Here’s some disheartening data: “If you were born between 1925 and 1945 there’s a 60 percent chance, you’re in a church today. If you were born between 1946 and 1964 there’s a 40 percent chance, you’re in a church today. If you were born between 1965 and 1983 there’s a 20 percent chance, you’re in […]
Pastor’s gathering. SCOTT BARKLEY/Index When I think about pastoring a church the question the Apostle Paul asked comes to mind, “Who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Corinthians 3:5). A lot of my friends are pastors, and most of my work is around pastors and churches. There are things that I know now that I […]
… about 19.3 percent of the U.S. population live[s] in rural areas.
It feels like the pandemic fast forwarded whatever trajectory people were on.
… I cannot ever remember this level of response to a health crisis before.
I can’t prove some of what I am about to write. But I have heard this story told often enough that I think it constitutes a trend. It goes like this: a pastor search committee begins looking for a candidate. They are doing their best to understand God’s leadership. They accumulate resumes, they follow a […]
Effectiveness in leadership always begins with leading ourselves.
Jim Powell, in his book “Dirt Matters” describes church culture as “a complex blend of norms, beliefs, attitudes, traditions and practices that define the congregation.” All churches have a predictable way of behaving that is often informed by a combination of factors.Sometimes a church’s culture is characterized by some institutionalized reaction to a particularly traumatic […]