This month, church boards will convene in the wake of the U.S. midterm elections. A congregation of any size has within it those who do not agree with one another socially, politically, theologically. What does belonging to one another in a church mean when the...
For the last several weeks, we have been considering what could make church board meetings feel like church, instead of all the other meetings in our lives....
Of course, settling and opening are not mutually exclusive actions. But then, why do so many of our church board meetings proceed as if they are?...
There have been countless times I have been so tempted to have t-shirts printed with that emblazoned on the front in bold, neon letters and distribute them among every church committee or board with whom I have worked. It’s not about more information....
What does the church have that culture doesn’t have? More importantly, what does the church have that culture shows absolutely no interest in having?...
That is the understandable question that church board members ask when their meetings begin to tilt toward Bible study, discussion of articles about the nature of God’s church, and prayer. Of course, church being church, rare is the occasion that any board member will speak...
“We learn to praise God not by paying compliments, but by paying attention,” Frederick Buechner once wrote. It’s an excellent guideline for church board meetings....
If we feed people spiritually, all the true institutional needs of a congregation will be taken care of. I think the corollary is also true: congregations can organize, plan, arrange, recruit, announce and invite folks to all types of things, but if the deep spiritual needs...
The hurricane that is bearing down on the east coast as I write this, the earthquakes that have shaken Japan, the spilled cargo of an 18-wheeler that snarls traffic for hours on your way to work—these are bad, potentially dangerous disruptions....
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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