There are few things in life one can guarantee. Nevertheless, here’s one for which I’m very close to issuing written guarantees. When your aspiration is to shrink your church, there’s one strategy that stands head and shoulders above all others….
Four viruses of the pre-COVID church and their vaccines
Romans 8:28 says God works all things together for good, not that God causes all things. I suspect God is even more grieved over this coronavirus afflicting this world than any of us, given God’s great love for humankind. So,…
Your church’s purpose is not to make you happy
Your church’s purpose is not to make you happy. Your church’s purpose is to help you become like Jesus. Expect the former and live disappointed. Expect the latter and live with deep satisfaction and significance. This conversation has happened enough…
Emotional contagion begins with church leadership
Emotions are not our faith. Our faith is our faith. Yet, emotions are powerful forces in faith communities, especially in one whose primary metaphor is “body.” We are at our best when we are one body, the body of Christ,…
‘Yes, and’: A response to stories of pastoral angst in the present moment
How many articles and blog posts have come across your computer screen recently describing the angst of pastoral leaders? It seems nearly every author, blogger, denominational minister, coach, consultant and anyone else who serves alongside pastors and church staff persons…
May your church find its soul
It is not the church of God that has a mission, it is the God of mission that has a church. — Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury This is what the missional church movement is about: refocusing us on…
Life balance for clergy remixed
Life balance is important and necessary for sustained ministry over time, but there are some things that life balance is not.
EI: The hidden ingredient in pastoral leadership
By Mark Tidsworth When I worked as a therapist, my caseload eventually became crowded with clergy and church staff. After we worked through their clinical issues, many continued in counseling, addressing concerns related to their ministry. I had the sense…
‘Collective intelligence’ in ministry
By Mark Tidworth Management researchers and social scientists are confirming what many of us intuitively know (and chafe against it at times): people make better decisions together than they do apart. A new phrase describes this experience of “putting our…