Twenty-five years ago, Zygmunt Bauman coined Liquid Modernity to describe a world where “forms of social life cannot keep their shape for long, because they decompose and melt faster than the time it takes to cast them.” That liquid has since thinned and accelerated. In...
Congregational and Pastoral Formation Curator Amy Valdez Barker speaks with Shannon Hopkins (Rooted Good) and Malaika Cheney-Coker (Ignited Word) about the importance of aligning mission with money, shaping a life with margins, and how we can unleash human creativity for the sake of the greater...
In times like these, when lines have been drawn and trenches have been dug between ‘us and them,’ it can be difficult to imagine that we are not alone in our struggles. If we’ve ever been hurt or abandoned by friends or family, the hurdle...
Program Director Adam Borneman continues his conversation with Adrienne Mixon (Better Days Counseling) and Dr. Steven Sandage (Boston University) about the difference between self-care and soul-care, the limitations of the phrase "helping profession", and the importance of understanding that we are not God....
There is always a cost to belonging, even when there is no membership fee to join. Every community, institution, and organization has their own ethos, expectations, and/or rules of engagement, which are often unstated yet can be as binding as the written rules. I went...
Program Director Adam Borneman speaks with Dr. Steven Sandage (Boston University) and Adrienne Mixon (Better Days Counseling) about the importance - and limitations - of clergy self-care, the way that existential dynamics compound clergy stress, and why church leaders need to live within a relational...
Seth Godin often asks: Are we connecting the dots, or merely collecting them? In that spirit, I want to connect a few seemingly diverse—but profoundly related—observations about the church today. * * * * * A recent article in The Economist began: Push open the heavy door and...
Program Curator Adam Borneman continues his conversation with colleague Jennifer Watley Maxell and friend Chad Knudsen, along with their high school juniors Skylar and Kate, about the complicated role of technology in their lives, the importance of building intentional community, and the hope they see...