In what follows, I’m essentially banging the same “The Great Opt Out” drum as I did a couple weeks ago, though at a slightly different tempo. I think we should immediately discard any version of the question, “what do we do to get folks back to...
The last few years have taken something from all of us. Some of us are bereaved and going through the stages of grief. But all of us are at some stage of mourning. It took my wife, the mental health counselor, to tell me that...
Yes, people are opting out of “church.” No surprise there. But what are they actually opting out of? And what does this say about what matters, what doesn’t, and what we might more intentionally move toward? Earlier this month, Dr. Scott Thumma, director of the Hartford...
In recent weeks, my colleagues and I have been writing about what conversations pastors and their congregations need to be having right now. High on that list for me is what it means to pursue shared leadership between clergy and laity. Exodus 18 offers a powerful...
I have a confession. When my children were in elementary school, I was notorious for picking them up late. It began when I was in seminary across town and had to speed back to our side of town to get them. The teachers were amazing...
John and May Hakala were second-generation Finns who lived for a time in Kotzebue, Alaska. Kotzebue is remote—even for Alaska. Pastor Michael Lindvall, who knew the Hakalas when he was growing up, heard stories of their life in this far-off place, including one about eggs. When...
To say we have been through a lot over these past few years is a gross understatement. The seismic shifts that are still occurring across every area of our lives - the enormity of the adjustments we have had to make in our lives and...
Since his recent passing, Frederick Buechner’s words have been with me more frequently, shared by friends sharing on social media, emerging from memory, and on pages that I’ve gone searching for when I couldn’t quite remember how he had phrased a particular idea or insight...
Recently, while hanging out with friends, one friend was telling us all about the relationship she shares with her new significant other. We all smiled and shared her happiness as she spoke of their synergy and like-mindedness, of the ways they are different yet complimentary...