Sam Rainer's Blog

When a church becomes discouraged, energy drains away and mission focus fades. Evangelism slows. Outreach dwindles. Over time, discouragement settles like fog over the entire congregation. Yet, God specializes in breathing new life into tired hearts and weary churches. Even the most downtrodden church can rediscover hope, strength, and purpose.

Understanding Discouragement

Discouragement is a negative emotional state characterized by a loss of motivation and confidence, often resulting from fail...

I love the process of discovery through research. The journey begins with a question and swerves through multiple twists and turns before finally arriving at an answer. Our team at Church Answers recently conducted a research project that took several months to complete. We wanted to know if unchurched people felt differently about the church than those who are regular attendees. A survey of current research did not yield the results we desired, so we embarked on a study of our own. We found new...

Almost two decades ago, a church member asked me a straightforward question: “What things should we all do all the time?” This person understood individual calling and spiritual gifts, which can vary with each believer. He wanted to know the timeless expectations of every church member that never change.

Simple question. But a challenge to answer.

The question was more off-the-cuff, but it got me thinking. Over time, I landed on these seven expectations that I now teach at every membership class...

Some churches have disagreements over matters of consequence—doctrine, governance, or leadership. This article is not about such cases. 

We’ve encountered some strange reasons for church conflict. 

There was the time a church fought over the appropriate length of the pastor’s beard.Or the case of a church fighting over whether to build a children’s playground or to use the land for a cemetery.We witnessed a conflict over people leading worship with their eyes closed during a portion of the ...

In my 20s, I served at a church that gave me a key to my office but not any other lock on the campus. They trusted me to open God’s Word every Sunday but not the door to the flower closet. 

Trust is the foundation of every healthy church. Without it, unity crumbles, ministry slows, and relationships fracture. With it, your church will pursue God’s mission together.

How can we define trust in the context of ministry? Trust is the confident expectation that others will act with integrity, competen...

What actually prompts people to attend church? We surveyed 604 people in the United States from a variety of backgrounds. We asked the same questions of two groups.

Those who attend church regularly. Those who do not attend church regularly.

After comparing the two groups, we found new, surprising insights of the unchurched. One of the most surprising findings from our recent research was the simplicity behind what moves people to attend church for the first time (if unchurched) or to choo...

A growing number of churches are facing a silent but critical problem—one that rarely appears in budget meetings or revitalization plans. It’s not theological drift or volunteer shortages. It’s deferred maintenance.

The sticker shock is real. My church is finishing a $2.2 million air conditioning project. We still have several other projects to complete. While we are making significant progress, almost all our budget surpluses from the previous several years have been earmarked for deferred main...

Randy knows the strategic spots to get the best views of the sanctuary to count heads. He’s been doing it for years, and I rely on his numbers to know how many people attended our weekend worship services. Barb sends me the complete attendance report on Monday afternoons, which includes more details about children, students, and groups.

Why do I care? Why does my church count everyone each week?

For decades, worship attendance has been the default metric for measuring church success. While some ...

The phone call started a frantic series of events. I was informed of a bomb threat at the local private school on the same road as our church. It was a Wednesday afternoon, and the threat occurred during dismissal time. Complicating matters, their preschool utilizes our church campus. Several questions raced through my mind.

Was the preschool included in the threat?Do the police need to clear our campus?How should we help families who want to pick up their children?Should we cancel evening...

Churches with a long history of short pastor tenures often face a host of systemic and cultural challenges. The point here is not to place blame on either pastors or churches. Instead, the goal is to describe what happens culturally, regardless of who is to blame. While each situation has unique factors, there are several common patterns that make long-term pastoral success difficult to achieve in these churches. Recognizing these patterns is the first step toward building a healthier, more stab...