Last week we shared the news that Bob Buford had died and now is safe in the arms of Jesus. That content and the accompanying blog article were written by Dr….
by Warren Bird, Ph.D. Bob Buford, age 78, died April 18, 2018 after a lengthy illness near his home in Dallas, Texas. Through philanthropy and personal engagement, Buford significantly contributed to…
In this episode of The Stir, Greg Ligon, one of the pioneers of multisite, explains the first of the movemental shifts happening across the field. He shares some of the…
Phil Cooke, co-author of “The Way Back: How Christians Blew Our Credibility and How We Get It Back”, joins Nils, Nick and Chad in a conversation about his newly launched…
We have 168 hours each week with an average of one hour spent at a church service on Sunday, but how do we seize the remaining 167 hours for our…
Who mentored you or believed in you before you believed in yourself? That person is your Hero Maker! If you pick a recent day from your calendar, and review the…
Host Dave Travis interviews Brent Dolfo in this 16 minute show about church leadership development. Notes from this interview: It’s time to rethink the process in churches. How Leadership Development…
Our 2018 Survey of Large Church Salary, Staffing and Benefits is now LIVE and ready for participants! Widely known as our “salary survey,” this research identifies benchmarks, ratios and salary…
D.J. Soto, founder and pastor of Virtual Reality Church, shares with us his story on how the first VR Church came to life. Nils Smith and Nick Runyon also discuss…
“It isn’t about the leader. It never was about the leader. It will never be about the leader. It will always and only be about Jesus and his people.” –…
The STIR- is the new podcast from Dave Travis of Leadership Network. What is the latest in Leadership Development in large churches? This edition focuses on Church Leadership Development. The…
When church leaders ask questions like this… How much should we keep in cash reserves? How much debt is safe? What financial measures should our church’s leadership monitor each month?…
Here’s something exciting to start off the year! Nils Smith and Nick Runyon break the biggest news on Social Media Church to date and shares with us their social media…
Your tax-deductible donations will support the general work of Leadership Network. Our clients pay some of the costs through their program fees. All of our programs have a fee attached…
“I can’t wait until we are in our own building.” Not so fast. This statement is heard a lot among church planters and campus pastors who are currently in portable…
In our continuing list of nuggets uncovered in our Leadership Network/Portable Church Industries upcoming report, this insight sounds obvious. Recall first that the churches in Leadership Network’s sample universe tend…
As we near the end of 2017, givers will once again be looking for ways to be generous while maximizing their tax benefits associated with charitable giving. ECFA’s blog “7…
Pastoral training models are constantly evolving. In our continuing series (link to the previous here, here, and here) of nuggets discovered in our soon-to-be released report from Leadership Network/Portable Church…
Millennials are leaving the church in droves. Can evangelical Christianity survive without them? Through a unique and brilliant synthesis of theology and sociology, David John Seel argues that millennials can…
Recently, I sat down with Alan Briggs, author of Everyone’s a Genius: Unleashing Creativity for the Sake of the World, a recent release through Leadership Network’s NEXT series. Alan, through…
By Chris Willard with Warren Bird I call it “The Sermon on the Amount.” Everybody knows it’s coming: ”Turn in your Bibles to Malachi.” Veteran Christians can predict that it’s…
How much cash should our church have set aside in reserve? If you’ve ever been guilty of asking this question (and you should be!), you’ll love this short blog from…
Multisite churches rate themselves 82% more likely to be multipliers than a church that has never launched a new campus or site. We continue to unpack some of our findings…
What does it take to develop generous givers in your church, and address people’s hearts more than their wallets? Churches need to shift the conversation from obligatory tithing and meeting…
by Jenni Keller See below for the most important webinar you’ll attend this year. If you could identify every single person in your community who would respond favorably to an…
See below for the most important webinar you’ll attend this year. Nehemiah asked his brother for two key data points after his brother returned from Jerusalem (Neh.1:2): “Tell me about…
Being a couple in ministry is a daunting and difficult task. Many couples find that ministry is all-encompassing, time with your spouse is hard to prioritize, the pressure is overwhelming…
Here’s a collection of interesting, thought-provoking articles from around the web from recent weeks. For more links, check out our Flipboard magazines: Leadership Network Today, Leadership Network Deep Trends, and Ideas…
Yes it does, but not exactly how you might guess. The reality is that most Protestant churches in North America are smaller, as the visuals illustrate below. Further, about 80% are…
Which pastors are more likely to have visions for planting new churches or new sites? In an upcoming major research report from Leadership Network and Portable Church Industries, we found…
83% of Pastors Under Age 40 “Have a Future Vision to Plant/Launch” a New Church or New Site In an upcoming major report that Leadership Network and Portable Church…
It could take years of conversations, lots of patience and hard work for married couples to move from financial “roommates” to soulmates who are pursuing biblical stewardship together—but it’s worth…
Who are the youngest leaders of large-attendance churches across North America? One fascinating discovery from Leadership Network’s extensive research database is that they’re from all over! The map above…
Are any of these questions your questions? Why doesn’t our church seem as “hot” as we used to be? What has always been successful for us doesn’t seem to work…
One of the common challenges we hear pastors across North America struggle with is, “How do I effectively identify, develop and retain key volunteer leaders for ministry both inside and…
What does it take to be a “Digital Missionary”? Well at least that’s what ‘That Christian Vlogger’, Justin Khoe calls himself. When talking about missions, we usually think of spreading…
Here’s a collection of interesting, thought-provoking articles from around the web from recent weeks. For more links, check out our Flipboard magazines: Leadership Network Today, Leadership Network Deep Trends, and Ideas…
Good news – You’re a Genius! We recently told you about Everyone’s A Genius: Unleashing Creativity For The Sake Of The World, the latest release from author and pastor, Alan Briggs….
It all started on September 9, 2009. The concept was simple. (And it contained A LOT of nines!) 9 minutes 99 speakers And it started at 9:09 on 09/09/09. It…
By Chris Willard with Warren Bird You never know what happens with couples on those car rides home after a church pastor or other leader has just presented their latest…
In this day and age where time is the most valuable commodity, more and more people are starting to appreciate podcasts. Today, Nils and Jay Kranda tell us how podcasts…
How many of these questions are your church’s senior leadership team asking…… How will you identify and develop internal leaders for your next church plant? Will going multisite exhaust your…
It may be one of the most awkward conversations a couple can have. One or both has been inspired by their church leader’s latest message on financial giving, and they…
We get a lot of great questions (one way to ask us is through our new Implementation Lab), and here’s a great one I recently received: “Is there a recommended…
Here’s a collection of interesting, thought-provoking articles from around the web from recent weeks. For more links, check out our Flipboard magazines: Leadership Network Today, Leadership Network Deep Trends, and Ideas…
Many people in our churches are heading toward burnout in the areas they serve, but they still feel like no one has invited them to do anything challenging, exciting, or creative for…
To view the current newsletter in a rich graphic format, click here. Advance – August 29, 2017 In this Issue… The 400 Gathering: A Once-In-A-Lifetime Experience in Silicon Valley Fresh…
Imagine you’re the leader of a church with a healthy contingent of high-capacity givers, and some of those givers are blessing your church with generous financial contributions. There’s a…