Church uses for Google+
Wesleyan Life
July has been all a twitter (pun intended) over a new social media platform launched by Google called Google+. Google launched the beta version this month for individuals and plans to open it up for non-profits and businesses this year. Reviews have ranged from excitement over the simplicity and lack of Farmville to disappointment over just another social media site. Still in its testing phase, Google+ has potential for churches, specifically individual ministries, pastors, and those in leadership. Here are some thoughts on how churches can utilize Google+.More

How organizational personality enhances or hinders ministry efforts
Church Executive Magazine
Your ministry has a distinct organizational personality; in fact, every ministry does. However, many church executives remain largely unaware of organizational personality, and how it helps or hinders ministry efforts. Within any church, a unique mix of people rise to positions of influence. These influencers define your organization’s personality. More

Church services separated by age 'unbiblical,' say former youth pastors
The Christian Post
A group of pastors and former youth ministry leaders suggest that today’s youth ministries should be disbanded, calling the common practice of separating congregations by age for worship and Bible study "unbiblical." The church leaders state their case in the documentary film, “Divided: Is Age-Segregated Ministry Multiplying or Dividing the Church?”More

Worshipers' values make a difference in mainline Protestant giving
Presbyterian Church USA
Despite decades of membership decline, mainline Protestant denominations remain a major presence in the American religious landscape. Three mainline denominations (United Methodist, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)) rank in the top ten largest denominations. Mainline denominations account for one-fourth of the top twenty-five denominations. In addition to the three named above, other large groups include the American Baptist Churches, the Episcopal Church, and the United Church of Christ. More

20 ways to leave...your church
Church Central
Worship folks are leaving churches (pastors too, for that matter) in record numbers and it can be painful stuff. After talking with dozens of pastors and church musicians, here is a distillation of what they had to offer from their own experiences. More

Online fixes for free
Ministry Today Magazine
The hour is late, the room is warm and the discussion is sober. Line by line your church budget committee is going back through the revenue and expense list, searching for ways to cut costs with minimal pain. Despite the convincing presentation made last week by your communications committee, funds for an improved website are axed. On Sunday, the published budget elicits an audible groan from the more Web-savvy members of the congregation. If that groan sounded familiar to you, take note: Most of the improvements you need to make can be done without costing your church a dime. More

Risky business: 6 hiring mistakes to avoid
ChurchLeaders.com
Everyone makes mistakes in hiring from time to time. Unfortunately, they are costly mistakes. I read a study last week that stated that one bad hire and termination of a $100,000 salaried employee will cost a company on average $1.5 million dollars. Hiring is serious, and it’s risky.More

Create a climate for starting a new group
LifeWay
VBS may well be a high point of the summer in your church's mission to reach children for Christ and introduce them to the gospel. Churches dramatically transforms normal classrooms for one week out of the year, transporting young learners to far-away places, all to create a climate for learning and engagement. Why do VBS volunteers go to so much trouble to create this kind of climate? Because climate counts! Climate draws children into a life-changing week of Bible study. More

Ministry gives more than food
Ashville Citizen Times
Gene Dickinson, founder of Through the Cross ministry, knows firsthand the hardship and rejection so often faced by the homeless. "Before I had thought Christians had to look and act a certain way. But, that’s not what it’s all about," Dickinson said. "In 2002 I rededicated my life to Jesus. Seven years ago, I heard about Christian Biker Outreach feeding the homeless and started to help." Christian Biker Outreach is a 501(c) nonprofit that tries to mentor Christians and share Christ’s love by meeting needs of the homeless in Asheville and motorcyclists in western North Carolina through providing meals or buying car parts.More

Techy tools for youth workers
Youth Worker
Everything is changing. We get it. Yet, as the culture, students and ministry all change, the church duringi the past 10 to 20 years has been satisfied with playing catch-up instead of jumping out in front and riding the wave of change. Youth workers are more apt to do just that. Smartphones aren't new. Tablets have become a part of modern tech vernacular as have apps, widgets and more apps. We've established and execute somewhat of a pocket ministry, it's always with us and it's hard to turn off.More

Simple tips to responding to embezzlement
ChurchSafety.com
One of the biggest challenges of embezzlement in a church setting is determining how to respond when theft is discovered. Here are six steps that may help you navigate the disturbing discovery that your church has been embezzled.More

Disclosing confidential information
ChurchLawAndTax.com
Youth pastors can be liable for disclosing communications shared with them in confidence to others without the permission of the counselee. This article addresses liability associated with the unauthorized disclosure of confidential information.More

Deaf Baptists embrace unreached deaf peoples
Baptist Press
The Deaf should be in the multitude when, as the Book of Revelation depicts it, every language, people, tribe and nation will worship the Lamb around the throne, says Aric Randolph of New Life Deaf Fellowship in Fort Worth, Texas. But, the Deaf pastor asks, "How will the Deaf be there if they don't know Jesus?”More

Layman's vision enables church to provide ministerial internship
Associated Baptist Press
Twenty-five years ago, Frank Phillips felt God burdened his heart with desire to make it a little easier for people who feel a call to ministry to see it become reality. About five years ago, Phillips believed the nest egg he had saved all those years finally had grown to sufficient size, and he told Pastor Jake Porter about his dream. God already had prepared Porter for just such an eventuality. “It truly was a God thing the way this came together,” he said. More