Word of Hope Blog
Read the latest thoughts from Ralph Moore, a veteran practitioner in disciple making and church multiplication.
Isolation and Loneliness Cause Pastors to Walk Away
I thought financial issues would be the first cause for pastors leaving the ministry. But I was wrong! Isolation and loneliness account for the most significant number of pastors quitting their jobs-across all church sizes and flavors. And we’re not alone with our feelings. According to his second letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul was…
Three Benefits of Smaller Churches
“I guess it’s alright on the mission field, but not here…” The guy was trying to justify his fear of microchurch. His reaction reflects a misunderstanding of three things. How size has little to do with quality. That opportunities do not depend on numbers. And the built-in strengths of smaller congregations. One: The relationship between…
Are You Struggling to Lead a Small Church?
If leading your small church seems more difficult each week, you may need to consider some new options. I’ve watched too many people leave pastoral ministry because a church seemed unable to grow. Some faced obstructive leaders in their congregations, and some fell from favor with denominational officials. Whatever the reason, when a leader abandons…
Always and Never Ready to Reproduce
Someone recently asked me how could they know that they were ready to launch a new church. My answer was “always and never.” Consider giving birth to your first child. After achieving puberty I was always ready in one sense but never ready in another. In fact, I was so immature that I held my…
Small But Significant
I recently read an article contrasting larger congregations to “smaller and less significant” churches. I wondered at how many pastors felt defeated reading those words. On another occasion I spoke with a denominational official hoping to evangelize Gen Z. Part of his strategy was to close small and insignificant congregations so he could reallocate resources…
The Jesus Movement
It was a tug-of-war between the Jesus People and the New Age Movement. Alex Absalom uncovers the roots of what would grow into a church planting movement by pulling stories from Ralph Moore. Dispelling Doubt and Disillusionment The story starts with doubt and disillusionment as our country turned away from the church as much as…
Antioch 2.0Â and Hawaii
This is a response from John Honold to the three blogs regarding Paul and his time in the school of Tyrannus. My model church in the Book of Acts has been Antioch – a church that “evangelized” [Acts 11:21], “organized” [Acts 11:26], and “deputized” [Acts 13:2-3] with a result of the incredible spread of the…
Disciplemaking and the Church at Laodicea
Isn’t Laodicea that lukewarm church we encounter in the Apocalypse? I never knew that Paul addressed those folks through a disciple named Ephaphras in his letter to the Colossians. Also, I didn’t know that the church in Hierapolis was in the New Testament. Being an aging Baby Boomer, we’re supposed to know just about everything…
What’s So Bad About the Church at Ephesus?
Having come to maturity in an age when everyone knew we were living in the “age of Laodicea,” I’ve always had problems with Jesus’ letter to the church leader in Ephesus. Raging with joy at works of the Spirit during the Jesus Revolution, it was a little too easy to condemn all those “lukewarm” churches…
Multiplying To the Ends of the Earth
Culture can be confusing but not insurmountable if we learn to adapt. Americans celebrate Christmas by decorating houses, lawns and trees. Brits eat plumb pudding. In Estonia, families gather in their saunas. Liberians decorate palm trees with bells. Ethiopians celebrate on January 7. So what’s this all about? I’ve been looking at a chart of…