Geoffrey’s been a “church guy” for most of his life. Even though he’s a young adult, he buys the idea of organized religion. He has elected not to follow the majority of his age cohort in the false choice of…
Read MoreFriend, Foe, or Fiasco
Face-to-face relationships characterize life in a small congregation, where truly “there is no place to run and no place to hide” for pastors, church musicians, or congregants. Over the years, we have observed the lively and creative synergy that occurs…
Read MoreEvangelism and the Under-Thirty Crowd
A November 2009 issue of The Week featured a story, “Losing our Religion,” that focused on the rapidly growing numbers of the religiously unaffiliated in the United States, the so called Nones, and asked if organized religion is fading. Younger…
Read MoreWhy Do We Worship the Way We Have Always Worshiped When People Keep Changing?
For most of my life I have really disliked worship. My wife tells me that if I weren’t a pastor, I would never go to worship. Fifteen years ago she was right about that, although I have managed to change…
Read MoreFunding for Today and Tomorrow
Congregations almost always say they want to grow, but I’ve come to doubt that many really do. The more accurately people picture how a congregation changes when it grows from family-sized to pastoral, program, corporate and beyond, the more clearly…
Read MoreReviews, Congregations, Spring 2010
A Cross-Shattered Church: Reclaiming the Theological Heart of Preaching By Stanley Hauerwas Stanley Hauerwas is among the most prolific theologians of our time: he puts it “I have written more than anyone should write” (page 146). This book is somewhat…
Read MoreAsk Alban: Evaluating Our Pastor
Q: How do we go about evaluating our pastor? A: For pastoral evaluation to help, rather than harm, the mutual ministry of the pastor, the board, and the congregation, it is important to remember several key principles: 1. The purpose…
Read MoreCENTERview: Thinking about Congregations: Using Bowen Family Systems Theory
Ideas developed in one discipline can be successfully and widely applied in an entirely different field. During the 1950s, a psychiatrist named Murray Bowen created a new treatment plan for those with family members suffering from schizophrenia. A decade later,…
Read MoreThe Leading Edge: Risking Our Souls
A new book by G. Jeffrey MacDonald provocatively picks up one of the most powerful New Testament images—Jesus’ head-on collision with thieving merchants in the Temple at Jerusalem—and applies it to American congregational life, especially its Protestant versions. In Thieves…
Read MoreBeyond the Lone Ranger: Lifelong Learning for Ministry
You are the solo pastor of a small-town congregation. It’s Epiphany and the snow is piling up in drifts outside your study window. You are glad that the rush of the annual stewardship drive, Advent, Christmas, and New Year’s is…
Read More