When we aren’t sure what to do or where to start, we go back to what is familiar, comfortable, “normal.”
All in Church
Resource Highlight: What the Church Health Assessment Is Teaching Us About Leadership Strengths and Weaknesses
In this article, we look at member perceptions of leadership strengths and weaknesses in their congregation.
Where Did They Go?
Where are our sheep? They are scattered. It is time to invite them back into the care and life of the Christian story!
The Dementia Dilemma: A Pastoral Response
I want to offer some concrete suggestions on how to provide spiritual care and support to members of your communities whose loved ones are affected by dementias/cognitive impairments and/or in living facilities during this time of heightened precautions.
Churches and Leaders as Instruments of Peace (Resource)
You don’t need me to tell you that our world is fractured and divided. Truth is, it always has been.
For Elders Who Are Facilitating Gender Inclusion, Don’t Be Surprised by the Anger
Is every woman angry and hurt? No. But there is a great deal more anger and damage than you might think. So let me share a glimpse of it with you.
Filling Their Pitchers
I want to take a moment to encourage you to lift up those working in ministry during these challenging times.
Be the Church: An Onsite and Online Congregational Initiative for COVID-19 and Beyond
We are asking everyone in our church family – whether onsite or online – to do three things each week: love, grow, and worship.
For Elders Who Are Facilitating Gender Inclusion, Check Out This Book for Your Church’s Study
In Women Serving God, Hicks outlines his own history of understanding, years of serious scholarship, and how he began to change his mind about the practice of female silence during worship.
Helping the Church Learn From Its Past: Restoration Day 2020
As a minister in Churches of Christ for 20 years, I often struggled with how to help the contemporary church appreciate its past.
Church in the Time of COVID-19: Findings from a National Survey (Part 4)
This final article offers findings from a survey of seven individual Churches of Christ, including two open-ended questions.
Small Church Ministry During a Pandemic
Just like with so many other things, small churches enter into this pandemic with a unique set of strategies and difficulties.
Church in the Time of COVID-19: Findings from a National Survey (Part 3)
There is a lot that we can learn from this data, particularly as it relates to who might be on the fringes and more likely to not come back to church.
Live Into Hope!
Let’s use this interruption as a time to re-imagine how we pursue God’s preferred future!
The Capacity to Laugh
What happens when we lose the capacity for an emotional expression? What happens when we lose laughter over a period of time as a pattern?
Church in the Time of COVID-19: Findings From a National Survey (Part 2)
In this article, I’ll share what churches have been doing to continue ministering to their congregants.
COVID-19 and Controlling Our Responses
Our idea of control is an illusion. We have very little say in what happens around us or to us; we only have a say in how we react and respond to the challenges that we face.
When the Main Dish Is Delayed, the Party Must Go On
Have you ever been to a wedding reception and waited endlessly for the meal to be served? The bride and groom are off taking pictures. Meanwhile, stomachs are grumbling audibly.
Church in the Time of COVID-19: Findings From a National Survey (Part 1)
In this first article, we’ll focus on some of the basic demographics of who took the survey and their responses to 10 key questions about their feelings toward returning to church.
What Should Ministry Look Like During a Pandemic?
I’ve heard stories of churches and ministers figuring out how to take steps forward despite the challenges. I have also seen churches and ministries frozen, and that concerns me greatly.