I thought if I arrived for worship about 20 minutes before the service was scheduled to start I would be there in plenty of time. I was wrong. Even though Enon Tabernacle, which can be found at www.enontab.org, has a…
Church gun giveaways send wrong message
A local church in Troy, NY is promoting a gun giveaway and its not the first church to do so. Churches in Texas and Kentucky have offered gun giveaways. The practice of a church gun giveaway sends the wrong message. Is it wrong…
Proof being a pastor is a tough job
As I’m shaking hands with church goers after worship one Sunday, I talk with a congregant about meeting him during the week. His reply? “I thought pastors only worked one day a week!” Truth be told, we full-time (and part-time…
Overly churched culture congregations should change prayer focus
[Note: This is the fourth in a series of posts on the overly churched culture congregation. To see the full series go to Author Archives: George Bullard.] The first transitional action an overly churched culture church can take to bring…
Many congregations are stuck in an overly churched culture
In the midst of a region of the world where the impact of a churched culture is fading, many congregations in North America are stuck in an overly churched culture perspective. As a result these congregations become insulated, isolated, and…
Shopping and the Erosion of Sabbath
I’ve grown accustomed each Thanksgiving to shaking my head in disbelief at how early stores open up the day after and how many people are willing to get up in the middle of the night to get the best deals….
Reclaiming congregants
In a recent article in The Christian Century, Phyllis Tickle recounted what many of us have believed over the years: “The old saw is that after they married and had children, people would come back to organized faith. It is…
The hardest job in the world
A pastor has one of the hardest jobs in the world. When I was a pastor, I was not willing to say that sentence. It seemed self-serving and whiny. I heard other people say how hard a pastor’s work is,…
Singing faith: Hymns both praise and teach
By Ken Camp Last summer’s controversy over removal of the contemporary hymn “In Christ Alone” from a new Presbyterian hymnal over doctrinal differences on how to understand the atonement illustrates the importance of church music not only to celebrate but…