Thank you for your kind words! I probably spend too much time out on the Internet, interacting in those kind of articles when I see some of the crazy stuff that is being posted by others. I’d get more done here if I didn’t do that, but it’s also good practice…. and I’m always trying to remember that thousands of people read that kind of stuff who aren’t commenting.

I hope things go well for your church and growing ministry, and hope you find a great new pastor. Regarding worship strategies, my input would be to try and accomplish what might be called a ‘blended’ service, where you pull the best of worship music across time and genre, always examining the content theologically. Keep the liturgy as well, in some form. I always it to be an incredible deficiency in churches I visit when they don’t have it. Liturgy, both in structure (confession, absolution, etc.) as well as content to be an aspect of church to be treasured.

And, while I would never say to make a service non-welcoming or un-evangelistic, I think it is important to keep in mind that worship is worship of the body of Christ primarily. We’ve tried to cram too much teaching and evangelism into worship time. We often end up watering things down and starving the sheep in order to meet lowest common denominator and be visitor-friendly. I think the thing that makes a service most visitor friendly (and isn’t bad for the regulars) is to take a few moments here and there, and explain aspects of the service in with the liturgy and flow of it.

Regarding the pastors time and training, you should read the previous comment and response (if you haven’t done so). Pastors usually act on the needs/wants of the congregation, and are trained to do so. If the congregation isn’t trained in apologetics, the pastor has to try and handle that (many don’t very well due to little training), be an evangelist, be the teacher, be the care-giver, be the counselor, be the administration, etc. If the pastor could be freed more to focus on sermons and teaching, I think it would contribute to growth…. of well trained people who would better step up to the plate and take on many of these things. This, in turn, would prompt seminaries to focus more on teaching and apologetics training.

Keep studying theology! We can’t have enough theologians or apologists these days. Blessings, and thanks again.