Paul Nixon / Epicenter Group

08/25/2026

Latin American Experience with Changing Culture and Churches is Similar to the USA. In early July, Paul spent two weeks in Uruguay facilitating a national gathering of Methodist leaders for clarification of core values and discernment of ministry vision.

Latin American Experience with Changing Culture and Churches is Similar to the USA. Last two weeks I have been working with Uruguayan Method...

08/24/2026

After the release of "I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church 2nd Edition" in 2024, Paul's new book "A New Way Foward: Growing Churches in a New Era" is now available.

A BOOK ON GROWING MINISTRY WITH PODCASTS ATTACHED!

The work of growing vital churches has shifted significantly in the 2020’s. In the new Path 1 book A New Way Forward, Paul Nixon integrates twelve ministry success stories into the mix with QR codes on the pages of the books, where one can point a phone and immediately hear an interview with the pastor of a growing church! This resource is great for helping laity catch on to the new rhythms of effective churches in the 2020s!

https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/articles/a-new-resource-to-help-leaders-get-their-heads-out-of-the-1990s

07/30/2026

Amarillo, Texas is a city of 200,000 souls in the Texas panhandle, an area where the MAGA political brand dependably claims 70 percent or more of the vote. Every United Methodist congregation in the city and region disaffiliated from the denomination. Amarillo UMC came from a significant number of loyal United Methodists in the old downtown congregation. In this interview, Paul Nixon interviews pastor Chad Johnson about the challenges of rebuilding a United Methodist congregation in a part of the country where mainline denominations are often viewed with suspicion.

Pastor Chad Johnson shares the story of rebuilding Amarillo UMC in the Texas Panhandle, exploring the challenges and opportunities of renewing a United…

07/22/2026

Paul just returned from 12 days in South America. For three of those days he led a retreat with Methodist leaders across Uruguay. He used the same values, mission and visioning workshop he has used in scores of churches and judiscatories in the US. The result was a renewed clarity of who they are in the larger cast of Christians in Uruguay, and clear plans developing for renewed ministry in three strategic areas:
(1) Ministry with youth and children
(2) A renewed movement of adult discipleship
(3) The proliferation of Fresh Expressions alongside their established congregations.
Epicenter Group could work with your team along these lines.

06/30/2026

Norman Feliciano came to North America, to British Columbia, from the Philippines. He established a new United Methodist congregation north of the US border, in consultation with the United Church of Canada. This church plant has now spread into four ministry locations across the Vancouver region. Paul Nixon interviews Rev. Feliciano on issues related to planting with immigrants and related to multisite ministry multiplication.

A conversation with Rev. Norman Feliciano on planting immigrant-led United Methodist congregations in Canada and growing a multisite ministry across the…

06/25/2026

Increasingly my coaching clients are running into people in their communities, who are just hostile towards them. Some (usually slight) thing sets them off, and as often as not, it is nothing the pastor did. There are some best practices to observe.

Yes, you read the title correctly. Increasingly my clients are running into people in their communities - sometimes in the church, other ti...

06/18/2026

The challenge: a devoted couple in their 70s have formed the heart and soul of a major church outreach ministry with a high community profile. Sudden illness has sidelined them. There are no ready volunteers with what it takes to assume leadership. The pastor steps in so the ministry can continue- but its way too much on him, and not really his job.

The question: What are the church’s best options?

06/05/2026

In this episode of "Church is Changing" podcast, Paul Nixon interviews Pastor Daniel Park of Restoration Church in Herndon, Virginia in the tech corridor outside Washington DC. This is a story of how a second pastor managed to take a new church that almost did not survive pastoral transition and to turn it around.

Paul had the privilege to attend Restoration's worship service led by Rev. Park earlier this year.
https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/articles/church-is-changing-episode-95-daniel-park

06/02/2026

It’s not just for young adults. Eighty year olds use apps for banking, airline tickets, grocery delivery and calling for a ride when parking is too expensive...... As for younger adults, solid research reveals multiple disconnects with the culture of long-established churches. The disconnect is growing more severe.

For the last decade, cutting edge congregations have been adding mobile apps to their ministry communications plans. These early adopters h...

05/29/2026

A good chunk of our weekly participants in worship are now worshiping online. Some of those are live stream, and even more are watching the recording of the live stream online later. I had a colleague years back who used to look down at people who always sat in the balcony that they were less engaged - he was wrong about this, and I proved it to him. I can only imagine what he would say about the online worshipers, and he might have a point. What is your church doing to engage and build relationships with online worshipers?