By Karen Kogler on May 15, 2013
When you welcome new members to your church, help them volunteer! Most appreciate the help and Scripture teaches its value. (See last week’s blog, “New Members Make Great Volunteers” above) This is how we do that at St. Peter Lutheran in Arlington Heights, Illinois. First, we teach our new members, including those who transfer to [...]
Posted in Children's ministry, Christian Worker, Church Volunteers, Encouragement, Encouraging Volunteers, Men's Ministry, Teachers, Women's Ministry, Youth Ministry Tagged Recruiting volunteers, spiritual gifts, using volunteers
By Gail Marsh on May 13, 2013
Editor’s note: Yesterday, families and churches all over the United States and in some other countries, too, observed Mother’s Day. While it’s a special day in many churches, women’s ministry goes on year round. This week’s devotion is slightly adapted from one of the free resources CTA has developed to accompany one of our new [...]
Posted in Christian Worker, Church staff, Devotions, Encouragement, Mother's Day, Pastor, Sermon Ideas, Women's Ministry Tagged free devotion, Women's Ministry, women's retreat
By Karen Kogler on May 8, 2013
Looking for volunteers? Talk to your newer members. Only about 10% of church newcomers have the self-confidence and initiative needed to jump into volunteering at a new church on their own. The rest need a warm, personal invitation and our encouragement. When newcomers read the ‘help wanted’ announcements in the weekly service folder or monthly [...]
Posted in Children's ministry, Christian Worker, Church Volunteers, Encouragement, Encouraging Volunteers, Men's Ministry, Sunday School, Teachers, Women's Ministry, Youth Ministry Tagged getting newcomers involved, Recruiting volunteers
By Kristin Schultz on May 6, 2013
Editor’s note: Next Sunday, May 13, 2013, families and churches all over the United States and in some other countries, too, will observe Mother’s Day. This devotion is slightly adapted from one of the free resources CTA is making available to ministry leaders to underscore one of our new themes for women’s ministry this spring, [...]
Posted in Devotions, Encouragement, Mother's Day, Women's Ministry Tagged free devotion, Mother's Day, Women's Ministry
By Gail Marsh on April 29, 2013
Editor’s note: This devotion is slightly adapted from CTA’s new devotion book for women’s ministry and Mother’s Day 2013, Woman of God®. Read 2 Peter 3:18. I’m not a patient gardener. I begin to fidget when winter temperatures warm above freezing. I mark pages in gardening catalogs months before it’s time to order seeds. And [...]
Posted in Christian Worker, Church staff, Church Volunteers, Devotions, Encouragement, Encouraging Volunteers, Mother's Day, Pastor, Sermon Ideas, Women's Ministry Tagged free devotion, Mother's Day
By Gail Marsh on April 22, 2013
Editor’s note: This devotion is slightly adapted from CTA’s new devotion book for women’s ministry and Mother’s Day 2013, Woman of God®. Read Ephesians 2:8–10. Just imagine! Twenty-first century computer technology partnering with gardening, an activity as old as Eden! It’s true. You can use your computer and a relatively inexpensive software package to [...]
Posted in Christian Worker, Church staff, Church Volunteers, Devotions, Encouragement, Encouraging Volunteers, Mother's Day, Pastor, Sermon Ideas, Women's Ministry Tagged free devotion, Mother's Day
By Andrea Lohman on April 17, 2013
Editor’s Note: No matter what your role or position in the church, you likely find yourself leading change from time to time. These waters can be among the choppiest waters we navigate as leaders. In last Wednesday’s blog, Andrea Lohman began a discussion of change leadership. This article extends that discussion. As you think about [...]
Posted in Children's ministry, Christian Worker, Church staff, Church Volunteers, Encouraging Volunteers, Men's Ministry, Ministry, Pastor, Women's Ministry Tagged change in church, leading change
By Gail Marsh on April 15, 2013
Editor’s note: This devotion is taken from CTA’s new devotion book for women’s ministry and Mother’s Day 2013, Woman of God®. Read Matthew 13:31–32. It wasn’t a mustard seed, but it grew to treelike height! I was hesitant, at first, to plant sunflower seeds. I wasn’t sure that their eventual size and shape would complement [...]
Posted in Christian Worker, Church staff, Devotions, Encouragement, Encouraging Volunteers, Ministry, Mother's Day, Pastor, Sermon Ideas, Sunday School, Teachers, Women's Ministry Tagged free devotion, Mother's Day
By Andrea Lohman on April 10, 2013
Change is inevitable. How do you deal with it on a personal level? How can you use it to improve the organizations you lead? Here are some hints: 1. We all like our routines. Change happens every day. However, few of us like to give up all the control over our circumstances. We develop comfortable [...]
Posted in Children's ministry, Christian Worker, Church staff, Church Volunteers, Encouragement, Encouraging Volunteers, Free Resources, Men's Ministry, Pastor, Sunday School, Teachers, Women's Ministry, Youth Ministry Tagged change in church, organizational change
By Gail Marsh on April 8, 2013
Editor’s note: This devotion is taken from CTA’s new devotion book for women’s ministry and Mother’s Day 2013, Woman of God®. Read Colossians 2:7. Root-bound? I wondered as I inspected one of my favorite houseplants. The leaves looked green and healthy. However, the stems seemed crowded within the confines of the pot, and I honestly [...]
Posted in Christian Worker, Church staff, Devotions, Encouraging Volunteers, Mother's Day, Pastor, Sermon Ideas, Women's Ministry Tagged free devotion, Mother's Day