by Dennis Bickers | Nov 5, 2015 | Opinion
Going into ministry used to be considered a life-long calling, but we see increasing numbers of people leaving the ministry well before retirement. Recent seminary graduates will leave the ministry within five years after graduation, on average. There are many reasons...
by Dennis Bickers | Oct 28, 2015 | Opinion
What are some of the advantages of a rural church? This question was posed to me in a recent interview with a writer putting together an article about rural congregations. After responding that while some rural churches are large, many of them are smaller, I told him...
by Dennis Bickers | Oct 9, 2015 | Opinion
Smaller churches often complain about not having any money. At times, however, the problem is that they have too much money. One small church that averages about 12 people each week told me they had more than $100,000 in savings. An even smaller church has nearly...
by Dennis Bickers | Sep 21, 2015 | Opinion
I challenge the attendees of my smaller-church workshops to focus the ministries of their congregation on one or two things they can do with excellence. Many smaller churches are trying to do too many things. Often, they are still structured as they were when they...
by Dennis Bickers | Aug 17, 2015 | Opinion
At every workshop I lead, someone will ask how he or she can lead change in their church when most of the people are content with the way things are. At the most, they confess, there are only a handful of people who want to see their church do more. I always respond...
