When are you keeping quiet when you suspect something isn’t working, and why?
Reflection Roundup: Honest and Curious
Liminality: it’s the ultimate “are we there yet?” And in fact, we’re not. If we’re honest, we’ll admit we don’t even know where there is, exactly, and lead with the spirit of contentment enjoying the missional pit stops with God while holding the destination loosely.
Foot Check. Nose Check. Smile Check.
If we acknowledge the physical and/or emotional constraints that limit our capacity, then we also become intentional about focusing our ministry around these essentials and doing so in whatever format works.
#FreeBlackMamas
God is doing something about this injustice, and the church has an invitation and a responsibility to join God in the mission of liberation.
Reflection Roundup: Listen for the Voice of God
Is the voice of God always a word? Might it be found in a child’s exploration of a grandparent’s elderly, muscular hands? Is God’s voice in the soil they worked? Listen.
Monday to Saturday Faith
This conviction – that God is already in our homes, our Zoom calls, our neighborhoods and parks – offers us a vibrant and hopeful invitation.
A Time to Speak, Part 2: Hiddenness
How do we respond to abandonment as ministers and Christian leaders? I don’t like talking about abandonment, and my first instinct is to find excuses.
Reflection Roundup: “The Gift of Unhurried Time”
Ask, seek, knock. Pray those bold prayers and there will come a day when God’s responsiveness comes tumbling after you. Expectantly wear sturdy shoes every day of your life lest you be bowled over by the love of God.
Rebuilding Bridges
Bridge events provide a comfortable place for people to interact with church members in a relaxed and inviting way, and as we come out of the pandemic, they hold promise in helping our current church community as well.
Reflection Roundup: Christian Community, Face-to-Face
The mission of God is not something we have to do; we receive it. We share it and spread it around like maple butter on Holy Saturday French toast, savoring the Savior.
Three Christian Truths About Death
As spiritual leaders … we are expected to have words that matter as we speak into the lives of those in pain.
You Can’t Teach Confidence, Right?
When you are thrown off balance by a comment, a criticism, a conflict, a failure, a judgement, or a surprise topic at an elders’ meeting, do you have a verbal recovery plan?
Christian No More
Oh freedom, how I love thee!
For in your arms I am whole.
Reflection Roundup: Sacramental Hospitality
As the created world hosts humanity, we have much to learn from the soil, from the seeds. Stretching toward the light, cultivated hearts propagate God’s mission.
Discernment Is God’s Gift to the Church, Not to an Individual
I fear Christians are doing decision-making the wrong way. We are not lone wolves who must discern the will of God on our own. Spiritual gifts like discernment are given for the common good.
Reflection Roundup: Inhale Grace, Exhale Compassion
We’re all about savoring the moments as they come for the wonderment they contain, regardless of what was expected or seems comparatively lacking.
Three Thoughts on Leadership
I want to take a shot at offering three basic frames, or moves, comprising good leadership practice for congregational leaders.
Serenity in the Savage
Next time you feel the savage overcoming the serene, try taking a moment to experience some element of nature.
Leadership for Innovation
We have spiritualized or prioritized the methods over the mission to the point that we think they are one and the same.
Reflection Roundup: Challenged and Changed
Let’s bravely take one another in and notice the reflection of Christ in the eyes we mirror each gift of a day, our motivation pure joy rather than any benefit bestowed.