In this article and accompanying video, Acts 2 Journey team member Dr. Mike Clarensau discusses the three components that, when combined, create the engine to drive your church forward into a new day. Finding your church's engine begins with a simple question: What's in your heart?

There are certain questions every church must answer to either turn things in a positive direction or take the next step forward in ministry effectiveness. One of these questions is, How will we treat guests when they come through our doors? If your church is only as friendly as the people in the pews, how friendly is that? Most feel that theirs is a friendly church, but often that only means we are friendly to each other. Just because our friends attend our church doesn’t mean that it is easy for others to make friends among us. View a video and use the accompanying questions for a discussion with your team about how to take your church's friendliness to the next level.

Some churches establish formal training processes. They plan weekend seminars or programs to equip their team members, but most don’t have such strategies available. Why not take a mentoring approach instead? That’s what Jesus did. Here are three primary commitments to keep in mind for ministry training through mentoring.

In today’s church, there’s much being made of discovering one’s gifts—and rightly so. Pastors and church leaders hope that when people discover their gifts, they will find a ministry fit that will provide them with the meaningful involvement that both changes their lives and keeps them involved. But before we grab a gift test off the internet and launch a congregation wide assessment of our gifts, let’s consider what we’re really looking for.