While 2016 starts tomorrow, we want to thank you for a tremendous 2015. Here are the 10 posts you made the most popular here at Facts & Trends this year.
10. Is Your Church Super Bowl Party Illegal?
This post discussing the regulations for churches and Super Bowl parties may be relevant for your church again in a few weeks.
Thanks to some clarification from the NFL, most church Super Bowl events are OK. But there are some guidelines of which churches need to be aware.
9. 23 Ways to Ask Your Kid ‘How Was Your Day at School?’ Without Asking ‘How Was Your Day at School?’
If there were an award for longest title of the year, this post focusing on having gospel-centered conversations with your children would definitely win.
Asking different questions can also lead to a different result. It may take a little more work, but there are some questions that can help open conversations with your kids and draw out responses that are more than fine.
8. Leadership Challenges in Revitalization
Ed Stetzer’s column details his own difficult, but rewarding experience of leading a church through revitalization.
Leading a church in revitalization has taught me some invaluable lessons. While the process is often difficult and slow moving, if approached correctly it can reinvigorate and empower God’s people to produce lasting fruit.
7. Why Christians Should Celebrate Halloween
Evangelism professor George Robinson shares how the holiday can be a time of significant gospel outreach.
Think about it: Halloween is the only night of the year in our culture when lost people actually go door-to-door to saved people’s homes. What better opportunity to show Christian hospitality?
6. Who Owns a Pastor’s Sermon?
Copyright laws make this a much more difficult question to answer than many assume.
The best way to deal with the issue of sermon copyrights, Sommerville advises, is to address them ahead of time.
“This is not a problem that gets easier to solve if you ignore it,” he says. “The longer you wait, the more expensive it gets.”
5. 7 Encouraging Trends in Global Christianity
Instead of focusing merely on the negative news, there are numerous positive trends within Christianity, especially if you look beyond the borders of the U.S.
Published in the International Bulletin of Missionary Research, the findings of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary provide an optimistic picture of Christianity heading into the heart of the 21st century.
4. A Pastor’s Greatest Regret After a Lifetime of Ministry
Joe McKeever discusses the one thing he wishes he could change after 50 years in the ministry.
I loved my family dearly and I think they knew it. What they could never understand was that the demands on me were never-ending and that I had a hard time telling people “no.”
3. 3 Reasons People Leave Your Church
Erik Reed describes practical reasons people leave and solutions church leaders can take to solve the issue.
As a church who desires to reach people and make a difference, seeing new people not stick hurt. Our backdoor was massive. Plugging the drain was a big issue.
2. 6 Trends Redefining the American Church
The latest National Congregation Study gave a detailed look at how the U.S. church has changed since the first survey almost 20 years ago.
In 1998, most Americans didn’t use the Internet or have a cell phone. The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 were still three years away. Needless to say, the nation has changed significantly in the last few decades. And churches are no different.
1. 13 Things a Pastor Should Never Say to a Congregation
Joe McKeever returned to list the statements pastors should avoid saying.
In addition to the obvious no-no’s, such as profanity, heresy, racism, sexism, and the like, no pastor should ever be heard to utter any of the following from the pulpit.
What was your favorite post at Facts & Trends this year?
