Thom S. Rainer

Latest

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  Jun 26, 2014

  9 Rapid Changes in Church Worship Services

  If you were attending a church worship service in 1955 and then returned to the same church in 1975, the changes would be noticeable but not dramatic. Churches were slow to change over that 20-year period. If you, however, attended a church worship service in 2000 and then returned to that same church in 2010, there is a high likelihood you would see dramatic changes in just ten years.

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  Jun 24, 2014

  The Dangerous Third Year of Pastoral Tenure

  Pastors generally don't stay long at churches. The average tenure is between three and four years. But, as our research has shown consistently, longer tenure is needed for church health. Longer tenure does not guarantee church health, but a series of short-term pastorates is typically unhealthy.

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  Jun 20, 2014

  7 Ways to Hurt Your Pastor

  If you really want to hurt your pastor, then this blogpost is for you. This past week alone, I had conversations with dozens of pastors. These pastors love their churches and the members. They are really committed to their callings. But they are real people who can really be hurt.

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  Jun 3, 2014

  7 Habits of Outwardly Focused Churches

  It was not a dramatic moment in time. Instead it was subtle, almost too subtle to be noticed. It became evident first in mainline churches. But evangelical churches followed a few years later. The erosion was slow, but it became glaringly apparent after several years.

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  Jun 1, 2014

  The Most Common Factor in Declining Churches

  As God has allowed me to study congregations for more than 25 years, I began to see a common pattern in churches that had become outwardly focused. You read some of the practical steps these churches have taken in the earlier post.

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  May 27, 2014

  5 Fascinating Facts about Single Parent Families for Church Leaders

  Today, I want to focus on one large slice of the demographic pie in America—households headed by a single parent. That world is growing and shifting so quickly it is almost breathtaking. For now, I offer five factoids about these families. Consider the implications for churches as we attempt to minister and reach these persons.

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  May 21, 2014

  5 Implications for Churches as the Boomers Retire

  The implications for churches are staggering. This generation is not of the mindset of previous aging generations. According to a Pew Research study, the typical Boomer does not believe old age begins until age 72. And the typical Boomer feels nine years younger than his or her chronological age. So what are some of the implications for churches?

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  May 17, 2014

  Millennials and the Demise of Print: Five Implications for Churches

  "Media consumers in the 0s, 10s, 20s, and 30s have no such print alliances. To them, the idea of printing on a dead tree and then trucking it to houses and newsstands seems ludicrous, old-fashioned, inconvenient, and wasteful. To these folks, paper-based publications are a pain to carry and search, easy to misplace, and hard to share, and the information in them is outdated the moment it appears. For those who weren't raised on paper, digital is superior in almost every way."

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  May 2, 2014

  Sex, Millennials, and the Church: 5 Implications

  As a Boomer, I thought I was part of the generation that ushered in the sexual revolution. But I had no idea that views on sexuality would change so dramatically with the generation of my three sons. The implications for local congregations are staggering. Allow me at this juncture to offer five of those implications. I will expand on them later.

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  Apr 26, 2014

  A Letter I Gave to Couples Who Wanted Me to Perform Their Wedding Ceremony

  When I was a pastor, I had many couples asked me to perform their wedding ceremonies. In fact, one year I officiated at 40 weddings. In case you are wondering, I was really stupid to accept so many invitations. I am pretty conservative about doing weddings. I see the role of the Christian minister to be narrowly defined regarding when he says "yes" to such opportunities. As a result, I often found myself in some awkward positions when I had to decline to perform the ceremony.