A parenthesis is a break in the flow of a thought, an interval, or a time between two events. We experience many events in life that embody this idea of waiting either in anticipation or in dread. Life transitions are…
Reclaiming congregants
In a recent article in The Christian Century, Phyllis Tickle recounted what many of us have believed over the years: “The old saw is that after they married and had children, people would come back to organized faith. It is…
Customer service and servant leadership
For the most part, I only think about “customer service” when I am the customer and on the receiving end of what I consider poor service. I will not elaborate here. Each of us has a collection of frustrating stories…
Sharpen the axe
By Ircel Harrison Abraham Lincoln is reported to have said: “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” This approach to preparation was popularized by Stephen Covey in his…
Sharpen the axe
Abraham Lincoln is reported to have said: “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” This approach to preparation was popularized by Stephen Covey in his book The 7…
What do Millennials want from denominations
By Ircel Harrison What do Christians, and particularly young-adult believers, want from a denomination in the 21st century? In the 20th century, the way to influence policy very often was from the top down. If a group with an agenda…
What do Millennials want from denominations?
Associated Baptist Press writer Jeff Brumley recently posted an article responding to research by the Public Religion Research Institute suggesting that “the rise of religious progressives and a conservative decline presents a challenge to those in the middle, including moderate Baptists.” …
Do we need denominations in the 21st Century?
Those of us who worked in denominational roles in past years often referred to ourselves as “denominational serpents” rather than denominational servants, questioning the motivations of the bureaucracies that employed us. Being part of a denominational organization and seeing its…
Change is Good
When Fellowship Baptists met in Greensboro in June for their General Assembly, they embraced not only change but a clear future for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. As CBF moves along in its third decade of life, the General Assembly expressed…