Religion transforms people; no one touches holy ground and stays the same. Religious leaders stir the pot by pointing to the contrast between life as it is and life as it should be, and urging us to close the gap….

Congregational Mergers Present Opportunities for Growth–As Well as Unique Challenges With a slew of bad economic news for businesses lately, it’s no surprise that faith communities are also feeling the effects of the poor economy. Although there are few statistics…

During the years when they did not have their own pastor, the people of St. Timothy’s became ingenious at finding ways to celebrate church holidays. On Maundy Thursday the congregation held what it called an “agape feast.” Loosely based on…

Some years ago, our family built a home heated by a wood-burning stove. Each night I’d load the stove, carefully set the damper, and hope the fire would last until dawn. Each morning I’d clank open the door, hoping glowing…

It’s 1973, and I’m in my small-town high-school history class. My teacher asks, “How many of you are Protestant?” About a third of the students raise their hands, and the teacher exclaims, “Wow, that many of you are Catholic!” Jump…

The story is told of a night long ago when the stars began to fall from the sky. The villagers, surprised by the stars streaking across the sky, panicked and assumed the world was coming to an end. They ran…

In 2002, the Lilly Endowment awarded me a grant to study the role of Christian practices in relation to congregational vitality. My team speculated that a new intentionality around practices such as hospitality, prayer, healing, discernment, and justice would foster…