“We and our fathers have sinned” - Daniel 9:8 As many of you know, for about four years I served as pastor of a small congregation in Birmingham, AL. Taking the reins a week after my 27th birthday, I was idealistic, wide-eyed, naïve, and ambitious. But...
My daughter and I usually read two or three short books every night before bedtime. One of our favorite books is Maurice Sendak’s classic, Where the Wild Things Are. For those unfamiliar the story, it tells the tale of Max, a mildly recalcitrant and lovable...
One of my all-time favorite movies is the Big Lebowski. In many ways, this cult classic is about an unlikely yet strangely beautiful friendship between two characters – Walter and The Dude. Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) is a seemingly crass Vietnam War veteran who, despite...
“There can be no liberty for a community which lacks the means by which to detect lies.” So wrote Walter Lippman in his famous 1920 book, Liberty and the News....
If we’re not careful, a Christian meditation on the theme of “adventure” can quickly devolve into shortsided idealism about the supposed excitement of following Jesus, how inherently adventurous it is to take risks for Jesus, or something of the sort. ...
Resurrection makes a lot more sense to me than the Incarnation. In one sense, the logic of resurrection is rather simple: You’re dead, and then you’re risen from the dead. The widow of Zarephath's son was dead, and Elijah raised him. ...
My friend and colleague, Rev. Gray Norsworthy, recently recommended to me David Sax’ book, The Revenge of Analog: Real Things and Why They Matter. I’m glad he did. It’s a fascinating narrative chronicling recent market and broader societal movements that are bucking the trends of...
When I was in third grade, my grandfather made me memorize the 23rd Psalm (in the King James version, of course; is there any other way we’d prefer to hear or recite it?). At the time, I was enduring several months of “confirmation” in the...
It is surely cliché at this point to say that the U.S. is politically polarized. This reality is corroborated not only by the daily experience of most Americans, including older generations of people who say they can hardly remember a more divided time, but also...
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I was the Facilitator for the first New York City cohort, and at the time, I was working in theological education on Christian leadership formation, so it seemed like a natural fit. What I discovered, though, was something quite different from my “day job.” While the content and topics of the curriculum was a crucial part of our gatherings, it was the community of mutual care and support that made the content relevant, not the other way around. And second, having three years of strong bonding created an extraordinarily resilient community that, in turn, was able to build up resilience in our leaders. I think every member of my cohort went through significant seasons of both joy and heartache, professionally and vocationally, during our time. And the cohort, in turn, lived out the exhortation of Romans 12:15, “rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep,” with a depth and integrity that I have rarely experienced, and often doing both in the same gathering. It was a privilege and a blessing to me and my own faith and ministry to be their facilitator, and I am eternally grateful to the Ministry Collaborative for calling me to that work!”
“It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It was unique to my particular situation. It was needed, appreciated and healing. It was affirming. Most valuable was the unspoken understanding of what we all were facing in our ministry context. There was a sense that we could finish each other’s sentences. Solidarity and empathy.”
Graduation Date:
May 23, 2021
“It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It was unique to my particular situation. It was needed, appreciated and healing. It was affirming. Most valuable was the unspoken understanding of what we all were facing in our ministry context. There was a sense that we could finish each other’s sentences. Solidarity and empathy.”
Graduation Date:
May 23, 2021
“I truly looked forward to this every week. The discussion topics, activities, and small group conversations were all very rich and meaningful. This experience gave me space to reflect on what’s happening right now in my congregation and community. It helped me to think about what might be next in my own ministry. It offered some very concrete ways I might work on equipping leaders in my congregation. I really enjoyed meeting colleagues from different places, denominations, and contexts–and learning from their experiences and reflections. I also appreciated hearing further conversation and reinforcement in the podcasts.”
Graduation Date:
July 14, 2021
“The experience was, in one word, enriching. It was timely as well. I was at a critical point in my own ministry and this literally breathed life back into me. The time went by so fast that I didn’t even realize two months had passed. To be able to share that type of camaraderie with other preachers, and realize that my struggles are not isolated, was liberating.”
Graduation Date:
March 18, 2021
“It was great to find confirmation and affirmation of my ministry through the voices of other pastors. I particularly enjoyed the focused time on talking about each of us as individuals and pastors, and not so much on what our churches look like.”
Graduation Date:
January 31st, 2020