By Julie Pennington-Russell Seventy-five miles north of Santa Fe there’s a high desert canyon so ancient, so primordial, I half-expected to see pterodactyls in the sky instead of hawks as I steered my rental car along 13 miles of single-lane…
Smart churches call 911 sooner rather than later
On a pleasant morning a few years ago at a church preschool, a 3-year-old boy fell backwards off a piece of playground equipment and hit his head. It was no one’s fault. It just happened. His symptoms indicated the need…
Advent as parenthesis
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…
Embracing conflict
By Amy Butler No matter how seemingly functional your family system, with the holidays upon us every one of us is managing some kind of potential conflict. From deftly avoiding political conversations to strategically scheduling relatives’ visits to planning a…
Lessons about church conflict from the government shutdown
Now that the USA government shutdown is over–at least for a while–let’s reflect on the lessons churches can learn from the shutdown about conflict. Many of these are lessons of what not to do. These lessons are also politically neutral….
The Bible-denying racist liberal homophobe
The past year, like every year in Christian history, has seen significant amounts of Christian conflict. Consider the vitriol that spewed from the mouths of liberal and conservative Christians alike after multiple landmark Supreme Court decisions. Liberal Christians called (some)…
If you can say it to Jesus, you can say it to anyone
One of my mentors in the area of conflict mediation was Bill Treadwell. I loved that guy. I miss him. He had so much wisdom about how to deal with people in congregations. He was as much right-brained as I…
Reject conflict. Skip compromise. Embrace collaboration.
I grow tired of hearing politicians talk about achieving common ground without ever seeming to make real progress. I hear people from various political perspectives talk about achieving common ground while acting uncompromising about their positions that actually seem to…
At what speed should congregations move?
As we enter 2013, at what speed is your congregation moving? I believe congregations should move at the speed of the leading edge 20 percent of the people in the congregation who are the proactive, positive, and passionate leaders; that…