ARC

Welcome to the Church Bylaws Landing Page! Leading a church should be joyful. Yes, there are many courageous decisions that need to be made. But no one needs the “side-ways energy” that bad bylaws create. Bad bylaws cause good people to behave badly. So, here are a few resources to help you rethink your leadership…

How does Digital Church work at Substance? After COVID hit our country, we made a simple decision: “We are no longer a physical church with digital options; rather, we are a digital church with physical locations.”  To borrow a phrase from Amazon, “It takes clicks to get bricks.” But how are we reinventing ourselves? Well,…

We love to hate healthy people, don’t we? Whenever my wife judiciously orders a salad at a restaurant, it reminds me that my triple-patty bacon burger is a heart-attack waiting to happen. And studies show that the same is true with generosity… yet, we rarely admit it. It’s no secret that most people hate greed.…

We have some exciting news to share.  Substance is going to be launching a brand new campus coming up this August.  For some of you this doesn’t come as much of a shock.  After all we keep setting new attendance records at each of our locations.  But, as we announce this joyful expansion, I thought…

People at Substance are always asking me:  “Peter, where did you fly this last week?”  And I love to talk about it because:  Much of the coolest ministry that Substance does happens outside of the Twin Cities.  And even though this fruit isn’t as visible as the stuff that happens locally, it’s nonetheless powerful to…

As many of you know, Jeff Zaugg and his wife Michelle (on our elder-board) have been hanging out at Substance for quite some time.  And like everyone who’s been with us since the beginning, he’s heard me endlessly rant about the power of Christian friendships.  After all, (here I go again) the single greatest statistical…

Based on the investigation of Lifeway research [linked below], Outreach magazine recently reported that Substance is officially one of the fastest growing churches in the U.S.!  Way to go Substance!  Officially, we’re number 8 in terms of national growth percentages, and number 21 in terms of overall numbers. (Go God!)  Especially as we hit our…

“Oh no you didn’t.”  Oh yes we did!   Substance just finished it’s very first vision and financial update magazine. I realize that it might not be that exciting to you. But it’s just that most churches give such small reports (thus, nobody cares).  Or just as sad, many churches give out these complicated profit and loss…

   I cry when I watch NFL films.  I know it’s a strange confession… especially for an artsy alternative boy like myself.  Both in high-school and college I was the “extreme-sports-only” guy.  But, NFL films make everything so climactic.  And, let’s be honest, NFL films aren’t necessarily about football.  They’re about normal people with huge…

  Well, I got to live out a dream of sorts.  As many of you know, I’m a big Craig Groeschel fan.  And if you don’t know who he is, well… he’s the pastor of the amazing and innovative lifechurch.tv.  He’s a younger guy (40’s) yet they already have a bazillion campuses.  Seriously, this guy…