Today’s mainline denominations are doing plenty of fighting. Some of the disagreements break into the news and public consciousness, while others only affect the faithful. All of this fighting is deeply unsettling, but it also reflects what one observer calls…
Should a pastor know what church members give?
Every time I teach a stewardship workshop or class, this question invariably comes up: “Should a pastor have access to contribution records?” In some congregations, pastors are prohibited from knowing what people contribute. In others, pastors choose to shield themselves…
Remember you are dust
Growing up as a Baptist, I didn’t hear much about Ash Wednesday or Lent. In my years in the States before going to Japan, including the nine years I was a Baptist pastor, I don’t recall hearing or making any…
The real abuse at the heart of Fifty Shades of Grey
By this point, all of us have heard of E.L. James’ bestselling erotic novel, Fifty Shades of Grey. The book has sold over 100 million copies around the world, and the movie is set to open at $60 million.
Are single people the lepers of today’s church?
There are the well-meaning ladies who ask you about your husband and children and, when you say you don’t have any, suddenly run out of things to say to you. There are the women’s Bible studies scheduled on weekday mornings,…
Fulfilling the promise of the ADA: 5 things congregations can do
Unemployment among Americans with disabilities inched up with the start of the New Year, the U.S. Labor Department said Friday, February 6. The jobless rate for people with disabilities was 11.9 percent in January, up from 11.2 percent in December….
New pastors, small churches
Update March 2015: The program described in this story has been renamed Small Church Residency Program. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), like many denominations, has two challenges: thousands of small churches in need of pastors and hundreds of new seminary graduates…
Beauty for Life
Our youngest son Seth has gone deep into the world of The Hobbit. Seth reads stories from the shire with feverish energy. He sketches scenes from Middle Earth and regales us with talk of his beloved Dwarves. At every opportunity,…
Why haven’t I seen ashes smeared on the steeple?
The ashes of Ash Wednesday mark our bodies with a deeply existential crisis: our death is unavoidable, even as we live. The ashes are dead matter smeared on our living bodies. They stir our imaginations of grieving prophets dressed in…