ChurchOps.AI
The question to carry into this week's staff meeting
If a member stopped you Sunday and asked, "How do I know I'm actually growing?" — could you point to a next step? A habit, a person, a class — or would you reach for a hopeful shrug?
Most of us affirm discipleship more clearly than we've defined it. Naming one next step is where design begins.
What other churches are talking about this week
Pastors affirm discipleship — but few can measure it (June 3) — New Lifeway research: 52% of pastors are satisfied with discipleship at their church — only 8% strongly. And 71% believe it can be measured; just 30% actually do. Widely affirmed, rarely designed. See the study →
Gen Z reaches for "Christian," not "Protestant" (June) — Christianity Today reports younger believers are far likelier to say "just Christian" than name a tradition. The hopeful thread for disciple-makers: where a childhood home carried a strong faith identity, it carried forward. Read it →
One trend not everyone has caught yet
The average churchgoer scores a 68 on discipleship. — The same study scored churchgoers across eight marks of maturity: the average came to 68.1 out of 100 — a pass, but barely. Only 31% read Scripture daily; 30% say most people who know them don't know they follow Jesus. See the research →
What your people will bring to the pews
Your people are arriving lonelier than they let on — nearly half of young adults report real loneliness, and many feel no one truly knows them. A church's ordinary relational life — a name remembered, a real question asked — is what the culture is starving for. Worth naming from up front this week.
One pain. One teammate.
By the time I've pieced together who showed up Sunday — who was new, who's gone quiet — it's already midweek.
The teammate for this:
Pastor's Monday Morning Brief lands first thing each week with a clear read on your people — who visited, who's slipping, who needs a call — so shepherding starts from sight, not guesswork. You can't disciple people you can't see. One of three bonuses bundled with Exec Pastor OS.
See it →Free tools live at churchops.ai/on-the-house.
A verse we're sitting with
"Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ." — Colossians 1:28
This issue went out to subscribers on Monday, June 29, 2026. The Brief is free, weekly, and short.
Get the Brief free →From Travis Marshall, exec pastor and founder of ChurchOps.AI. Because the work is spiritual before it's operational.