REACHRIGHT

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Busy pastors don’t stop being blessed. They just stop noticing. The family who finally came back. The prayer you prayed months ago that God quietly answered. It’s all still happening. It just gets buried under the next meeting and the next sermon. Ten men were healed. Only one came back to say thank you (Luke 17:15). Scripture doesn’t say why the other nine didn’t. Maybe they were just busy. Slow down this week long enough to notice what God is doing. Then thank Him.

Thanking donors doesn’t break James 2. Thanking some donors more warmly than others does.

When someone gives again after a year away, welcome them back. Never mention the gap.

The early church had a growing problem. People were coming to faith fast. Then the complaints started: some widows were being overlooked in the daily food distribution (Acts 6:1). The apostles could have stepped in and run it themselves. Instead, they said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables” (Acts 6:2). So they asked the church to choose seven people “full of the Spirit and wisdom” and handed the responsibility to them. And they didn’t just pass off a task. They prayed over the seven and laid their hands on them (Acts 6:6). The church didn’t shrink. “So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly” (Acts 6:7). Here’s the part most people miss: two of the seven were Stephen and Philip. Stephen became the church’s first martyr. Philip took the gospel to Samaria (Acts 8:5). The people you hand responsibility to might become your church’s greatest leaders. Delegating isn’t doing less ministry. It’s making room for more of it. What’s one responsibility you could hand to someone full of the Spirit and wisdom this week?

Across nonprofits, fewer than 1 in 5 first-time donors give again. Four personal emails, none asking for money, help close that gap ✉️

Discover the significance of church donations and how they go beyond just monetary contributions. Learn how to integrate giving platforms!

How many real days off did you take last month?

4 Emails Every Church Should Be Sending to Their Donors Fewer than 1 in 5 first-time donors ever give a second time. These four emails close that gap. Here’s when to send them and what to say. 1. The First Gift Email. Sent within 24 hours of someone’s first gift. One job: make them feel seen. Ask for nothing. 2. The Recurring Gift Email. Someone just committed to giving on a schedule without being asked again. That deserves more than a receipt. 3. The Gift After a Year Away. Someone gave, stopped, and came back. Welcome them back and never mention the gap. 4. The Large Gift Email. Personal, from the pastor. Never mentions the amount. Never asks for more. Just genuine gratitude. Every email asks for nothing. No pitch, no form, no follow-up ask. Just a real person making a donor feel like their generosity mattered. Does this break James 2? Only if the warmth changes based on the amount. The person giving $20 should feel just as seen as the person giving $5,000. Comment TEMPLATE, and we’ll send you all four of these emails so your church can start sending them this week.

Most Mondays, pastors replay what went wrong. The song that dragged. The point you forgot to make. Try something different today. Before you rest, write down a few things God did yesterday that you didn’t plan. Maybe someone you’d been praying for finally showed up. Maybe a quick hello in the lobby turned into a real conversation. Then close the notebook and take the day off, pastor. You’ve got more to be thankful for than you think.

Forty people on a Sunday. Folding chairs you set up yourself. A worship team of two. And a feed full of leaders talking about their fifth campus. It's hard not to compare. But God has never measured faithfulness by the headcount. He sees the widow you visit every Tuesday. The teenager you've walked with through three hard years. The family that only stayed because you called. Every one of those is a whole life. Small rooms hold big stories. Keep showing up for the people in yours.

A pastor told us he hadn’t taught on generosity in five years, afraid of how people see church and money. Our encouragement: never apologize for teaching on giving. It’s part of following Jesus, and your people need to hear it. Have you ever hesitated to preach on giving?

Don’t bring your church 15-year-old stories. Bring them five-day-old ones. That’s where authority comes from.

What Church Staff Wish Their Pastor Actually Knew They show up for every meeting, carry the details, and rarely bring their own needs to the table. But there are things your staff is thinking that they'll probably never say out loud. "I need to know my work matters to you." A passing "good job" in the hallway lands differently than a real conversation about what they're building. "I believe in this church. But I'm running on empty." Staff burnout doesn't always look like a breakdown. Sometimes it looks like someone slowly disappearing. "I have ideas. I just need to feel safe enough to share them." Your best staff will stop bringing their best thinking if they've learned it won't be heard. "I had a hard week too." They absorb the weight of the church alongside you. Asking how they're really doing costs nothing and means everything. "I'm not just an employee. I'm called to this." Treating staff like hired hands and not ministry partners is one of the fastest ways to lose them. "Your confidence in me matters more than my title." A public word of trust from the lead pastor can carry someone through months of hard work. Your staff is the backbone of everything your church does. Make sure they know you see them. Tag a staff member or church leader who deserves to hear this today.

Mike Signorelli thought real pastors stayed off social media. His wife said that’s exactly why it would work 📱

How to Grow Your Church's Online Audience From Scratch You don't need a big team or a big budget. You need the right habits. Here's where to start. 1. Pick one platform and commit. A church that does Instagram well beats a church spread thin across five platforms every time. 2. Post for strangers, not members. 95% of people who see your content don't attend your church. Write every post like it's the first thing they'll ever see from you. 3. Show real people. Faces build trust faster than graphics. One authentic video of a real person beats ten polished quote tiles. 4. Be consistent before you're good. Showing up three times a week with average content beats showing up once a month with perfect content. 5. Repurpose your sermon every week. One Sunday message can become five posts. Stop letting your best content die after the service ends. 6. Engage with every comment and DM. The algorithm rewards conversation. So does every real person on the other side of the screen. Comment SCORECARD, and we'll send you our free Church Social Media Scorecard to track what's actually growing your audience.

Tomorrow on the ReachRight Podcast: Thomas and Shiloh sit down with Mike Signorelli. Mike’s online teaching reaches millions every month, and he’s #4 on our Pastor Influence 100 list. But most of what pastors assume about why his church is growing isn’t the real reason. Thomas and Shiloh ask him what that hidden reason is, how to turn online viewers into people in the room, what fast growth broke along the way, and the one thing a 150-person church could start this month without a big budget. Plus a look at his new book, The Unoffendable Heart. Don’t miss this one tomorrow.

The line that gets church Google reviews: “Would you mind sharing your honest experience? It helps people looking for a church find us.”

A church with 38 recent Google reviews can outrank one with 140 old ones. Recency wins.

When Nehemiah heard that Jerusalem’s walls were in ruins, he didn’t start drawing up plans. He sat down and cried. For days, he fasted and prayed (Nehemiah 1:4). When he finally got to Jerusalem, he still didn’t make a big announcement. He went out at night and walked the broken walls himself, so he could see exactly what they were dealing with. Only then did he call the people together. And what he said is worth noticing: “Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem” (Nehemiah 2:17). Not “watch me.” Let us. So everybody took a section. Families, priests, goldsmiths. A lot of them rebuilt the stretch of wall right outside their own front door. And when people mocked them and threatened them, Nehemiah kept pointing them back to who they were doing it for: “Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome” (Nehemiah 4:14). Pastor, you might be the one carrying the vision. But you were never supposed to lay every brick yourself. Who’s already standing next to you, ready to take a section?

Your church’s star rating isn’t what Google cares about most. Steady, recent reviews are, and they’re completely free.