The first few months of our search for a church went according to plan. Each week we visited a new congregation until we had visited all 10 that were on our short list of prospects (check out First Five Visits and Five More Visits). Next Steps After these ten experiences, we narrowed the possibilities down to three congregations. Our plan was to visit each of these again multiple times, and to begin to connect in ways beyond worship in each of these communities of faith. Read More …
My Year of Social Enterprise (#1746)
A year ago this week I announced that I had accepted the position of Director of Social Enterprise at the Wesley Mission Center. Over the last twelve months, I've been blessed to serve the people living within the bounds of Mansfield Independent School District - a geographic area that includes the city of Mansfield as well as parts of Arlington, Grand Prairie, Rendon and other areas. Founded as an outreach ministry of First Methodist Mansfield, the organization grew and became its Read More …
Love the Problem – Not Your Solution (#1745)
Some of the greatest wisdom is easy to process at the level of intellectually understanding, but much harder to embrace and enact consistently. Love the Problem - Not Your Solution Unpacking the Big Idea I was reintroduced to this big idea by Rabbi Elan Babchuck, Director of Innovation at CLAL and Founding Director of the Glean Incubator, when he facilitated a session titled "Love the Problem - Not Your Solution" at a gathering of the Adese Fellows in Louisville, Kentucky in June Read More …
Celebrating 9 Years of So What Faith (#1744)
Earlier this week Facebook memories showed me that five years ago that day I had posted the following Marking a milestone - did you know that I have now written a blog post at least once a day for the last 1,000 days? So What Faith In June 2009, I launched this blog with the goal of writing about matters of faith that mattered to me. I assumed that this would be of interest to those in the congregation I served, and perhaps others. Stats and More Stats Over the last nine years, Read More …
Prioritizing Core Values (#1743)
Core values are an essential part of organizational DNA. They tell the story of what is important within a given church, non-profit organization, or for profit business. And, core values should guide all that an organization is and does. Since core values are so significant they should be named often, and embodied always. Two faith-based organizations that I know well serve as good examples. Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ We believe we are here to serve, not to be Read More …
Book Recommendations – July 2018 (#1742)
I was fortunate to read many books (published in 2018) worth recommending over the last month. (5.0) Love Undocumented: Risking Trust in a Fearful World by Sarah Quezada (Herald Press, 2018) (4.5) A House United: How the Church Can Save the World by Allen Hilton (Fortress Press, 2018) (4.0) Thriving in the Fire: Coaching Through the Conflicts of Change by Felix C. Villanueva (FirstStep Publishers, 2018) (4.0) Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Read More …
America the Unique: Daily Prayer (#1741)
The Age Gap in Religion Around the World (Pew Research Center, June 2018) is packed with enough data to keep anyone interested in religious trends busy reading and pondering for quite some time. This new data supports the common claim that younger generations are less religious than elder both globally and in the United States. Of the 96 pages one captured my attention in a way the others did not. Page 21 (screenshot at right) offers a full page graphic showing the association Read More …
Search for a Church 2.0: Five More Visits (#1740)
In April my wife and I started our latest search for a church. We chose 10 congregations within 6 miles of our home, and committed to attending at least one worship service with each. In May I shared our experiences visiting the first five churches on our list. Now, I'm delighted to share our experiences with the final five visits. Visuals The first grouping of images in this post showcases #ViewFromThePew photos taken during our Sunday morning worship experiences in Read More …
Social Justice Churches Don’t Exist (#1739)
The Riverside Church has recently embarked on a new social media project called Church Talk. The fourth episode was released yesterday, and focuses on social justice. "Social justice isn't something churches do; it is something that they are." Social Justice Challenge The quote above is one of many challenging statements made by the Rev. Kevin Wright, Executive Minister of Programs at Riverside Church in the five-minute video on social justice. Wright also reminds us that "Jesus was Read More …
The End of Church Weddings? (#1738)
Most people get married in a church. That is what I was told growing up and also the place I officiated most often once I entered pastoral ministry. Rapid Decline A quick Google search will yield a wide variety of data detailing the overall decline in churches or religious spaces for wedding ceremonies. I happened to come across a recent RNS article that utilized data from the popular wedding planning website called The Knot. According to their findings, Read More …