Your pastor wants you to know, but just can’t tell you. Your pastor knows too much transparency can be vocationally dangerous, depending on the level of honesty allowed in your church. At the same time, if you knew these things,…
Here’s HELP for navigating a ‘purple’ church in an election year
In every election year, pastors face the reality of political conflict and tension in their congregations. This year is that and more. For 20 years, I served as pastor of what some call a “purple” church — a mixture of…
New book makes a case for why conflict can be good for a church
Striving to avoid congregational conflict can backfire in churches where members feel unable to live and worship authentically within their own fellowships, according to the author of a new book on addressing divisions within Baptist churches. “What happens in many…
My brief life as a megachurch pastor
For two brief years, I served as senior pastor of a megachurch. Then quickly, unexpectedly, and mercifully, it was over. This article tells my story. Months before being appointed to the church, my bishop indicated it might happen. Their pastor,…
Catering to the crazies
I get it. This is not a very nice or appropriate title for an article. It’s a bit pejorative and judgmental and doesn’t sound very much like Jesus. However, I’m quoting a pastor who called recently to seek counsel about…
Study finds congregational leaders report LGBTQ conversations are worth the pain
Engaging in transparent discussion about LGBTQ inclusion is a painful process for congregations but almost always worth it in the end, according to one of the most extensive surveys of congregational practices yet undertaken. A research team from Baylor University’s…
For now, David Platt has won the battle against internal critics at McLean Bible Church
A lawsuit has been dismissed against McLean Bible Church in suburban Washington, D.C., after apparent resolution of a battle between church leaders and internal critics who believed the conservative evangelical church was becoming too “woke.” The dispute came to a…
Seven suggestions for preventing conflict before it happens
As surely as we can expect thunderstorms in the summer, hurricanes in the fall and blizzards in the winter, the church is about to experience a season of conflict that threatens to unravel our faith communities. Much of this is…
Church Conflict 101
It’s becoming a weekly conversation. I call it Church Conflict 101. A minister calls and immediately I hear the despair in his voice. “I can’t say anything from the pulpit without someone accusing me of being ‘too political’. What am…