Joe Smith is the pastor of St. John Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Lakewood, WA. Recently, he blogged about how overrated office space is for pastors. Then, a few days later, he continued the discussion of the topic with a guest post by Kirk Jeffery, an ordained United Methodist pastor who currently serves as a church growth consultant. Together these two posts effectively argue that while the pastor's study served a significant purpose in an earlier era it has outlived Read More …
Progressive Theology – Shared Affirmations (#0401)
Patheos recently launched a progressive Christian portal. During the next two weeks, this new portal is hosting a symposium exploring what progressive Christianity is and why that matters today. Bruce Epperly, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) who serves as Professor of Practical Theology and Director of Continuing Education at Lancaster Theological Seminary, contributed an article to this week's discussion Read More …
If You Work . . . (#0400)
Seth Godin is the author of twelve books that have been bestsellers around the world and changed the way people think about marketing, change, and work. He recently posted these challenging words about work on his blog: If you're going to work . . . work hard. That way, you'll have something to show for it. The biggest waste is to do that thing you call work, but to interrupt it, compromise it, cheat it and still call it work. So What? I have had a number of jobs in both sacred and Read More …
How Happy Are Americans? (#0399)
According to a new list of the happiest nations, the United States has considerable room for improvement. Created by 24/7 Wall St., the list relies on data from the new Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Better Life Index, which is based on measurements of quality of life including housing, income, jobs, community, education, the environment, health, work-life balance, and life satisfaction. According to these standards, the world's happiest nations Read More …
Is Christianity on a Path Toward Extinction? (#0398)
John Shelby Spong served as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark for 24 years before his retirement in 2001. In retirement, he has been a prolific writer and speaker. He concluded a recent essay outlining his thoughts on the future of Christianity with these words: The problems facing institutional Christianity today in the Western world cannot be addressed by tinkering around the edges of our theological formularies or structures . . . We are not today in a temporary Read More …
Could Church Membership Soon Be A Thing Of The Past? (#0397)
Will Mancini is an author, pastor, and speaker who founded Auxano – a church consulting group with a unique approach to developing a church’s vision frame before providing traditional consulting services. He recently blogged about why church membership is no longer as helpful a construct as it once was. In addition to references to churches that have moved away from church membership in favor of partnership, Mancini suggests five reasons churches should consider making the Read More …
Understanding Organizational Culture (#0396)
Michael Schrage is a research fellow at MIT Sloan School’s Center for Digital Business who advises organizations on the economics of innovation through rapid experimentation, simulation and digital design. He recently wrote an article for the Harvard Business Review exploring an important way one can learn about organizational culture. Schrage writes: Paying close attention to customer complaints is a leadership "best practice." Here's a better practice: Pay even closer Read More …
Your Church’s Facebook Page (#0395)
Eric S. Anderson, Minister of Communications and Technology for the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ recently posted an excellent guide to creating and effectively utilizing your church's Facebook page. He encourages those congregations that have not yet created a presence on Facebook to do so, especially in light of recent research that shows the majority of Americans age 12 and older now have Facebook accounts. Newcomers will benefit from his step-by-step Read More …
The Abbreviated Sermon on the Mount (#0394)
Drew Willard, pastor of the United Church of Christ of the Villages, FL, will be leading a session on Biblical storytelling, entitled "The Three Point Sermon on the Mount," on July 3 at the United Church of Christ's General Synod. Recently he shared what he calls "the Cliff Notes of the Sermon on the Mount" with some of the folks in the Florida Conference: You have heard that it was said, "One Way," but I say to you, "God is still speaking..." Don't pray, donate or serve Read More …
Twitter for Middle School Students (#0393)
CNN.com recently featured Dan Simon's report on how one eighth grade history teacher is using Twitter in the classroom on the news site's home page. Enrique Legaspi reminds his students to BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology), but his classroom also includes computers for any students without a device that connects to the internet. During class, he asks students to tweet their responses to his questions. Legaspi finds that using Twitter in this manner helps students find their Read More …