Lasting Impact Quotes

“Many individual congregations and some entire denominations won’t survive the next ten years. The difference between those who make it and those who don’t will be the difference between those who cling to the mission and those who cling to the model. When you go through a cultural shift as deep as the present shift, the mission survives but the model changes.”
― Carey Nieuwhof, Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow

“No community should have better relationships than the local church. After all, our faith is based on a Savior who reconciled the world to Himself, forgiving our sin. What could we possibly hold against one another? And yet often the local church is home to some of the most fractious, passive-aggressive relationships out there. We have a Savior who came full of grace and truth, yet church leaders will often swing to either extreme: all grace, so issues are never dealt with, or all truth, so people get hurt. Many people love the mission of the organization they work for; they just can’t stand the personal politics and dysfunction.”
― Carey Nieuwhof, Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow

“Volunteers that merely do as they are told out of a sense of duty will never contribute like those who own the vision, mission, and strategy and have been given the authority to lead.”
― Carey Nieuwhof, Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow

“Most church leaders I know (staff and boards) overthink and underact. If you acted on even a few more of your good ideas, you could possibly be twice as effective in a very short time frame. A B-plus plan brilliantly executed beats an A-plus plan that never gets implemented, every single time.”
― Carey Nieuwhof, Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow

“If your church is a museum of 1950 or even 2012, the likelihood of reaching the next generation diminishes with every passing day. 3.”
― Carey Nieuwhof, Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow

“Our assumptions got us to where we are, but they won’t necessarily get us where we need to go. I’ve found four questions in particular are helpful when your church stops growing.”
― Carey Nieuwhof, Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow

“If the change inside the church isn’t equal to or greater than the change outside our walls, greater irrelevance is inevitable.”
― Carey Nieuwhof, Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow

“The gospel has always been about God’s story intersecting with the human story. The church is uniquely positioned to tell the best story of all. So do it, well. Clearly people are looking for a better, richer, deeper story. Church leaders need to bring it to them.”
― Carey Nieuwhof, Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow

“the staggering truth is that 40 to 50 percent of students who are active in the church in their senior year of high school will drift away from the church as young adults. Did you catch that? Not 40 to 50 percent of kids, but 40 to 50 percent of kids who are active in their final year of high school will walk away.”
― Carey Nieuwhof, Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow

“Talk to people you disagree with, not about them.”
― Carey Nieuwhof, Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow

“overwork is the most rewarded addiction in our culture. People praise you for working hard, and the praise feels good.”
― Carey Nieuwhof, Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow

“Pain, after all, is selfish. Drop a brick on your toe and see if you can think of anything other than the pain. A shift toward a self-centered motivation is a danger sign that there is pain in your life that needs to be addressed.”
― Carey Nieuwhof, Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow

“We’re leading people to Jesus, not to ourselves or to our awesome church. Keeping the focus on Christ ensures that genuine life change happens and lasts.”
― Carey Nieuwhof, Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow

“Throughout the centuries, the mission of the church at its best has always been an outward mission focused on sharing the love Jesus has for the world with the world. That’s why growth matters to me (and to so many of you).”
― Carey Nieuwhof, Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow

“People need to be reached. The love of Jesus was designed to spill far beyond the walls of the church, not be contained within them.”
― Carey Nieuwhof, Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow

“Churches in decline often think in terms of what they can get from people—money, time, growth, etc. Churches that will make an impact on the future will be passionate about what they want for people—financial balance, generosity, the joy of serving, healthier families, and of course, Christ at the center of everyone’s life.”
― Carey Nieuwhof, Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow

“A B-plus plan brilliantly executed beats an A-plus plan that never gets implemented, every single time.”
― Carey Nieuwhof, Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow