“The hard thing when you get old is to keep your horizons open. The first part of your life everything is in front of you, all your potential and promise. But over the years, you make decisions; you carve yourself into a given shape. Then...
One of the traps we see ministries falling into revolves around this set of assumptions: We have the youth ministry lane, the worship lane, the adult education lane, the missions lane, the communications lane, and so on. And then an individual, group, or committee is...
These two charts (among many others!) have been very helpful to me for understanding why so many ministries struggle with collaboration even while rightly naming it as a priority. Simply put, we tend to talk a lot about collaboration without describing what we actually mean by...
For many of us 2020 has started the same as any other year with an endless list of task, chores, errands and to-do’s. No matter how we ended 2019, 2020 demands that some things must be done. As for pastors and church leaders, there are...
Most of us learned a certain way of doing chores: we were told to get through with all the “compulsory things” and then we would be “rewarded “ with something fun or meaningful. First the mundane, then the meaningful. I think we’ve imported this approach into ministry. ...
This year has been amazing! To each of you who has joined us in this wonderful work of supporting, equipping and transforming pastors and congregations, we say thank you! Whether you have served as a facilitator, a cohort member, a presenter, a conversation partner, a...
What are your church’s biggest problems? You know – the ones that have people talking in meetings, in the hall, in the parking lot… Chances are that if you’re a leader in your congregation, you could make a list of problems in a quick minute. ...
I am a life-long Presbyterian who loves the church. I went to a Presbyterian seminary, where I was formed by Presbyterian theology. It has been Presbyterian pastors and lay people who have shaped me, and it is a Presbyterian pension and medical plan that secures...
“Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them…” Philippians 4:5a – The Message I’ve been in Alabama for twenty years now and perhaps one of the most annoying things I witness is...