Managing your time as a minister just may be the single most difficult issue you face. The problem of managing ministerial time has a long and not always hopeful history. The minister’s need for Sabbath rest, time away from the…
Read MoreCENTERview: Social Networking and Congregations
A recent YouTube video titled “Social Networking in Plain English” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc) claims networks are only as valuable as the people and connections one can see. If I think about real “friends” and connections in my life this makes perfect sense….
Read MoreMinistering to the Soul of a Community
Congregations are born from a generative spark of interaction between stories of faith and stories of place. Some person or group looks out on a particular landscape and says, “There should be a church—or there should be a congregation of…
Read MoreTaken for Granted? Four Ways to Do Church Better
I am writing this piece on a Sunday morning at 11 a.m. A year ago, and for many years, I would have been in church at worship, but today I am not. I was a pastor for almost 20 years,…
Read MoreBeing Made New: Experiencing the Gifts of Conscious Pastoral Transition
In my mid-fifties, with almost 20 years in parish ministry behind me, I began to think forward to the possibilities inherent in retirement. I was eight years into my ministry as rector of a vigorous and challenging program-sized church when…
Read MoreChanging the Conversation: Nurturing a Third Way for Congregations
Changing the culture of organizations,institutions, or a society is about changing the conversation. Different topics are introduced, new language is employed (or old language recovered), and alternative ways of framing the situation are offered. One might observe that each week…
Read MoreGiving up the Myth: How One Congregation Saw Itself as It Was and Created Itself Anew
No congregation will ever enjoy an abundant mission life until they have first discovered who they are. Sounds simple enough—a little history and geography and the job’s done, right? Maybe not. In the case of the church I was called…
Read MoreCongregations Magazine, May-Jun 2002
Self-Care: The journey from burnout to authenticity Contents IN FOCUS: Good-Enough Self-Care Alban Institute consultant Jacqueline J. Lewis reminds clergy to head the true self Committing to Mutuality Pastor David J. Wood speaks with Eugene Peterson about how collaboration with…
Read MoreCongregations Magazine, Winter 2007
Worship that Connects Contents IN FOCUS: Worship as a Vision-Building Work of God Brian Paulson, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Libertyville, Illinois, explores the power of worship to shape, vision, generate change, and announce the activity of God in…
Read MoreSeasons of Joy and Sacrifice
For the past few years I have taught a course on the theology and meaning of call at Andover-Newton Theological School. I always emphasize to my students that a healthy call involves both joy and sacrifice—something I have learned from…
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