I recently spoke to a church staff member who had been working with youth full-time for 12 years. Yet in his dozen years of service, he had only attended one Youth Specialties conference—that was all the training he ever received. I couldn't help but think how much he and the thousands of youth he worked with over the years could have benefited from additional training at conferences.

During tough economic times, many churches are looking at cutting all travel for training and events, but that may not be the wisest decision. Why?

Skye Jethani, managing editor of Leadership journal, and author of The Divine Commodity (Zondervan, 2009), discusses how churches can create sacred space within their ministry facilities. Watch the video.

You can improve your church outreach, use advertising, even get your church members motivated to bring their friends, yet if you don't manage your parking lot well, your impact will be limited. The good news is parking lot management is not rocket science; all you need to do is apply the five keys to a well-run parking lot:

Do you know what you need to know to build the church of the future? That question will be addressed at the next Cornerstone Alignment conference on Tuesday, September 15, 2009 in Chicago.

The theme for Cornerstone Conference series in 2009 is Alignment, and the core message is the vital relationship between Culture, Ministry, Leadership and Facilities. New faces in the Cornerstone line-up this year include Will Mancini (author of Church Unique), Jim Sheppard (President of Generis), Mel McGowan (President of Visioneering) and Denny Wilson (Senior Pastor of Warsaw Community Church).

Call (888) 595-7360 or visit CornerstoneConferences.com to register.

It seems that many younger Christians are attracted to formal liturgy and tradition. Are you seeing this in your area as well?

Dan Kimball: The churches I know that are winning new believers and drawing people who did not grow up in the church are not using too many liturgical elements. I think we might be seeing people who were raised within the church and are tired of the contemporary approach being drawn to the ancient practices. But, at least on the West coast, I'm not seeing young people from outside the church being drawn to liturgy. Every person I know&mdashand obviously I don't know everybody—who has moved into a liturgical context has come out of a very large, contemporary church and they just got burned out on the machine. They now find refreshment in a smaller setting with liturgy.

At the same time, our church is using some liturgical elements like responsive readings and the Doxology, but we're not following a formal liturgy. Either way, I think it's great that some people are engaging liturgy again. It's good for young people to know that Christianity was not born in 1980, but it has ancient roots. Are new people coming to faith? Whether our church is liturgical or contemporary we need to ask that question.

The church had all the appearances of success. More than 2,000 people gathered weekly for worship, the music was cutting edge, the landscape was perfectly maintained, everyone loved the pastor's sermons, and the children's programs were creative and engaging.

Skye Jethani, managing editor of Leadership magazine, and author of the book, The Divine Commodity, discusses how consumerism affects church design. To what extent do you think churches feed into consumer expectations versus standing apart from the culture as sacred places? Post a comment below.

Drive through the old town center in Anywhere, USA, and you will find two buildings encircled by the main road: the courthouse and the church. Historically, the church has been the locus, or central focus, of the community. For better or worse, it was where people congregated to share life's stories.

Once the center of connection, the church has become an ancillary part of the greater community. It has lost its status as a "third place."

The church is called to maintain a balancing act with the community and culture. God calls his people to be holy as he is holy. In this way, the church is set apart. But the church is also called to reach outward to the community and world. In this way, the people of the church must interact with the culture around them.

I help churches navigate change. As a Transforming Church consultant, I meet with leaders of churches and non-profit organizations across the country and help them through a journey of discovery, vision clarity, personal transformation, and community impact. No matter how diverse their situations, they share one thing in common: they all struggle to admit certain truths. Here are five of them that, once understood, may set you free:

1. It's okay to say no.