“Trauma” is a word that comes from the Greek term for “wound.” Often, the most painful wounds are not physical, but those that cannot be seen with the natural eye. There is a particular type of trauma that can impact…
The peril of getting too comfortable in church
More than 65 years of “church going” has made me appreciate a comfortable “church.” My bum is not what it used to be, so a little padding helps — actually a lot. A good sound system that can fill in…
I’m an infectious disease doctor: Here’s why pastors need to lead their flocks to be vaccinated
A local church is experiencing an outbreak of COVID-19. This in and of itself is not rant-worthy; it’s sad, but it hardly sets them apart. Except, as with most of the patients hospitalized nationwide with COVID, these patients are not…
The pastor as chief encourager
Clergy have been called many things through the ages. We are the “chief among sinners,” after all. In some ways my own ordained ministry has been guided by the wisdom of my graduate advisor at Duke Divinity School, Bishop Will…
Barna: Racism a reality even in multiracial churches
Multiracial churches are growing in the U.S., which may seem like a good thing. Unless you are Black. “Almost three in 10 Black practicing Christians in a multiracial church (29%) say they have experienced racial prejudice on some level,” the…
Reflections on a life in ministry: Knowing when to go and knowing when to leave
I was privileged to be a friend to a remarkable woman most people do not know. Josephine Scaggs went as a single missionary to Nigeria in the late 1930s. There she spent a big part of her life ministering and,…
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….
Finding charity amidst the chaos one year into the coronavirus pandemic
One year ago in The Christian Citizen, we published the first in a series of articles on ministry responses to the coronavirus pandemic. “Charity amidst the chaos—When coronavirus comes to your neighborhood,” is Bryan Jackson’s firsthand account of the arrival…
What Patrick Mahomes taught us
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has taught us much about athletic prowess in his relatively short football career. At the high school in small-town Whitehouse, Texas, he was a local football hero. In his senior year, he passed for 4,619…