I am thankful for all of the life experiences I’ve had since last Thanksgiving. Today, I highlight 10 that are particularly memorable and provide links to additional writing related to those experiences: Being ordained to ministry in the United Church of Christ (My Ordination & Installation)Celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary with a trip to New Orleans, Louisiana and Navarre, FloridaStarting my 3rd year at White Rock Center of Hope (Starting Year 3 at White Rock Center of Hope) and Read More …
family
A New Easter Tradition (#2043)
A big family Easter meal has been a constant in my life. When I was growing up and well into my adult years, my Mother hosted gatherings that included grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and more. When my wife and I moved back to my place of origin (Dallas - Fort Worth, Texas) after nearly a decade away , we assumed hosting duties. And, we continued the tradition of inviting family living even somewhat nearby to join us. The initial experiences are shown below. Then we observed a Read More …
Top 20 Experiences of the 2010s (#1843)
The decade of the 2010s will end in just a few days. To celebrate my lived experiences this decade, I created a list of my Top 20 Experiences of the 2010s. Rather than present a single lengthy list of twenty items, I've grouped the top twenty into four categories. The first two are primarily professional in nature (employment and education) while the final two (homes and happenings) are primarily personal. Employment (9) In addition to working as a consultant, I worked for nine Read More …
Who Finds Meaning in Religion? (#1765)
What makes for a meaningful, fulfilling or satisfying life? In an attempt to answer this question, Pew Research Center conducted two surveys late last year. The first survey utilized open ended questions while the second leveraged forced-choice questions using a list of 15 possible sources. Family First In the open-ended survey nearly 7 out of 10 respondents (69%) mentioned family. This finding was consistent with the closed-ended survey result of those claiming that Read More …
Reflections on Average Worship Attendance (#1610)
Most American churches have relatively small memberships. Since the accuracy of membership roles varies widely, average weekly worship attendance is often used to compare congregational size. Median American congregation has 75 attend weekly worship (National Congregations Survey) Average American congregation has 186 attend weekly worship (US Congregational Survey) Half (50%) of all church attendance is accounted for by the largest 10% of congregations - those with 350+ average Read More …
Sermon: The Gift of Children (#1527)
Sermon Text: Mark 10:13-16 Sermon Excerpt In many churches the simplest way to identify which rooms are intended for children and which are reserved for adults is to observe the size of the furniture. Since so many of you are parents and grandparents, I hope you know that children are not miniature adults. Some of the adults here have talked to me about our recent use of many different versions of the Lord’s Prayer. The most common comment is that this variety has led you to Read More …
Americans Pray For (#1480)
Results of a new LifeWay survey suggest that Americans tend to focus their prayers on themselves and close family and friends rather than the well being of the world or people or causes that are beyond their immediate influence. More specifically, when given the opportunity to select as many things from a list as they wished, participants indicated they prayed most for family or friends - 82%, own problems and difficulties - 74%, good things that have recently occurred - 54%, Read More …
An Amazing Welcome (#1335)
Quinn Caldwell is the pastor of Plymouth Congregation Church (Syracuse, NY) and a member of the United Church of Christ Stillspeaking Writers’ Group. A few years ago when he was serving at Old South Church (Boston, MA), he wrote about the welcome that church provides to all: In the name of Jesus Christ, and through his spirit, we bid you welcome to Old South Church in Boston, an Open and Affirming congregation of the United Church of Christ. You are welcome here if you are Read More …
Pastoral Regrets (#0973)
Thom Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, recently asked more than twenty pastors who had been in ministry for at least 25 years a single question: “What regrets do you have about the years you have served as a pastor?” The top seven answers follow: Lack of practical training for local church ministry Overly concerned about critics Failure to exercise faith Not enough time with family Failure to understand basic business and finance issues Failure to Read More …
Teens Benefit from Time with Parents (#0831)
A new long term study published in the August issue of Child Development reveals that teens benefit from spending time with parents. While the study included only a small group of two parent families in Pennsylvania with limited diversity, the findings are worth noting. More specifically: The study authors were surprised to discover that when fathers spent more time alone with their teenagers, the kids reported they felt better about themselves. "Mothers weren't Read More …