Church Health

It’s evident from these statistics that a growing number of churches today are struggling, and in need of revitalization… 300,000-360,000 of the 400,000 churches in the U.S. are plateaued or declining. 40,000 of 47,000+ Southern Baptist churches are plateaued or declining. After the COVID crisis, church attendance is down 20-40%. In the past 10 years, […]

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In 2001, Jimi and Carla Staton started New Life Fellowship Church with two other couples in Huntington, Indiana.  This young church had to move locations five times in the first ten years.  During their fifth year as a congregation, they opened a soup kitchen in the church basement. Now in 2023, the church has experienced […]

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Studying your community demographics is a good way to understand what’s happening in your community, what the needs are, and how you can minister to them to share the Gospel.  SCBI has new free Missioninsite demographics available now for our churches! To request your community demographics, determine the address site that you want to study […]

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This is the question raised by Pastor Bruce Miller in his book entitled, Your Church in Rhythm. Based on a study of the biblical words for time, “chronos” and “kairos,” as well as the principle of timeliness in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, the author argues that church leaders shouldn’t search for an approach to ministry that is […]

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According to an August 2022 article from the Burmese American Community Institute, there are approximately 317,000 Burmese currently living in the United States: 40,000 in Indiana; 27,000 in Indianapolis (one of the largest Burmese populations in our nation); 10,000 in Fort Wayne; and others living in South Bend, Logansport, and Bloomington.  Southern Baptists have recognized […]

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In his June 27 article about “Making Campus Connections” in Outreach Magazine, Pastor David Worcester outlined seven key reasons for reaching college students in your State, and he spells it with the acrostic C.O.L.L.E.G.E… Crossroads—During their years in college, students are making major decisions in all areas of their lives. If someone is there to […]

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The 1988 song by Bobby McFerrin won three Grammys. It was entitled, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” and it swept our country because we’re all struggling to overcome anxiety and experience true joy in life. Over the last two years, anxiety has become an even greater problem in our nation.  We all know the effects of […]

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It’s March Madness season in Indiana. In the current NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament, we’ve seen some highly ranked teams suffer defeat, while we’ve also seen some low-ranked teams like the St. Peter’s University Peacocks achieve great success. Why do some teams excel, and others underachieve? I agree with those leadership experts who say team […]

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On his second missionary journey in Acts 15:36ff, Paul revisited the churches he had planted on his first missionary trip to “see how they are” (v.36)—probably to assess their current reality–and for “strengthening the churches” (v.41) to guide them to God’s best next steps.  He was not only a great church planter but also a […]

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Bi-vocational pastors make up the largest percentage of our pastors serving in Indiana. 83% of all Southern Baptist churches report a Sunday School attendance of fewer than 125, and most of these congregations have bi-vocational pastors (representing approximately 37,000 churches!). Other evangelical denominations report similar percentages, and current trends indicate that we will see even […]

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