Author: Elizabeth Lynn

Elizabeth Lynn

Podcasts By Elizabeth Lynn

Every church board faces hard choices at its meetings.  Beginning with how to structure the meeting itself. Choice One is to spend time… …on the minutes from the previous meeting, correcting typos and the list of excused absences; …making one board member uncomfortably read some mild piece they...

Exactly one month ago today, Gallup published significant data on church membership in a report bluntly titled U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for First Time. Highlights from Gallup’s polling include the following: 47% of Americans report that they belong to a house of worship (a category...

In his wise and insightful New York Times piece titled “The Unsettling Power of Easter,” Esau McCaulley recalls an Easter of his youth. I grew up in the Southern Black church tradition, where Easter was the opportunity to don your best outfit. The yellow and red...

It must be hard to contemplate the breadth and depth of your church board agenda right now.  New protocols for meeting in person, staying safe, being ready to contact-trace if needed, and tracking vaccination levels.  But also, in-person worship (or when can we do that?)...

In some traditions, the story of Thomas’ encounter with the Risen Christ, following upon his earlier missed opportunity, is suggested for the Sunday after Easter. You’ll notice careful construction in the previous sentence to avoid the word “doubt.”  In the clear proclamation of John’s Gospel, the...

A quick survey of recent church-related emails yields one prominent word:  return. “Return to in-person worship.” “Return in time for Easter.” “Return of regular programs.” “We know you are all wondering, when can we finally return after these long, hard 13 months?” What does the word “return” mean for your...

These days, whenever churches get mentioned in the company of banks, Congress, journalism, and big business, the news is probably not good. Case in point: Amanda Ripley’s recent piece in Comment Magazine on The Mystery of Trust. For decades, at least four different research organizations have been...

“No one around here trusts the other side at all.”  - a U.S. Congressperson, January 2021 “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”  - Psalm 56:3 Former Secretary of State (and Secretary of Labor and Treasury at different times) George Shultz died this past...

mahjong ways 2