Periodically, we need a reminder of why we write this blog and what our hopes are for church boards. A recent report from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) serves as just such a reminder. The PRRI report announced its findings last week with the headline:...
The musical Wicked, which is both a prequel and sequel to The Wizard of Oz, tells the story of two unlikely friends, Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) and Glinda (the Good Witch), and their relationship struggles through opposing personalities and viewpoints. In one...
It’s a trap, especially for church boards. When people come back to worship post-pandemic, then we will be able to feel a vitality again. When we get the right pastor, then things can begin to fire on all cylinders. When these troublesome members leave, then we can finally...
Church boards know this. In your faith community… Not everyone speaks with the same history. Not everyone speaks at the same volume. Not everyone speaks with the same frequency. Certainly, not everyone speaks with the same agenda(!). And, if we are honest, not everyone speaks with the same commitment, spiritual...
Reeling from the impact of the Highland Clearances, early nineteenth-century Highland Scots were desperate to find a way to connect their region’s numerous Lochs (lakes) to provide seamless water transportation for commercial goods—both to stem the tide of emigration and to nurture a new economy....
In American culture, Memorial Day usually signals a different routine. Not just more activities outdoors, but a little less intensity indoors … in the workplace, and in church as well. For a church board, so much of the year is taken up with tasks that...
Maybe there was a time, decades ago, when serving on a church board meant that you could pretty much guess what folks in your congregation needed and what you should try to provide for them. Maybe. But realistically, ministry today (as probably then) is practiced on a...
Signs of post-Easter and summer’s promise seem to be everywhere in churches now – including, we imagine, in the changing rhythms of your church board. The planning, the work, the worry, the decisions that have consumed your board’s time and energy throughout the “program year” are...
Welcome to our once-a-year post that uses a sports metaphor. Some folks may be aware that major league baseball, following decades of declining interest and increasingly looonngg games, instituted several rule changes this season. One of these changes created a clock for pitchers and batters. ...