Lakeside learnings

I spent the past couple of days up in Lakeside, Ohio with a group of guys who are doing their best to expand God's Kingdom. (Lakeside is this amazing little town on the coast of Lake Erie.)

Here are some notes I took away from our time together . . .

*The percentage of the population in the United States that attend a Christian church on any given weekend is 17.5%. Incidentally, the percentage in Ohio is a whopping 19%.

*No state in the U.S. saw an increase in church attendance from 2000-2005. Incidentally, church attendance in Ohio declined by 6.1% during that period.

*Churches of more than 1,000 in weekend attendance have been growing by an average of 1.5% a year. Cumulatively, no other church size group is growing. Incidentally, RiverTree has grown by more than 10% per year for each of the past 3 years.

*Who doesn't come to your church will tell you more about your church than who does come.

*The younger generations are searching for three things in a church: Involvement in social justice, teaching with depth and authentic relationships.

*Read the book: Pilgrims Of Christ On The Muslim Road by Gordon Chandler.

*When those of us who are church leaders hit the age of 50, one of our primary objectives should be to celebrate new young leaders.