A year ago, I made the jump from pastoring a local church to running a center at a small denominationally-affiliated college. While I was well-versed in the conversations around church vitality, the world of higher education has been relatively new…
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Last fall, I counted down the days to the big MacBook Pro reveal, but now here I sit, typing away on my 5-year-old laptop. While boasting of making the laptop millimeters thinner and ounces lighter, they loaded it with an…
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Reclaiming how we use our time in ministry is an important theological concern, writes a pastor and theologian
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As more and more of our communication becomes digital, the reality is that there is no such thing as “off the record” in church communication, writes a United Methodist pastor and communications consultant.
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The planning retreat is an indispensable part of building successful board-staff collaborations, writes longtime congregational consultant and Alban author
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Holding someone accountable is one way of loving someone deeply, writes David Keck.
Read MoreI was not surprised by the call. I knew that this pastor had been struggling for some time with a problem employee that he could not bring himself to fire. The employee was at times brilliant in her work, fulfilling…
Read MoreYou may share the sentiment captured in Barnett Cock’s remark, “A committee is a cul-de-sc down which ideas are lured and then quietly strangled.” This somewhat humorous, tongue-in-cheek analogy may have more than a grain of truth for members of…
Read MoreI want to look more closely at the basic assumption that questions (inquiry) asked in an appreciative (positive) way have such power to change a community’s practices. I’ll look first at the power of questions, and then I’ll ask whether…
Read MoreThis 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….
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