In a recent TMC podcast, Allison Norton and Scott Thumma of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research highlighted data showing that congregations’ openness to change rose during the pandemic. This makes sense. Every faith community had to try lots of things they had never done...
As some of our churches plan Harvest Parties for the children as an alternative to Halloween, the children are already planning their costumes. There will be tiny vampires, witches with pointy black hats, fairy princesses with magic wands, and little pumpkins in strollers who are...
TMC Program Staff Mark Ramsey, Jennifer Watley Maxell, and Beth Daniel speak with Kyle Bender about leading in a world that changes faster than we can adapt, where pastoral care ends and therapy begins, and why compassion may be the church’s most important gift to...
Fall is that season in which church boards turn their attention toward the deeper, more perennial questions of church life. What should we do next? And how can we reach more people? These well-intentioned discussions often revolve around adding new programs, improving programs already in place,...
TMC Program Staff Beth Daniel, Adam Mixon, and Adam Borneman continue their conversation with the Rev. Katie Nakamura Rengers (St. Elizabeth's Episcopal Church, Honolulu about her recent blog post for TMC, the importance of welcoming questions, and why we need to be able to recognize when...
Throughout the scriptures, God does not promise that nothing bad is coming. Quite the opposite. For example, the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah assumes there will be overwhelming waters and consuming fire. The promise isn't that these things won't happen. It's: "When...
An unlikely pair of writers put courage in the foreground of their thinking about how to live a virtuous life. Maya Angelou memorably said, “Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.” C.S. Lewis made a...
TMC Program Staff Adam Mixon, Adam Borneman, and Beth Daniel speak with the Rev. Katie Nakamura Rengers (St. Elizabeth's Episcopal Church, Honolulu about her recent blog post for TMC, the Spirit's disrupting and surprising presence, and how she is finding God at work both inside...
Turn out the light Blow out the candle too Don't fear the night coming I'm right beside you Turn out the light Close your tired eyes Don't fear the night coming I'm right here by your side… … Diamonds in the mine got plenty to shine about I keep my diamonds down in the...