On this one-year anniversary of the start of the COVID pandemic, it seems appropriate to take stock and assess the American church. For many of us, the year has been the challenge of a lifetime in ministry leadership. The obstacles…
Seven recommendations this hospital chaplain wishes patients and loved ones knew before a hospital admission
As a hospital chaplain, I’ve walked with many patients and families through the illness and even death associated with COVID-19. Because of the pandemic, every hospital admission is different today than it was a year ago. Out of this experience,…
One year later, letting go of ‘what used to be’
Yesterday was one year since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. It’s a bit hard to put any words on e-paper today. Many of my public health and epidemiology friends are feeling the same way. It’s…
Most churchgoers say they’ll return to in-person worship after COVID
The coronavirus outbreak has done little to weaken the devotion of more than 90% of American churchgoers who say they will return to in-person services in the wake of the pandemic, new research shows. In addition to anticipated church involvement,…
Top-down schism plans ignore local United Methodist churches’ new reality
The United Methodist Church staggers toward a twice-delayed global legislative conclave that appears likely to split the 12-million-member denomination. The options available to concerned United Methodists are multiplying at the highest levels, but church life differs greatly at the grassroots…
Get ready for the COVID ‘anniversary effect’ this week
Outside my window, green shoots peek from the ground that was frozen just a couple of weeks ago. Warm air greets me like an old friend, and tree buds are biding their time until they explode open in pops of…
My phone and I need to talk
I have begun to suspect that some of what I read is not even true. I tell myself that I am checking the news, but it is not always new or important. I read news that is not quite news…
When COVID shut down this church’s 26-year theatrical run, they made a movie instead
For 25 years, a Baptist congregation in Brooklyn, N.Y., staged a theatrical production exposing the trans-Atlantic slave trade in all-too tragic and graphic detail. When the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the annual production of “The MAAFA: A Healing Journey,” St. Paul…
How to shrink your church
There are few things in life one can guarantee. Nevertheless, here’s one for which I’m very close to issuing written guarantees. When your aspiration is to shrink your church, there’s one strategy that stands head and shoulders above all others….