Articles + Podcast
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...
Spiritual Revitalization: The Key to True Church Renewal and Growth
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 185 Revitalization in a church certainly requires good planning, strategy, and execution. However, undergirding all of that is the necessity of spiritual health. A spiritually unhealthy church may find short-term gains, but...
The Leader as Spiritual Mentor
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 184 Church leaders serve various functions within the church, but there are certain capabilities or competencies that are essential to leaders at any level and of any function. We call these core competencies. Regardless of...
The Dark Side of Leadership: 5 Emotional Disorders
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 183 Being elevated to a leadership position does not make anyone immune to being emotionally unhealthy. Likewise, leadership promotions should not be taken as an affirmation of a clean bill of emotional health. If so, we’d...
What Kind of Evangelical Are You?
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 182 In this episode, Scott and I explore the diverse landscape of American evangelicalism by taking a quiz based on an article by Mere Orthodoxy called "The Six Way Fracturing of Evangelicalism." Of the six categories...
Five Things You Need to Know About Moving to Two Services
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 181 Being part of a growing church is a lot of fun. For many in ministry, this isn’t your experience. But by God’s grace, as your church pursues revitalization, you’ll have to deal with growing pains. One of the most common...
Five Sermon Series Ideas for Revitalizing Churches
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 180 A common question that we as Malphurs Group Guides get from pastors that we work with is “Do you have any suggestions for sermon topics that will help with revitalization?” Generally, the answer is to preach through the...
The Difference Between Leading and Directing in Church Leadership
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 179 Leading and directing are both crucial functions of effective church leadership, but they involve different approaches and goals. Just like a washing machine has access to both hot and cold water, as a pastor, you have...
What’s Happening at Asbury University?
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 178 What does “revival” even mean? Is that what is happening at Asbury University? Subscribe below to never miss an episode. Last week, what would have been a typical chapel service at Asbury...
Get Things Done: How to Design an Action Plan That Works
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 177 AAAAAAAND ACTION! If I had to choose one word that defines a church that thrives over a church that dies, it would be “action.” Dying churches are stagnant, and thriving churches are full of life. The difference is...
How Good Is an A.I. Sermon?
How Artificial Intelligence Will Shape the Church The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 176 The news has been filled with stories of the amazing things that artificial intelligence (AI) can do. In recent months, we’ve seen everything from digital images to whole...
Five Lies Churches Tell Themselves
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 175 Honesty is always the best policy, and not just in our interactions with others. We need to be honest with ourselves. We certainly understand the motivations behind the list you’ll find below. Human nature often leads us...
How to Use Systems Thinking to Reach Your Vision
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 174 More churches articulate a vision than reach one. In fact, the number of churches that actually make progress towards their goals are small. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by obstacles to change, the tyranny of the urgent,...
Expecting Revitalization: Showing Love
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 171 “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” -John 15:13 Relatively speaking, few have done that or been put in the position to have to make that choice. Of course our Savior did that...
Expecting Revitalization: Creating a Culture of Joy
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 170 This past weekend, I had the opportunity to be on-site with a church that I started working with three years ago, Cape Carteret Baptist Church. They’ve occasionally made it into the anecdotes on this podcast, and I...
Advent: Peace
The Church Revitalization Podcast - Episode 169 *This week's episode of the podcast was written and recorded prior to the passing of Dr. Aubrey Malphurs. You can read a statement from our TMG team here. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of...
Remembering Dr. Malphurs and Continuing His Legacy
The board of directors and leadership of The Malphurs Group announced today that its founder, Dr. Aubrey Malphurs, has died at the age of 78. Aubrey Milton Malphurs was born on February 20, 1944, and was raised in Gainesville, FL. Dr. Malphurs attended Dallas...