Author Archives: Matthew Winters

If you’re reading this from a church member’s standpoint, you might be thinking, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” My observation in some churches is that the people don’t want to move the corpse because it’s broken; they just want to keep trying to resuscitate what has been dead for years. Although change isContinue reading “Tips on Church Change”

Most every day, I spend time listening to issues people are facing and first provide a caring and empathetic presence. People often want someone to listen and care before they want advice. The resounding theme I find with people is that they are not just experiencing one difficulty. They are often being bombarded by multipleContinue reading “Bombarded”

We all have someone who has betrayed us. It may be a coworker, spouse, parent, sibling, “best friend”, etc. It is interesting that the one who betrayed Jesus was hand-picked by Jesus to be one of the twelve. It is also interesting that the betrayer was Jesus’ treasurer. In certain churches, I have learned toContinue reading “Praying for Your Judas”

Have you ever prayed for a particular thing or in a particular way, only to stop and think that it is crazy? Been there and done that! Many times! As a pastor, I pray brave and bold prayers that are far beyond man’s ability. The Bible contains many prayers. Some people may read those prayersContinue reading “Crazy Prayers”

Have you ever gotten a nasty letter, email, text, or phone call? I believe most, if not all, of us have. We received one of those at work recently. We sat down to evaluate if we could have done anything better in the situation since we typically go above and beyond as we have inContinue reading “Scathing Reviews”

Until 2014, I had no clue of what it meant for a pastor or church staff member to work more than one job. I was full-time with a decent salary in every church I served. When I found myself separated with divorce in sight, things changed. I found a few churches that would hire meContinue reading “When Your Pastor Works 2+ Jobs”

When I decided to blog again, I was faced with some questions I had to answer. Was I going to change the focus of the blog? Was I going to target a specific audience, or was I going to paint with a broad brush? After having over 1,600 followers on the old blog, was IContinue reading “Broad or Narrow?”

It didn’t take me long as a guy in ministry to learn what the “Sunday crash and burn” is. Twenty years ago, I typically led a Sunday morning service, afternoon choir rehearsal, and Sunday night service. Back then, Sunday night was almost as involved as the morning except with fewer in attendance. Even with theContinue reading “Sunday Crash and Burn”

The direction of the church is a sensitive topic. If 100 people attend, you have at least 100 different opinions about how the church should function. Should it have pews or chairs? Stained glass? Contemporary, traditional, or blended music? Sunday School or small groups? Then comes the bigger schism – should the direction be setContinue reading “Church Direction: Will of Man or Will of God?”

Today, I attended the funeral of a man in our church who had Down’s Syndrome. He was 67. Some of you may read this and think, “Lots of people have Down’s Syndrome, what is so special about this guy?” When you factor in that he was born in the 1950s in a rural area withoutContinue reading “Trailblazers”