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How to Start a Small Groups Ministry
Events, trips and even outreach opportunities will attract teens to your ministry. But, they’ll stay and come back only if they form authentic and real relationships. That will happen if you have a Read more →
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How to Keep Momentum Going
Summer often means vacation time and travel for many church members. It also means lower attendance and participation numbers in many churches.
While you’ll likely experience some summer lull, you can help minimize this by utilizing one or more of...
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6 Signs Your Church Is Healthy!
Jesus is into results. I know I’m going to lose a lot of readers at those four little words. But I really believe it’s true. Read the scriptures and Jesus actually has a plan that He’s working to make everything new and fix what we broke. Both Jesus...
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How to Keep a Leader on Your Team
One of the biggest challenges for any organization is to attract and retain leaders.
I previously posted reasons leaders tend to leave an organization. (Read that post Read more →- Published on
Two Crucial Steps to Take When Making Difficult Decisions
Leadership is not easy—if it was then anyone could do it.
The one thing I really wrestled with early in my leadership was NOT identifying problems (anyone can do that…just look at social media)! It was actually making the really difficult decision...
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When Your Top Candidate Has Bad References
You’ve found a great candidate for your church staff. Your team loves them, your church loves them and you can’t wa...
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How Your Website Is Sabotaging Church Growth
As we’ve stated countless times here at ThomRainer.com, your church’s website is the front door to your church. I’ve written about why your website needs to be guest friendly, but I haven’t written much about how it should interface with your members...
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6 Strange Habits of the Most Successful Leaders
Would you consider yourself a great leader? You might think you are a good leader, but great, that’s a different question, right?
Great leaders are brave and willing to take risks. They are intelligent and constantly learning. They are a different...
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5 Steps to a Smooth Job Transition
You've been hired by a church; now what? Integration onto a new team and into a new city can be daunting. If a ministry transition goes poorly, you’re in for a rough ride that could lead to a negative outcome for you and the church. However, if you t...
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7 Benefits of Being an Introvert in Ministry
I remember several years ago reading an article that suggested the majority of senior leaders think extroversion is necessary to be effective as a senior leader. Obviously—and hopeful I a...
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3 Keys for Leading a Multi-Generational Staff
Tania Lennon of The Hay Group, an international corporate leadership development consulting company, rec...
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Re-examine Your Work Ethic in 2017
In my study of some of the greatest leaders in the world, hard work was the second-most common trait of people who reach the top of their professions. Hard work is one of my favorite subjects and a passion of mine. Hard work is something anyone can d...
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10 Church Trends We'll See in the New Year
For those who read my blog regularly, you know I do a “trends post” every year early in January. This next statement sounds totally immodest, but I’m pretty good at predictive trends.
Now let me tell you the whole truth.
I’m pretty good at thes...
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5 Surprising Consequences of Making a Bad Hire
In our work here at Vanderbloemen, we've had churches approach us for help after they unknowingly made a bad hire. We've seen how a new hire can either have a positive or negative impact on the team, the church and the path toward which the church is...
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A 5-Step Method for Delivering a Talk Without Using Notes
When I was just starting to speak publicly, I was always amazed by communicators who could speak without using notes.
I wanted to be able to do that, but I had no idea how.
I realized communicators who spoke without notes were almost always mor...