Even with all the uncertainties around and within us, there appear to be some broad truths and trends emerging that are going to define our work in the Church for the foreseeable future.
10 pandemic takeaways, personal and pastoral
I sense our country is at a rare moment, quietly listening. The gospel message is going deeper than usual. The crucified, risen Messiah is relevant.
Churches: 5 simple steps for a leaner, healthier post-quarantine body
Extra weight can keep the Body of Christ from living out fully the love of God. As frustrating and difficult as this time of quarantine has been, churches have been given the opportunity to shed the weight of excess programs, ministries and activities.
It’s time for innovative partnerships between churches and for-profit businesses
The 21st-century, post-pandemic church should not eschew participation in the American economy because of who it might leave out. Instead, it should embrace a new role as a transformative social and cultural guide for doing business in a way that is ethical, sustainable and missional.
Now what? Some thoughts about what’s next for the scattered and gathered church
Like retailers, universities and hospitals, churches will be having conversations around this question: Are buildings a necessity for delivering our services and ministries? In our new normal, physical location may be only one of many expressions of church.
A tale of two futures for your church | #intimeslikethese
Every day brings increasingly urgent instructions to retreat physically away from others. While that is a physical necessity, a corresponding relational move toward others is a massive opportunity to show the difference we make in our communities.
Churches, like public schools, face a ‘shortage’ crisis. Could this be an opportunity for both?
The American Church’s anxiety and desperation to survive – much like that of our nation’s reeling education system – frequently occludes its view of how to be helpful both to the world and to itself.
When the church you lead is the Titanic
Traditional, established congregations that are more than 40 years old are in steady and persistent decline. Now is the time to speak the truth, reclaim our hope and launch a realistic and thoughtful plan for our future as God’s people.
When a church or minister is in need of an intervention
What are the signs that an intervention may be called for? And what should that look like?