Articles + Podcast
New Data: Religious Trends in America
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 166 It’s not news that the Church is declining in the United States and that fewer people are identifying as Christian, but Pew Research recently released the findings of a study showing the trendline of Christian decline...
Four Common Barriers to Strategy Implementation
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 164 Making plans is fun. Following through is hard. Most churches fail before they even begin the implementation journey because they did not account for the barriers. It’s like starting a road trip with a car full of kids...
How Pastors Can Leverage Their Public Trust
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 163 Is that chart as surprising to you as it was to me? We’re definitely not imaging that the United States is less Christian-centric than it was 50 years ago. Or even 10 years ago. Many countries around the world have felt...
Four Skills You Didn’t Learn in Seminary
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 162 Seminary is a wonderful place to learn how to preach a sermon and study Scripture. Undoubtedly, these are critical skills for successful ministry. But historically, seminaries are less useful for learning leadership...
Six Biblical Signs of a Revitalized Church
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 161 A revitalized church is a powerful force. Before a church is revitalized, its life dwindles, and death looms. These churches have a fading view of a once bright past, and it gives way to robotic monotony, apathy,...
How to Start a Church Podcast
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 160 Does the world really need another podcast? It seems like everyone has a podcast these days–including The Malphurs Group! While starting a podcast isn’t for everyone, there is still plenty of room in the so-called...
How to Hire Good Church Staff
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 159 Finding the right candidate for a church staff opening is difficult. Whether you’re trying to find a new senior pastor or a part-time children’s ministry director, the cost of hiring the wrong person is steep. But most...
Sunday School vs Small Groups
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 158 It’s the heavyweight title fight of church discipleship ministries. Perhaps second only to church “worship wars” between traditional and contemporary music, the battle between Sunday School and Small Groups has been...
5 Dysfunctional Habits of Unhealthy Church Boards
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 157 The church rises and falls on the quality of leadership at the top. A large number of churches I’ve worked with over the years have been congregationally-led. They have myriad committees–finance, personnel, the...
Are Pastors Paid Fairly? Evaluating Compensation and Raises for Church Staff
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 156 The thought of talking about pastor compensation makes many people uncomfortable. From the pastor’s point of view, he never wants to be seen as greedy or ungrateful, so most do not initiate a compensation discussion with...
The Problem of Too Many Ministries
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 155 Church doesn’t need to be complicated, but sometimes it ends up that way. Having a few primary ministries that are well thought out and intential can be much more successful than a large menu of options. We refer to the...
Three Common Reasons Churches Contact a Consultant
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 154 The Malphurs Group Ministry has been in existence for over 20 years, beginning back in the 1990’s when Dr. Malphurs began consulting with churches who would contact him after reading one of his many books on church...
What Every Pastor Should Know Every Week
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 153 If you’re a pastor, you’re a leader. Every leader has to make decisions, and good decisions are made from good information. There are helpful things that every pastor should know every week. We call that collection of...
Why Millennials Are Leaving Their Faith & How to Fix It
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 152 Millennials are the most religiously unaffiliated generation in American history. But they're not atheists or agnostics. A study by Barna Group found that 74% of Millennials believe God exists, and almost half say they...
How to Break Free from the Status Quo
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 150 Pastors who desire to lead their churches through the change process are constantly sensitive to the various windows of opportunity; they develop “opportunity eyes”. The leaders of change must be proactive; they must act...
How to Improve Your Worship Music
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 149 Poor worship music during a Sunday morning service is difficult to overcome. While music and worship style are not the primary factor in determining if a guest returns or not, bad music is still likely to keep guests...
Building A Healthy Leadership Development Process
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 148 Are leaders born or made? Yes! There are certainly people who are born with characteristics that allow them to rise to the top of organizations and perform at high levels. We also believe, though, that people with lesser...
5 Warning Signs Your Church Needs Revitalization
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 147 What are the early signals that your church needs revitalization? God designed your church to accomplish a specific purpose. Whenever a congregation begins to slow down in accomplishing that purpose, or starts to pursue...
Overturning Roe: Three Responses the Church Must Take
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 146 Friday, June 24, 2022 will be a date long remembered as the nearly 50-year precedent of upholding abortion as a constitutional right in the United States was overturned. 50 years. That’s a long time. So long, in fact,...
Top 7 Reasons Pastors Consider Quitting
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 145 It’s been well-documented that the tenure of pastors has been decreasing for some time now. A recent Barna study looked into some reasons that pastors consider quitting, and we think there are solutions to these issues. ...
Ministering as a Couple
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 144 By Pastors Matt & Heidi Messner If marriage isn’t difficult enough, try doing ministry together. Even if you both do not have a vocational ministry position, if your spouse is “in ministry” then you are highly...
Top 5 Worship Service Mistakes
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 143 The purpose of your worship service is to lead people to live in awe and obedience to God. You don’t need to be cool, or have the most innovative worship service in your town. Your worship service should lead people to...
How to Increase Biblical Literacy in Your Church
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 142 It’s happened to all of us. You log onto social media, and that lady who sits in the third row has posted a Bible meme. Almost too afraid to look, you take the plunge and see some of the shallowest theology possible....
What the SBC Sex Abuse Scandal Means for Your Church
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 141 May 24, 2022 - Last week, Guidepost Solutions concluded and released their report on the ongoing Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) sex abuse scandal, and the results are not good. In fact, what was uncovered is...