The young woman who sat down next to me on the Southwest Airlines flight volunteered that she was a student at a certain Baptist university, where I also had attended 30 years earlier. Intrigued, I asked more about what she…
Blessing graduates
Graduate recognition Sunday at church always makes me a bit teary. I held it together this year, but only by a thread, even though I was the one voicing the prayer of blessing in morning worship today. No, I didn’t…
‘Lord, bless these graduates’
By Mark Wingfield Graduate recognition Sunday at church always makes me a bit teary. I held it together this year, but only by a thread, even though I was the one voicing the prayer of blessing in morning worship today….
Seeing ourselves
There’s a saying here in Texas that “even a blind hog finds a nut now and then.” Maybe that’s why even people with less-than-noble purposes sometimes do something good. Of course, if you acknowledge that, you’ve got to give credence…
Aging out of church
One of the things that gnaws at a pastor is wondering why people stop coming to church. Yes, there always are people who hop from one church to another for this reason or that; and we grieve those losses. And…
Dear church staff candidate:
Dear church staff candidate: Your resumé matters. It matters so much that you ought to have a knowledgeable person proofread it before you send it out. I’ve just returned from a search committee meeting at church where a committee of…
Funeral food
There are some rules everyone needs to understand about death and funerals. For starters, funerals call for a certain kind of food. There had better be chocolate cake involved, or the family is going to be left to scramble on…
Clergy self-esteem
If you suffer from low self-esteem, you might not want to go into local church ministry. Of course, if others suffer from your overly inflated self-esteem, you probably shouldn’t go into local church ministry either. Who, then, can survive, you…
In the same boat: Republicans and the church
Listening to all the soul-searching and finger-pointing among Republicans since Election Day reminds me of the conversations that have been going on in many American churches for several decades. The puzzling ingredient for both groups is demographic change and how—or…