20 Truths From ‘Attentive Church Leadership’ “A frog waits for food to come to him, but lizards seek out their food. Churches today need to be more like lizards and less like frogs. Now the call is to go where people live, work, and play with the Good News of Jesus.” Yet many churches still cling to the mindset, "What can we do to induce more people to come to us?" Jesus did't sit on his keister and wait for people to come to him. Like the good shepherd of the parable, he went in search of the lost sheep. From Idea to Implementation: Three Keys for Change Efforts in Churches Most church lead ..read more

6 Reasons People Leave Your Church People will leave a church for a variety of reasons. Here are some common reasons that they leave. 3 Episcopal dioceses vote to unify pending denomination approval Three Episcopal Church dioceses based in Wisconsin have voted in favor of a measure to unify into a single regional body, a proposal that still needs approval from the denomination. Last week, the Episcopal dioceses of Eau Claire, Fond du Lac and Milwaukee held a joint special convention in Baraboo, where clergy and lay leaders overwhelmingly voted to become one regional body. The United Methodi ..read more

6 Reasons People Leave Your Church People will leave a church for a variety of reasons. Here are some common reasons that they leave. 3 Episcopal dioceses vote to unify pending denomination approval Three Episcopal Church dioceses based in Wisconsin have voted in favor of a measure to unify into a single regional body, a proposal that still needs approval from the denomination. Last week, the Episcopal dioceses of Eau Claire, Fond du Lac and Milwaukee held a joint special convention in Baraboo, where clergy and lay leaders overwhelmingly voted to become one regional body. The United Methodi ..read more

9 Ways to Bridge the Trust Gap Facing Today’s Church Leaders Feeling the divide between leading a church and the community you serve? Discover how we can bridge this growing trust gap. Rejection: How if Affects Leaders In this post Charles Stone unpack the painful thing called rejection. With a final flourish, United Methodist conference eliminates all anti-LGBTQ policies The reversals came in the wake of a schism that saw the departure of a quarter of its US churches — more than 7,600 congregations — over the past five years. How the recent decisions of the UMC General Conference will aff ..read more

  Welcome to Sundays at All Hallows. Before his betrayal and arrest Jesus gave a new commandment to his disciples: “Love one another in the way I have loved you.” He told them that the world would know them to be his disciples by their love for one. another. Jesus did not give that commandment just to them. He gave it to succeeding generations of his disciples. Love for one another was to be their trademark, their brand. It would set them apart from everyone else. How are we doing? Reading: Acts 10: 44-48, 1 John 5: 1-6; John 15: 9-17 Message: How to Overcome the Barriers to Loving On ..read more

3 Summer Program Ideas to Engage Your Community Summer is on the horizon, and that means routines often get tossed out the window. Keeping the community engaged in faith can feel like wrangling cats. Worry not! Summer is not only a time to do creative fundraising, it’s also an opportunity for churches to ditch old routines. Take the opportunity to design short-terms programs that captivate your community and deepen their faith journey.  It’s Time to Get Serious About Church Security Churches need to budget for trained security. Phil Cooke explains why. Preparing to Receive a New Pasto ..read more

United Methodists redefine marriage, end official condemnation of homosexuality A condemnation of homosexuality that has riven the denomination for 52 years was eliminated from the United Methodist Church’s rule book. Also see Church ends 52-year-old anti-gay stance and UMC removes rule that homosexuality is ‘incompatible with Christian teaching’ United Methodists strike down ban on ordination of gay clergy  With a simple vote call and without debate, delegates to the General Conference removed the ban on the ordination of ‘self-avowed practicing homosexuals’ — a prohibition t ..read more

Welcome to Thursday evenings at All Hallows. Since the early days of Christianity, Christians have begun and ended each day with praise and prayer offered to God. This practice would eventually evolve into what are called Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer in the Anglican Church and in Matins and Vespers in the Lutheran Church. Other Christian traditions also have their equivalent of these two services. They are beautiful way of consecrating and setting apart the day to God. Reading: Matthew 7: 24-27 Message: No Part-Time Disciples Link: https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2024/05/thurs ..read more

18 Common Mistakes Made When Going Multisite Though nearly 8 out of 10 multisite campuses are flourishing, many multisite campuses struggle, and a small number do fail. Why do people return to the sending campus after launching a multisite campus or even go to another church? What hinders sent people from becoming staying people at a church they helped birth in their own community? What is the key to retaining the launch team and sustaining a growing multisite campus? Before You Modernize Your Church Building There are plenty of ways to modernize your church building without having to ruin ..read more

United Methodist conference begins to drop contentious rules restricting LGBTQ clergy Among the rules overturned were a ban on bishops ordaining LGBTQ candidates for ministry, a ban on funding for LGBTQ affinity groups as well as a series of mandatory penalties for clergy who officiate same-sex weddings. UMC General Conference removes much of LGBTQ restrictions in consensus vote The 52-year battle over the exclusion of LGBTQ people from full participation in The United Methodist Church turned a major corner April 30 through a parliamentary move designed to adopt measures that have broad con ..read more