Words matter in preaching. But words matter even more when you’re not the one speaking them. Listening is the other side of the communication and it is essential to pastoral leadership. The late Peter Drucker, whose work in leadership and management continues to ring relevant,...
Mission Committees of churches have a long list of pressing items each time they meet: requests, reports, budgets, evaluations. Lost in all that can be a Mission Committee’s relationship to meeting needs. The second half of Mark’s Gospel records an ordinary day in the life...
Perhaps nowhere is the use of words more publicly on display nor more consequential that in the preaching moment. Preaching is really a remarkable event and almost unparalleled in human society. Think about it. Week after week preachers open an ancient text and, through it,...
Speaking from experience, I think we can agree together that we approach dangerous water when we speak (or hear) this sentence: “Of course, we all know the purpose of the ________________ Committee.” Probably somewhere in a tattered file folder in most every congregation, there is...
Word Matters Part 1: Words Matter “Toxic” was the Oxford English Dictionary’s “Word of the Year” for 2018. Toxic. Imbued with poison. Given the climate of our national discourse, this is no surprise. Meanwhile, on the other hand, The Christian Science Monitor reported recently that words like...
Refocusing the Christmas Lens With most pastors and congregations thinking about upcoming worship services and other ministry opportunities that seize so much of our attention this time of year, I want to help us think broadly about what the priorities are, what they aren’t, and how...
In this webinar, Adam and our gifted panelists provide a brief overview of what Macedonian Ministry is currently seeing in the church across the many denominations, traditions, and contexts MM is engaged with. They also consider how various metrics, categories, and priorities are rapidly shifting,...
Christmas is about giving, yes, but Christmas is also about receiving - receiving gifts, receiving people, receiving God’s grace. How do church boards learn to receive well? How, in a context where things are constantly being asked of them, do they practice reception? And not...
Refocusing the Christmas Lens With most pastors and congregations thinking about upcoming worship services and other ministry opportunities that seize so much of our attention this time of year, I want to help us think broadly about what the priorities are, what they aren’t, and how...