Four days after their senior pastor pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators, members of Friendly Avenue Baptist Church in Greensboro, N.C., heard a sermon on biblical qualifications for pastors Sunday. Matthew Queen, who has been on administrative leave from…
Letter to the Editor: The alternative to a senior pastor
July 11, 2023 Dear Editor: Herewith is my response to the insightful article by Mark Wingfield on the matter of associate pastors. I never wanted to be a senior pastor. Well, that’s not the whole truth. When senior pastors would…
Year in review: Practical helps for clergy and lay leaders
Clergy and church lay leaders make up an important subset of BNG’s regular readers, and our content reflects this as we often present articles addressing the inner workings of church life. These include both news articles and opinion pieces written…
Why church musicians become scapegoats in anxious church systems and how to make personnel changes gracefully
A church musician colleague and friend sat in my office across from my desk and told me this story. I still remember his halting words and his ashen face. He had been called to a new music ministry in a…