There is a lot of crisis management happening. Hospitals. Governmental agencies. Businesses. Congregations. Families. Over the last thirty days all of us have made countless decisions, countless adjustments, countless changes. Where will we go? Where we will not go? What will we do? What will we not do? Cover? Gather? Withdraw? Test? Something is becoming clear in my decision making. […]
The life of a parish pastor is busy. It is a lot of things, but it is NOT a 40 hour a week thing. When we are busy, two things suffer: diet and exercise. Watch your diet. Jesus said it is not what goes into our mouth that makes us unclean, but what comes out of our mouth that makes […]
Danger. Pandemic. Economic chaos. Unemployment. Medical supplies. Government over-reach or is it under-reach? I saw some sidewalk chalk art on a driveway this week. Whatever kids lived there, I had never seen kids there, must have gotten bored with on-line education, playing video games or snap-chatting. And with no organized soccer games to go to, a working-from-home mom or dad […]
As a pastor you should have a wide range of interests. Some new. Some old. A smattering of lots of things will provide a treasure house for ministry. One of the things that you should have a smattering of is Latin. There is nothing like a Latin phrase to help sell a point. Lay people appreciate a well spoken and […]
Talk about a week of great significance! I must have made about 100 different decisions to figure out how to move forward in congregational ministry given the impact of the virus crisis. (I refuse to use the scary name it has been given because that just drives fear.) One of the things that was clear right away was that we […]
Wear nice ones. This is especially important for Holy Communion services. When people come forward to receive the Sacrament, they are not quite sure where to look. Many think it is too proud to look up, even if they are looking up to the cross. They won’t close their eyes for fear of missing the Sacrament as the celebrant distributes […]
Beginning this week on Fridays I plan to share something particularly significant from the week as it draws to a close. Shouldn’t be hard to find something this week!
Read lots. Reading is to the brain what eating is to the body. One of the best ways to read lots is to read a little everyday. Over the course of a forty-five year ministry if you read a little bit every day it will add up to lots! Read the Bible. Aggressively. Plan to make it through the entire […]
This post follows both logically and necessarily the last two topics. Use this tool carefully. But use it. Sometimes good enough is. Sometimes you must let some things go. You cannot attend every meeting. You cannot make every visit that could be made. You cannot read every book or journal. You cannot do it all. You cannot. You are a […]
As stated before, being a pastor is hard work. Wise men approach hard work by working hard. Also as stated before, if you are looking for a forty hour a week job that can be left at the office each evening, you should look for something else. Through the years I have attended many “church growth” conferences and read plenty […]