Ministry is incredibly – and increasingly – complex. Let’s name this and own it. AND let’s keep going. There’s too much at stake, and your calling to ministry matters. It’s having a ripple effect that will extend beyond what you assume or imagine. You’re planting...
A couple of well-known reminders for you today: Joshua 1:9 “… I’ll be with you. I won’t give up on you; I won’t leave you. Strength! Courage!” (Eugene Peterson’s Message translation) So also, Jesus says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect...
How do you measure the vitality of a congregation? Ask almost any denominational body over the past several decades, and they’re bound to say something about the three B’s – bodies, budgets, buildings. The assumption seems to be that the fuller the pews on Sunday mornings, the...
The Church proclaims the greatest love story ever told. God pursued God’s people throughout the ages. God sent God’s own son into the world out of indescribable, incomprehensible love. Jesus lived, loved, suffered, and died…but He rose again. And after appearing to many, He ascended...
The legendary singer-songwriter Paul Simon grew up in the borough of Queens in New York City. Yet, when Simon & Garfunkel first went on Dick Clark’s “American Bandstand” and Mr. Simon was asked where he was from, he spontaneously lied and said “Macon, Georgia.” It...
Friends, as we journey into the weeks following Easter (what some of our traditions call Eastertide), rest assured that we may continue to proclaim Jesus’ resurrection with the same joy and celebration that many of our ministries exhibited on Easter Sunday. We are free to...
Holy Week is upon us, and we are into another news cycle fraught with social and political unrest – threats of bloodbaths and government shutdowns – wars and rumors of war – oh yeah and allergies. And to top things off, many of us are...
“I’m so bored. I have nothing to do. Let’s go to church, I’m sure they can give me something to do” said no one ever! Unlike just a couple of years ago post-pandemic when many of us opened our church doors and/or resumed in-person worship...
Vinyl records are making a big comeback, with over six million sold in 2023. An interesting note: half of all people buying vinyl records don’t own a record player. Why do they buy them? According to several assessments, buyers say they want a “tangible connection”...