Q+A - Episode 2

What Happened at First

Here are the questions asked in this episode:

- You talk about this photo of Criswell, Vines, and Lindsay – and how the decline had already been happening and nobody saw it. Help me here: was it even possible for them to see the decline? What were the signs back then?

- Is it wrong to have nostalgia over things in the church like pews, buildings, pulpits, and rooms? What would you say to church members who still grieve the loss of those “old things”?

- You mentioned that before Lindsay built the main auditorium there were descending voices. What were the objections? Why did they proceed?

- What motivated Dr. Lindsay to build a 10,000-seat auditorium? Of course, we can’t see motives, but I’d appreciate your perspective (this was a listener question).

- How do you stay ahead of the decline in a church?

- Jimmy Scroggins talks about staying flexible in facilities and finances. How are you doing that right now? How are things different now than they were before?

- How do you keep your ministry team unified today and from having competing visions and philosophies of ministry?

- You talk about not playing the blame game in the leadership podcast this week, we often think about leaders not blaming predecessors of the congregation. That’s so important. But what about when congregations do it? They might blame leaders or pastors for every bad thing they see in the church. How should members navigate this? Have you seen this happen?

- You end the leadership podcast by saying that leaders much keep their successors in mind. Imagine that you had the opportunity to know who that 7th-grade kid is. What would you tell him that he needs to know about this precious church called First Baptist? What does he need to know about what you’ve done? What do you think he’ll need to adjust?

- If you have any questions or would like more information about what was discussed on this episode, please submit your questions to [email protected]. We would love to hear from you!