Episode 37: WHY leads to WHAT: Pastoring Change in Churches That Want Change But Resist It. HELP! My Church Isn't Growing…What Should We Do?! With Bob Bickford

Episode 37: WHY leads to WHAT: Pastoring Change in Churches That Want Change But Resist It. HELP! My Church Isn't Growing…What Should We Do?! With Bob Bickford of the Nashville Baptist Association. Notes: We think if we deal with our problems, people will leave, but the truth is that if we DON'T deal with our problems, people will leave. How attendance fluctuates in church replants and church revitalizations. Sometimes you will have a double dip when people leave because the church has changed TOO much, and other people leave because the church has NOT changed enough. Don't shepherd not to get hurt, but embrace the suffering and embrace the conflict, because it is often a sign that a church is heading in the right direction in a church revitalization situation. When Discipleship is deficient, it leads to focusing on the wrong things, like the administration of the church and other details. TOYOTA FIVE WHYS PRINCIPLE. HELP DEVELOP A CULTURE OF JOY BY CELEBRATING SMALL VICTORIES AND POSITIVE THINGS. REVITALIZATION IS LARGELY GOOD OLD PASTORING. Applying the principle of the nudge to church leadership and church revitalization. Before we decide what we need to do about a declining church, we need to understand WHY the church is declining. The most important question to ask at the beginning of church revitalization is: WHY are we declining? The WHY is the most important issue of church decline. Soda Review: Everybody's favorite coffee flavor: Orange. TASCO Coffee Soda Orange Flavor review. If not toilet paper, what do Indonesians use instead of toilet paper? YOUR LEFT HAND?! Barring a clear calling from God, I would like to avoid that particular toilet adventure for now. All about Bob Bickford: Bob Bickford has studied and taught on church renewal for years, and also lived it out in the trenches, one church at a time. In 2012, Bob left a staff position at a large multisite church to become pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church in suburban St. Louis. Through a careful process of renewal and replanting, Sherwood gave birth to a new congregation called The Groves in 2014, where Bob served for nine years. That experience opened the door for Bob to help struggling churches on a much larger scale. As Associate Director of Replant for the North American Mission Board, he developed a national church-renewal strategy for Southern Baptist associations. He also helped create Missouri's Resound Network and has written several practical resources, including Am I a Replanter?, Pathways to Partnership, and The Associational Replanting Guide. Today, Bob serves as Executive Director of the Nashville Baptist Association, helping churches and pastors pursue greater health, gospel faithfulness, and missional effectiveness. He and his wife live in Nashville and have three adult children and five grandchildren. Bob brings together the heart of a pastor, the experience of a replanter, and the strategic insight of someone who has walked alongside many churches at critical crossroads. Nashville Baptist Association: (https://nashvillebaptists.com/about/)