Last summer, Alexander Lang created something of a stir in the world of vocational clergy when he published “Departure: Why I Left the Church” to tell his story of stepping away from parish ministry. BNG readers would find points of…
The 1 percent church
Last week, I shared my story about serving as a megachurch pastor. This week, I’d like to tell you about my experience leading a small-membership rural church. The two pastorates could not be more different. Most of my 40-year ministerial…
Don’t call it burn-out
Earlier this month, Alexander Lang’s blog post “Departure: Why I Left the Church” lit up clergy social media. To date, it has garnered north of 380,000 views. The day it hit, I saw it on the Facebook feeds of three…
I left the pastorate while still loving it
Leaving the pastorate of my congregation in June was the hardest vocational decision I’ve yet had to make. After reading Alexander Lang’s recent article, “Departure: Why I Left the Church,” I wanted to write about leaving my church while still…
Why I’ve stayed
On Aug. 27, Alexander Lang preached his last sermon at First Presbyterian Church in Arlington Heights, Ill. A few days later, he wrote a column titled “Departure: Why I Left the Church.” Since then, I have seen Lang’s column shared…
What Baptists have in common with pirates (the nice ones)
In light of recent Baptist news, I’ve been doing some reflection about how Baptists are really a lot like pirates, in a good way. (Disclaimer: I’m talking about the pirates of Treasure Island and Errol Flynn and Pirates of the…
A Southwesterner’s appreciation for Russell Dilday
The president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1978 to 1994, Russell Hooper Dilday, died June 21, at the age of 92. Under his leadership, Southwestern reached heights of enrollment and impact seen neither before nor after by a Southern…
What pastors may not say, but really want us to understand
Your pastor wants you to know, but he or she just can’t tell you. Your pastor knows too much transparency can be vocationally dangerous, depending on the level of honesty allowed in your church. At the same time, if you…
Queen Elizabeth was a role model for women in faith and leadership
“Hey, are you OK? As soon as I heard, I thought of you.” That’s what I heard on the other end of the phone from my best friend the day Queen Elizabeth died. Why did the death of a monarch…