The numerical height of mainline Protestantism in the United States occurred in the year 1965.1 That was the year that the largest percentages of American people affiliated with and attended church. More Americans were going to church than at any…
Read MoreA Model for Community
It is not enough simply to assert, “Because God is and loves community, we should be more community minded.” Obviously, communities as such are not always a good thing. They can be oppressive. Sometimes in families, urban board rooms, or…
Read MoreThe Pastor and the Healthy Church
“Churches are either plums or pills,” an older colleague once declared to me as I was discerning whether to accept a call to a certain congregation. “Make sure this one is a plum.” It would have been easier to figure…
Read MoreGetting Staff to Share
This week, more from Judith Urban on creating a vibrant shared ministry system in your congregation, and the importance of cooperation between staff and ministry participants. For an introduction to shared ministry, see Shared Ministry Is Good for All Congregations….
Read MoreThe Practice of Testimony
Back in 1999, after my first three years serving Church of the Redeemer in New Haven, CT, I began to wonder what might bring us deeper into the faith while lessening the resistance to growth that small churches can feel….
Read MoreHow Do Clergy Observe Sabbath?
We understand ourselves and our world by means of story. Our personal story holds together the past, present, and future. In the preparation for this writing, we formed clergy peer groups for individuals to share their stories. In one group, we…
Read MorePreaching as Sermon Communication
I have a confession. I usually call preaching by another name. I refer to it by the odd and bulkier two-word phrase sermon communication. At best, this word choice raises an eyebrow and a follow-up question from pastors. At worst,…
Read MoreSpidey Sense
Sometimes I wonder whether a lot of folks are totally clueless about simple living. Like it’s a new idea for time-strapped minds or an ideal that’s so small that it doesn’t get noticed among the furor of competing synapses. But…
Read MoreTransforming the Spirit of Communities
One fall CiRCLe M (Centre for Rural Community Leadership and Ministry), a nonprofit I direct, organized a conference on the church and community development. In workshops, worship, and conversation, one church leader after another shared stories of how their congregations…
Read MoreGreat Committees
In an old cartoon by Charles Addams, a man and his son walk through a park and look at statues, each of which depicts a little clutch of people. “There are no great men, my boy,” the father says, “only…
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