All photos taken in this photo gallery of Jake Hall and Gospel Gothic are by Jenna Eason. In this ‘Signature Ministries’ series, Gospel Gothic, a Sunday-morning radio show hosted by Jake Hall, pastor of Highland Hills Baptist Church in Macon, G.A.,…
Signature ministries: ‘The art of human contacts’
The Catholic Worker Movement, one of the most important Christian social ministries of the modern era, began in 1933 in New York during the Great Depression. The founders, Catholic Peter Maurin and journalist/Catholic convert Dorothy Day initiated the movement, Day…
Courageous conversations are no longer optional. It’s time to cross boundaries.
We’re going to have to do more, to move past talking (even preaching!) and into the messy and painful work of deep conversation held together by real relationship. In fact, it’s increasingly my conviction that this may be the heart of the faith community’s work in this moment: building authentic relationships upon which these difficult conversations can rest.
Maybe preachers count after all
We stepped up to the desk and the attendant gave instructions about the pre-op procedure, the location of the waiting room, restroom, vending machines and what to expect over the next few hours. She informed the wife and son of…
More than 80 percent of all church pastors should resign if …
The commonly accepted criteria for pastors’ leadership is that they bring a great vision with them when they become leader of a congregation, they know how to get people to follow their vision, and the results are a numerically growing,…
Creating a culture of call in the church
In my interactions with churches across the country, one specific conversation nearly always emerges. With furrowed brows and a worried tone, they ask: “Where is the next generation of pastoral leadership for churches like ours going to come from?” The concern…
Where are the white clergy on Charlotte’s streets?
I walked the streets of Charlotte, N.C., four nights last week. I walked alongside protesters clad in Black Lives Matter t-shirts and all the signs: “Am, I Next?” “Hands up. Don’t shoot.” “End white silence.” I walked in blue jeans…
Helicopter preaching
In early July, I called the Rev. Dr. Darryl Aaron, pastor of Providence Baptist Church in Greensboro, N.C. It was the latest moment in our country’s crisis of racism and violence, as we mourned Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. My…
Tapping into vitality with congregational residencies
It’s a sociological axiom of congregational life that what we see indicated in North American megachurches functions as a “canary in the coal mine,” signaling what’s coming for the rest of U.S. congregations. With that in mind, here’s some of…