Perhaps nothing is as demoralizing to a pastor as criticism. By criticism, I don’t mean critical feedback offered in good faith. Any pastor with a modicum of ego-strength welcomes that kind of criticism. No, the criticism I mean could better be termed “kvetching.” This is...
From Guest Writer: Rev. Courtney D. Arntzen, Associate Pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Missoula, MT. “Mine, mine, mine,” my two year old, Elias, yells as he battles his big brother, Ezra, for a toy. While I navigate the situation between the two, I hear my...
Reconciliation is the act of restoring estranged people to the bond of friendship. The assumption of estrangement in this definition is significant because reconciliation takes place not in the context of convenient relationship but in the context of separation, segregation, alienation, indifference, and disharmony. The...
A few years back I was a co-pastor at a church that prided itself in having the most uncomfortable pews in Christendom. Their pride was 100% warranted; the pews were barely sit-able. But why be glad in such a thing?...
From Guest Writer: Susan Rogers, a Jacksonville, FL MM Cohort Member and the Pastor of The Well At Springfield. The church is a local expression of the kingdom of God. ...
From Guest Writer: Corey Widmer is Senior Pastor of Third Church, Richmond VA and co-founder of East End Fellowship, a multicultural congregation. He discusses how racial diversity is crucial for missional credibility. ...
Change or die. Allan Deutschman of Fast Company wrote his best-selling book by that title in response to a striking medical study which found that 90% of patients who had undergone heart by-pass surgery and had been instructed to make specific life-style changes did not...
From Guest Writer: Reverend Peter Neilson, Mentor, Macedonian Ministry St. Andrews, Scotland It was a cold November day, sitting with my wife by a log fire in a country hotel. It had been a crazy few weeks and this was the first free day we had...
When we are born, we all enroll in the school of “letting go,” but most of us don’t realize it! As we go through life’s stages, we naturally attach ourselves to people, places and possessions but as life goes on, we must learn to “let...