Author: Scott Gress

Shaping culture requires checking the homework. When you were a child you no doubt had school homework. Homework. The word itself can raise your blood pressure. Who wants homework? No one! But why do teachers assign homework anyway? The lesson

Assimilation? Assimilation to what? Assimilation by whom? New members to the church or the other way around? At a time when many churches get very few visitors and even fewer new members it is a wonderful thing to celebrate if

Shaping culture can be undermined by the unintended consequences of our behavior. Think about the aspiration to make disciples. Sometimes we hear ourselves express it this way: “We need more leaders.” Or in frustration we say, “no one wants to

My father had a lot of sayings that he repeated to my sister and me. One he repeatedly said was, “anything worth doing is worth doing well.” I got the “Gress culture” through his stories and sayings. What stories and sayings

If the real issue is the culture of the congregation, then how does one embed new culture or change the existing culture in an organization like the church? Well, how do you raise children? How do you “embed” in them

So if you’ve been following this blog for the last couple weeks you know the answer: “It’s still not about the band!” Is there a place for a praise band in church? Sure. Why not? There is nothing wrong with

It’s still not about the band! And if it’s not about the band, then it’s not about the building, the location, the organ or the latest whiz bang program either! Sure those things have their place and have their importance

It’s not about the band! What’s not about the band? When churches experience decline, members leaving and more wood than people, there’s always someone who says, “We need a praise band.” That’s the easy answer: to point to the most