the District.

I hope to see a movement of churches in Canada across denominations go from plateaued and declining to thriving by reaching lost people in their locale. I pray for an enormous increase in Salvations across Canada with reports of life transformation by the Gospel. I long for churches that make disciples who make disciples who make disciples.

Your church website is the front door of your church. If anyone is thinking about checking out your church, they will go to the website first. Here are 5 things your church website needs now.

How do you reach mixed ages and demographics and teach all of the biblical truths and foundations of the faith? For the parents in your church, there is nothing more important than knowing their children understand the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ. Partnering with parents in their child's spiritual formation will lead to healthy families who are disciples of Christ and represent Jesus in your community.

If you desire to reach lost people, serve a community, and partner with a local church to make Kingdom impact, you don’t need to travel overseas to have a meaningful cross-cultural experience.

As the world begins to open back up, travel restrictions loosen, and mandates relax, the tendency is to want to get back to the way things were. For the church, this wouldn’t be the best idea.

Lego is one of the greatest toys ever, isn’t it? It even says ages 4-99 on the box. It spans ages, genders, languages, and is as creative as you want it to be. This is why a Family Lego Event is fantastic for any size church.

As a church, this challenge is a great opportunity to meet the needs of families in your community. In 2021, we started hosting ONE DAY FUN DAY events on PD Days. We’re a small church and have seen amazing growth within our events and some of that growth has transferred to our weekend gatherings.

We have found Bridge Events to be a great way to build better bridges for the people in our community. A Bridge Event is a community-focused activity designed to attract people who do not typically attend church.

We are called to spiritual maturity (Hebrews 5:14, Hebrews 6:1-2). There is an expectation that Christ-followers will start out as spiritual infants and mature over time. But a key element of maturity is not our age. There are many believers who are older in years but act very spiritually immaturely. This is because we have erroneously defined maturity as “tenure”. When really, spiritual maturity is about reproduction.

No matter what you’re preaching about, take 3 minutes and preach the gospel. Simply say, “You may be here and you’re not following Jesus in the way we’ve been talking about today. Let me tell you …” and then just go for it.

Ask a church member why they’re at the church. Ask any parent why they go to the church they go to. They will all have the same answer, “We have friends here.”

The town of Terrace Bay on the shore of Lake Superior in Ontario struggled — like many small towns — to maintain its economy and population through turbulent times. But there was hope for a bright future if the town could harness its potential and focus on adaptation. The town was revitalized, but the local Pentecostal church was still living in the past and dying in the present. Could a church live again?

The search committee says, “We want to have more influence in this community for the kingdom of God. Will you come and help us?” Who could resist responding to that kind of invitation?

In Canada, the largest demographic population is Millennials (ages 25-35) with young children. This is an incredible opportunity for the church to reach out to families with children. Whether you’re a large or small church, you can make connections and build bridges to families with children.

When do elected officials and leaders help a church reach out to its community? When you invite them to be front and centre for your initiative to spread kindness in your community. That becomes a win-win-win.