How do you respond to all the needs that are arising in the mists of the chaos? This blog give you a few thoughts that I trust will help and encourage you in the days ahead.

Community connection in a crisis is crucial, especially for communities of faith. Most, if not all Canadian churches, will be finding ways to host online services, immediately. Never before has connection been so available to so many. How providential. Here is one way to branch out connection for everyone in your congregation.

As pastors, if we can mobilize our people and not allow them to be frozen by fear. We could come out the other side (and there is going to be another side) stronger and more effective than ever.

Here are 5 ways you can impact your community during the COVID-19 crisis.

We are faced with a challenge at the moment with the COVID-19 virus for sure. You cannot meet and probably should not meet in person. But the fact is we are facing a real opportunity to leverage tools that maybe we have hardly considered to this point. So while you cannot plan a event as normal, your church continues on. We have always been more than a gathering. Here are 3 practical tools you can use to keep the ministry thriving as well as ever during this pandemic and social distancing.

And just like that, your weekly gathering has been canceled by the government. People in your church and community are practicing “social distancing” and some are in self-isolation, no longer to connect with anyone. And no matter what your church size or if you’re located in a rural or urban setting, you’re weekly physical gathering is no more.

What is church going to look like now that you can’t gather weekly? Don’t worry, we've got you covered. Remember, your main mission as a church is to “make disciples who make disciples” so that can be done in many different ways. Let’s talk practical tips to do church when you can’t have your physical weekly gathering.

Everything that happens in a church doesn’t need to be on a Board agenda. Reserve the Board agenda for policy, purpose, vision and long-term issues and address the preferential ones with the interested parties.

Here are five principles to use when you bring appropriate items to the Board.

Think about this …. it’s your first time ever in a meeting.  There are 30 people there and you know that they know you’re new.  What do I do now?  When do I sit?  When do I stand?  Do I kneel?  Am I allowed to be here?  What happens when they find out I’m not one of them?  All of these things are going through a newcomers mind when they come to your church.  Why not orient them to what is about to happen?  

Mediocre churches are made up of disengaged disciples. Energy, excellence and enthusiasm are scarce in a church made up of people who can’t remember the last time they engaged wholeheartedly.

John Maxwell teaches on “The Law of the Lid” in which he reminds leaders that every leader is the lid to their organization.  No matter how much we wish it, the team will never exceed the capabilities and qualities of the leader.  This means that when you see growth come to a stall, you as the leader, are probably part of the issue. However, this doesn’t mean its hopeless.  

Are you interested in growing as a leader, or just in getting ahead? In my job as a leadership coach, I see lots of people who want to advance. But my work is much easier--and the odds of moving ahead are much better--when the person I'm coaching wants to be coached and is focused on their own growth instead of an outcome they can't fully control. Here are seven opportunities to grow as a leader, the more closely you follow them, the better your chances of success.

Put God where He should be - in your dream for the future. Here are three ways you can do that.  

Heading into the new year, this is a great time to think through what you’ll be preaching on for the next 12 months.  

You can feel it in the air, it’s a lack of momentum. It’s hard to put your finger on why it just feels like your church is “same ol’, same ol” and, as the leader, you’re acutely aware of it. This is normal. The church will experience lulls throughout the year. Here are 5 ways to jump-start momentum in your church.