The site to frustrate, educate and motivate the church to communicate, with uncompromising clarity, the truth of Jesus Christ
Archive for the ‘First Impressions & Beyond’ Category
The Week After Easter
My fears were confirmed this week when I went to church. Just seven days ago, I was enthralled in the excitement of a spectacular Easter celebration service. The choir was lively, ...
He Is Risen, Now What?
With the Easter weekend behind us, many pastors will be taking today off (some for the whole week) as a well-deserved break from the intensity of all things Easter. In ...
Finding a Church
You can bet finding a church is no easy task, as the Indianapolis Star points out. And you better believe marketing has a lot to do with whether or not ...
How Does Your Church Rank?
As many as 100 incognito church reviewers will descend on London churches on April 24. It’s part of the “Mystery Worshipper” series by online magazine ShipofFools.com. Where would your church stand ...
Different… ahem… Strokes
Murray Qualitative Research (MQR), a marketing research and consulting service, has just released the results of a study that show how women and men respond differently, in terms of romance, ...
Being Present in Life’s Transitions
Funerals and weddings are the rare event when the unchurched soul will suddenly find themselves entering a church of their own free will. Some churches cater to that fact, swinging ...
We All Drink From the Same Cup?
For the past several years I’ve attended an Episcopalian church where communion is served from a single cup (actually two, one for each side of the congregation). This always prompts ...
Meet Matt: He Keeps Bringing Me Back
About every other week, for the past few months, I’ve been going to the same restaurant before heading to an evening class after work. The restaurant is one of those ...
Visiting a Mega-Church
One of the Twin Cities’ alternative weeklies went to church last week, offering an article exploring the mega-church after an election supposedly decided by moral values. The author visited Wooddale ...
An Oasis of Giving
In the world of retail marketing, the day after Thanksgiving is called “Black Friday.” Why? It begins the busiest, scariest, nastiest time of the year: the holiday season. In many ...
O Pastor, Where Art Thou?
Growing up all over the USA and being involved and committed to numerous churches, I have become increasingly aware of the benefit to having some sort of relationship or at ...
Sunday Morning Dress Code
The Ann Arbor News has a balanced article about the casual trend in church attire. The piece includes both the pragmatic and anti-legalism pro that God cares more about the ...
Church Shopping
Fall is back to school time, but it’s also back to church time, according to an article in The Christian Science Monitor, as more people tend to return to church ...
“Have a Nice Day” at a Church Near You
Churches should adopt the ‘meet and greet’ style hospitality of the commercial world to welcome new visitors, according to Rev. Alison Gilchrist, a Church of England priest and her book ...
God Can’t Come to the Phone Right Now
In 55% of Protestant churches a human does not answer the phone. In 19% of Protestant churches the phone goes unanswered, either by a person or a machine. Ouch. If someone calls ...
