It was awful. It was embarrassing. I couldn’t watch it anymore. My team, the Washington Redskins had started a good fight against the Seattle Seahawks on a recent Sunday night football. The Redskins came out strong and scored 14 points…
Reject conflict. Skip compromise. Embrace collaboration.
I grow tired of hearing politicians talk about achieving common ground without ever seeming to make real progress. I hear people from various political perspectives talk about achieving common ground while acting uncompromising about their positions that actually seem to…
A pastor’s life
By Amy Butler The start of the New Year is always a good time to ponder the deeper issues of life, and lately I’ve been ruminating over whether being a pastor and having a life are two mutually exclusive ideas….
RG3 and dying churches
By Alan Rudnick The Washington Redskins had started a good fight against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night football. The Redskins came out strong and scored 14 points quickly. It was looking like they were a sure win to continue…
Staff-led vs. staff-controlled
By Bill Wilson A key predictor of strong congregational health is the type of leadership offered by the ministerial and paid staff. When a congregation’s staff functions out of strong spiritual and organizational health, the entire faith community benefits. Likewise,…
At what speed should congregations move?
As we enter 2013, at what speed is your congregation moving? I believe congregations should move at the speed of the leading edge 20 percent of the people in the congregation who are the proactive, positive, and passionate leaders; that…
Casting visions from the pulpit
By Jeff Brumley Some pastors may look forward to — and even need — a post-holiday lull. But not Doug Dortch, the senior minister at Mountain Brook Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala. Instead, he’ll be busy those first few days…
My resolutions . . . more or less
The start of a new year is usually perceived as a season for clean slates and new beginnings. Depending on your perspective, you might consider New Year’s Day as a time to turn over a new leaf, a time to…
Possibilities for the 2013 church
Bob Burroughs For some, the New Year brings the promise and possibility of something exciting for today’s church. For others, the New Year brings the same-old/same-old — doing the same thing without even the possibility of thinking outside the box….
Pastor takes leave of absence
By Bob Allen The pastor of a historic progressive Baptist church in North Carolina has taken a 30-day leave of absence for treatment of chronic depression and anxiety. Stephen Shoemaker, senior minister at Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C.,…
Intergenerational mission
What is your favorite church or denominational buzz word or phrase? There are so many: missional, free and faithful, purpose driven, emergent, traditional, contemporary. When overused, buzz words can begin to lose their meaning. Take, for example, one of my…
Baptist deaths in 2012
By Bob Allen Francis McBeth, an internationally acclaimed composer and conductor and longtime professor of music at Ouachita Baptist University, died Friday, Jan. 6, at age 78. Longtime Baptist journalist Jim Newton, 75, died Jan. 16 in Clinton, Miss., after a battle with…