Hi Todd,

Firstly let me say that MMI is a great resource and I appreciate the time and effort you put into it. I also appreciate you opening up for feedback.

I thikn the only thing I would raise at this point is that one can sometimes have the impression that the posts are dominated by what is happening in large to very large churches. While information on such churches is interesting and worthwhile, don’t forget that the vast majority of churches do not operate on that scale, and probably never will. So how about some more “grass roots” stuff for the pastor or leader who needs resources and ideas on some of the more fundamental church growth issues?

On the whole, great job - I hope you understand where I’m coming from with this comment.

Rob
Normandy, France

Thanks, Rob…

On the large church issue… yes, I would tend to agree.  There are probably a couple of reasons for that:

1.  In my work with Leadership Network, I work mostly with large churches, so I hear quite a lot about what’s going on in those type churches.

2.  It’s the large churches that get press coverage; and they are the ones, for the most part, that are contributing resources.  I’d love to have more ‘small church’ stories and resources here; but quite frankly, can’t find many.  Maybe you all can help?

I’ve heard the same criticism put this way:  MMI is mostly for multi-staff churches.  We need more resources for the lone ranger paster.  (This is also true).

Thanks again… great input!

First off MMI is one of the few blogs I read almost daily so I really appreciate what you write.  Here are some of my thoughts:

Topics: awesome topics always.  There has been a few times where the topic was aimed at the primary pastor and I wished I could have heard the advice you or whoever was writing would have for a supporting pastor (being a support staff myself).

One topic I would like to see more of (particularly because I am at this stage in my life) is transitioning - again particularly from support staff point of view.  I find myself wondering what questions I should be asking the pastors I have interviews with, how to handle difficult transitions with grace, questions I should ask myself to determine what the right fit for me would be.  stuff like that.

I would like to see more Canadian content because things are very different up here but that may not be within your scope of things.  Maybe you know of someone blogging about ministry in Canada or maybe I should just start haha

I have to agree that I love the buzz posts.

Frequency is great.  If you have too much more I won’t be able to keep up

Love the opportunity for feedback, information and connection.  Really like the rotation and variety of topics.  Thanks for this. 

Frustrations: having one agenda people who only look for what is wrong and miss the point fo articles.  Not much you can do about this, and many of them have moved on. 

I visit most days and contribute as my life lets me. 

Leonard

I love what you’re doing - my only frustration is that your RSS feed does wacky things to Bloglines… it spills over the right hand side of page & makes it very difficult to read.

I visit here daily, often several times (there are times the commments are as valuable, if not more so than the articles). I have found this to be one of the most educational blogs out there. It’s not just opinions and debate, there is often something to learn.

Types of posts--I really like case studies and leadership issues. I too am a smaller church pastor, and many of the things directed at the larger churches (latest technology, multi-site, etc) get skipped.

Frustrations-- I can’t think of much that Todd can control (i.e., closed mindsets posting the same diatribes over and over again--only thing Todd can do is delete them at the risk of accusations of censorship) that frustrates me. EXCEPT, when you have a Friday funny and someone takes it serious, because they didn’t read the “disclaimer: this is a joke” statement, don’t explain it or defend it. It makes it funnier when they do take it serious.

Improvements-- Monkeys. Monkeys are fun. Post some pictures of monkeys dressed in funny clothes when the debates get hot and offensive. Everybody likes monkeys in funny clothes, and they will be in a better mood.

How you can help my experience? Hmmm… You mean, besides, telling everyone to read my blog, right? Actually, I love what your doing. Good variety and great information. Keep up the good work! Monkeys… That was funny.

Topics - These are great! No joke, not a week goes by when I am not dealing with an issue and I read about it on MMI. Good stuff

Types of Posts - Case studies, tips and tools for leadership are all great

Posting Frequency - Just the right amount.

Blog Features - I would love to be able to edit my posts after I post them. I am the typo king in my psts! That may be too difficult, becaust it would require that we login before posting.

Community - I feel like I get to know other posters. The snap program is good for us to see those who have blogs like me. If you were to require logins before posting, we could submit a picture. I think that would be good...to have a picture with your post.

Services and Tools - Money is a good tool. You could give me money. That would help the ministry!

What frustrates You about MMI? What is Best about it? - the variety and relevants of the posts. I also pastor a small church in a rural area, but I find most posts have something to do with my ministry.

Derek

The buzz posts truly are my favorite. Dunno why.. they just are. And no, it has nothing to do with drinking.

Really enjoy the variety of posts though. Definitely keep up the mixture of serious, humorous, and helpful.

Community? On the internet? MMI definitely proves it can happen. Thanks so much for that Todd.

Now about monkeys… I was making sounds and doing hand motions like a monkey the WHOLE TIME I was writing this.