by Tracee Swank | Sep 24, 2026 | change, growth, leadership
You tried something. It worked, or it half worked, or it failed in a way that taught your team something worth keeping. Any of those is worth celebrating. Underneath the celebration sits a harder question: Was that one event, or is your church becoming the kind of...
by Tracee Swank | Sep 17, 2026 | change, growth, leadership
You proposed something new in ministry. The response landed negatively. A pointed comment in the hallway. A conversation between a few families. Or something colder: attendance backsliding, giving slowing, a chill in a room that used to feel warm toward you....
by Tracee Swank | Sep 15, 2026 | church, entrepreneur, growth
For more than 45 years, Church4Today has stood alongside congregations working to find their way back to mission. That kind of longevity is worth celebrating. It also comes with a quiet, honest reality: The donors who built this ministry over the decades will not be...
by Tracee Swank | Sep 8, 2026 | church, entrepreneur, growth
Many church leaders are working from an outdated picture of their own neighborhood. The families who lived there when the sanctuary was built are not always the families living there now, and few congregations have taken the time to find out who their neighbors have...
by Tracee Swank | Sep 3, 2026 | change, growth, renewal
Notice a problem. Launch a program. Watch attendance shrink over a year. Quietly retire it. Repeat next fall. If that pattern sounds familiar, your church isn’t failing at innovation. It’s starting in the wrong place. The Great Commission isn’t a...
by Tracee Swank | Aug 27, 2026 | change, growth, renewal
Ask 10 longtime members what makes your church distinct. You’ll get 10 different answers. The building. The hymnal. A beloved pastor from 30 years ago. The chili supper before the Lenten service. Somewhere in that list is the real core culture of who you are....
