Articles + Podcast
Toxic Leadership: Controlling and Manipulative Pastors Wreaking Havoc in the Church
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 209 Controlling, manipulative, and outright abusive pastors are harming congregations across America. While exact statistics are hard to come by, some studies suggest that up to 30% of pastors may exhibit narcissistic...
How to Answer the Biggest Questions Seekers Have About Faith
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 208 Engaging with skeptics may be intimidating for many of us. But one of the most important skills that church leaders need to develop is how to answer big questions that spiritual seekers have about faith. The good news is...
Church Death Spiral: How Once-Thriving Churches Hit Rock Bottom
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 207 First Community Church once bustled with activity. Families packed the pews each Sunday while kids scurried off to crowded Sunday School classes. The budget was strong enough to maintain their historic building and offer...
Wounded and Dying: Can Your Church Recover From Scandal?
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 206 If you stay in ministry long enough, chances are you or someone you love will be impacted by a church scandal. We wish it weren't true, but sin exists even within Christ's church. In our broken world, scandals will...
An Epidemic of Apathetic Families: Curing “Sunday-Only” Faith
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 205 In today's fast-paced world, an epidemic of apathy towards faith has emerged among families. While busyness is often blamed, the end result remains the same - parents are disengaging from discipleship. The passing...
How to Grow Your Church Without Compromising Your Values
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 204 Growth is on every pastor’s mind. Compelled by the Great Commission, pastors feel an urgency to reach more people and expand the impact of their churches. But this desire can lead down an uneasy path, causing otherwise...
From Fixed to Growth: Developing a Revitalization Mindset
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 203 If you've ever tried to get a stalled car rolling downhill, you know it takes immense effort just to get the thing moving. But once you've broken through that initial inertia, momentum takes over and the car practically...
What Your Church Can Learn from Grocery Stores: Why Culture Matters
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 202 Every time I drive by my local Kroger grocery store, I look over to see how full the parking lot is. They do ok, it’s not a ghost town, but let me put it this way…they don’t need a parking lot as big as the one they...
Post-Christian America: What’s Going Wrong In Our Churches?
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 201 Welcome to the post-Christian landscape in America. It's no secret that our churches are facing a significant challenge – a decline in the adherence to a Biblical worldview, even among those who identify as Christians....
Top Five Episodes from the First 200
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 200 Time certainly has flown by! It was August of 2019 when Scott and I recorded our first few episodes of The Church Revitalization Podcast. We didn’t know what to expect or if anyone would listen. Now after nearly four...
Financial Stewardship: Cultivating Generosity in Your Church
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 199 It’s not a debatable point to say that churches need money to do ministry. So why is it so hard to talk about it? Many pastors carve out a couple Sundays each year for a sermon on giving because they feel obligated to do...
Balancing Ministry and Family: Maintaining Healthy Relationships Amidst Busy Schedules
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 198 Leading a fulfilling life as a pastor involves navigating the delicate balance between ministry and family commitments. The weight of responsibility can feel especially heavy, especially if our churches are struggling....
Six Burning Revitalization Questions
In “Burning Revitalization Questions,” Scott and A.J. take turns posing three hot-button questions each, sparking lively discussions and sharing their unfiltered hot takes.
Is Pastoral Care the Primary Role of the Pastor?
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 196 The following article is published as Appendix C in Dr. Malphurs Book, Being Leaders. God has allowed me not only to teach leadership at Dallas Seminary, but to minister in numerous churches and denominations as a...
Breaking Down Rick Warren and The SBC
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 195 It’s been said that any publicity is good publicity, but when it comes to the Church, nothing could be further from the truth. The Southern Baptist Convention has had quite a year. I’m sure most involved parties would...
Who Has the Power in the Church?
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 194 Originally published in the book Leading Leaders by Dr. Aubrey Malphurs Church leadership boards as well as others in the church must be aware of individual and corporate power and the roles that each plays in church...
Building Consensus for Change
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 193 It’s a frustrating position to be in, thinking you’re the only one that wants to see positive change in your church. That might really be the case, or it may just be that nobody has yet dared broach the topic. It might...
Five Ways to Disciple Men
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 192 Discipling men is hard. I’ve not yet worked with the church that said, “We don’t really have a women’s ministry, but we have a huge men’s ministry!” But I have heard about many great women’s ministries. Usually the men’s...
Anatomy of a Bad Sermon
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 191 Not every job requires you to prepare a 25+ minute, fully-researched, professional presentation every single week. In fact, some people go their entire careers and never have to get in front of a crowd of people and...
Five Volunteer Recruitment Tactics
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 190 How many times have you said, “We don’t have enough volunteers” in the last year? I’m going to guess you’ve said it, or at least thought that, at least once a month for as long as you can remember! This is among the most...
Empowering the Global Church: How You Can Make a Difference
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 189 Do you (or your church) love the thought of participating in the movement of the Gospel around the world? Do you (or your church) desire to see the strength and effectiveness of the global church increase? Do you (or...
Breaking Free From Sunday Morning Apathy
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 188 Have you ever looked around your worship center on a Sunday morning, and people aren’t singing along? Or noticed people scrolling their phones during your sermon? Or–the absolute worst–seeing someone start to doze off...
Moving to One Service: 5 Things You Need to Know
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 187 It is, unfortunately, a reality for many churches that you have to consider dropping a Sunday worship service because of attendance decline. If your church is in the opposite situation and thinking about launching a...
Bridging the Generational Gap: Strategies for Reaching Millennials & Gen Z
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 186 A common refrain in churches we work with is: “We want to be a multigenerational church!” But when we show up to services on Sunday morning, we see a lot of white hair and hear too few babies. Desiring to minister across...