What should a congregant be left with at the end of a sermon? Now is the time for us, as devoted kingdom leaders, to return to preaching and practicing some historical non-optional calls to ensure fruitful Church function in the next generation.

How can I sustain momentum over the summer holidays? Seven ideas and outlines for a summer series. Pray over them, make one your own, and expect God to use speakers and subjects to meet people where they are.

On May 10, 2023, over 260 pastors and ministry leaders from across the Alberta and Northwest Territories gathered for a round table for a family forum-styled conference to discuss what it means to “Belong, Grow, and Serve” together in the PAOC family in our region. The day was buzzing as people made new connections, visited with old friends and dialled into the day's agenda. Here are seven things that we learned at this past District Conference.

Why should I preach directly from the Word of God? This Book is indestructible! It will survive every attempt to destroy it, modify it, nullify it, weaken, or ban it.

Is your church stuck? Do you find yourself in the tension of organizational structure and relational equity? Once you decide to focus on these seven things, you can begin to work and develop them as you go forward. The blend of organization and organism embedded in each of these areas will keep you growing in numbers while also growing in depth of relationship and commitment to Christ.

How well can you lead changes in your church or ministry? Organizational change is inevitable. Unfortunately, it’s not easy. The true test of any leader is their ability to lead change in an organization. Pastors must lead change. They must lead it well. Here are five things you can do to lead change well.

What does the latest Census data reveal about the Canadian Church? The Canadian Census for 2021 was released recently, and the insights into Religion, Christianity and the Church in Canada are insightful. Although it’s not a positive picture overall, church leaders must press into this data instead of ignoring it; allow the information to challenge you to innovate, create and re-imagine ministry in Canada in these coming years.

As the world begins to open back up, travel restrictions loosen, and mandates relax, the tendency is to want to get back to the way things were. For the church, this wouldn’t be the best idea.

We are called to spiritual maturity (Hebrews 5:14, Hebrews 6:1-2). There is an expectation that Christ-followers will start out as spiritual infants and mature over time. But a key element of maturity is not our age. There are many believers who are older in years but act very spiritually immaturely. This is because we have erroneously defined maturity as “tenure”. When really, spiritual maturity is about reproduction.

No matter what you’re preaching about, take 3 minutes and preach the gospel. Simply say, “You may be here and you’re not following Jesus in the way we’ve been talking about today. Let me tell you …” and then just go for it.

For a church to grow by reaching lost people, the congregation needs to have a passion for souls to be saved. This seems obvious, but my experiences have shown me that many Christians aren’t too concerned about the eternal destiny of anyone other than themselves and their family.

For many church leaders, this has been the hardest season of their lives; their decisions have been questioned, their lives have been interrupted, their faith has been tested and, their fears have tried to overcome them. And now, they are poised for the greatest opportunity they have ever seen.

What if ushers, vocalists, parents, children … everyone had a role shaping the weekly message, would it change congregational engagement? Would you hear the same sermon? Or would the message start to shift in ways no one predicted?

Imagine if 75% of your church were actively engaged in the discipling of pre-Christians and Christians? What a day that would be.

I’ve asked a similar question to pastors who have seen their ministries and churches grow over the years … “what is one reason you can think of as to why your ministry grew?” Their answer shocked me.

The church has an amazing opportunity to be a voice of hope in the midst despair. A voice of peace in the midst of chaos. A voice of credible faith in the midst of fear. However, you need to get outside of your church and actually speak to your city.

It’s never fun to realize that there were things that you thought were working, actually weren’t working. The recent pandemic exposed weaknesses and brought out realizations amongst churches and church leaders all over the world.

In 2004, Nancy Beach wrote a bestseller entitled, An Hour On Sunday. Her goal was to help church leaders reach their redemptive potential. The goal hasn't changed - the online time frame has.