In the fourth chapter of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus tells a parable: Again Jesus began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the...
Luke 17:11-19: 11 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus[a] was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten lepers[b] approached him. Keeping their distance, 13 they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves...
The presentation to the mission committee offered a compelling case for funding clean water wells in Haiti and in Malawi. It seemed the committee was ready to allocate a significant part of its budget to this worthy endeavor. Then two members raised their hands. “What...
We haven’t talked yet about the setting for church meetings – how rooms are set up to achieve your goals for that meeting or even the meeting location. Location is especially crucial for mission committees, which is often the church group that finds itself at...
Mission Committees of churches have a long list of pressing items each time they meet: requests, reports, budgets, evaluations. Lost in all that can be a Mission Committee’s relationship to meeting needs. The second half of Mark’s Gospel records an ordinary day in the life...
Speaking from experience, I think we can agree together that we approach dangerous water when we speak (or hear) this sentence: “Of course, we all know the purpose of the ________________ Committee.” Probably somewhere in a tattered file folder in most every congregation, there is...
Christmas is about giving, yes, but Christmas is also about receiving - receiving gifts, receiving people, receiving God’s grace. How do church boards learn to receive well? How, in a context where things are constantly being asked of them, do they practice reception? And not...
Think of a church that is well known for its generosity to those in need, especially at Christmas. Would it surprise you to know that this church nearly tears itself apart each year in wrestling over how much to give to whom, and who gets...
During the first full year of the Civil War (1862), Emily Dickinson wrote: At least—to pray—is left—is left— Oh Jesus—in the Air— I know not which thy chamber is— I'm knocking—everywhere— Thou settest Earthquake in the South— And Maelstrom, in the Sea— Say, Jesus Christ of Nazareth— Hast thou no Arm for Me?...