When I announced that we started this search for a church in April of 2018, I did not expect that we would still be searching a year later. In all from start to finish, I am now nearly certain the journey will take us about 13 months (57 weeks to be more precise). Timeline While the general plan has remained consistent throughout, the number of congregations involved expanded twice. Some high points of the timeline follow: March 2018 - selected 10 churches to visitMay 2018 - completed Read More …
Discipleship
Holy Week – Is This Normal? (#1794)
After serving in congregational ministry for most of my life, I'm still learning what its like to journey through Holy Week as a follower of the Way of Jesus who does not have any worship leadership responsibilities. Holy Week Schedule I have, however, managed to attend multiple services of worship and participate in an adult egg hunt. More specifically: Sunday: walked to a nearby church, and attended a service that included elements of both palm and passion Tuesday: Read More …
Walking to Worship (#1793)
The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. The fastest way to get to any local destination is by automobile. I learned these simple truths early in life, and rarely questioned them. Traveling to Church As a lifelong churchgoer I made my way from home to a house of worship exclusively by automobile for the first 40+ years of my life. Last year when my wife and I moved to downtown Fort Worth, we started rethinking our reliance on vehicles. And, we've adopted walking Read More …
Lenten Demolition (#1788)
Lent is a season of preparation. It is a time when many who follow the Way of Jesus choose to give extra attention to discipleship. For some this means giving something up and for others it involves taking on something new. Demo Day Yesterday I heard unfamiliar sounds in my neighborhood. When I looked out a window I saw a large work crew unloading machines from trailers. Within minutes it became clear that these individuals had been hired to demolish a house. Over the next Read More …
Christians Don’t Own Jesus (#1787)
Over the last 9 1/2 years, I've been rather active on Twitter. While the frequency of my tweeting has varied, I've never walked away from the platform for an extended period of time. After 14,200 tweets I was surprised to find that something I tweeted yesterday has been liked more than any of my other tweets. So What? The tweet is quote from page 157 of Barbara Brown Taylor's new book: Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others I'm pleased to know that more Read More …
Search for a Church 2.0 – Discernment (#1786)
10 days ago I shared that our 11 month long search for a church had reached its final stage. More specifically, after visiting 15 congregations we narrowed our options down to two finalists. Discernment We invested considerable time and energy in getting to know the two remaining congregations. This included attending at least six services of worship in each community of faith, and participating in classes, concerts, mission efforts, and social activities. During the last week, we Read More …
I’m Back: My Return to the Mansfield Mission Center (#1785)
Mansfield is a family friendly city primarily in Tarrant County Texas that is nearly equidistant from Dallas and Forth Worth. I first experienced life in Mansfield when I purchased a home there in the 1990s. Since that time the population has nearly tripled, growing from around 25,000 to 70,000. As Mansfield has grown so has the need to care for all who call the city home. Individuals, businesses, government, faith communities and nonprofits have worked independently and collaboratively to Read More …
Search for a Church 2.0 – The Finalists (#1783)
After growing our list of churches to visit to 15 and attending 37 services of worship with these congregations over the last 11 months, we have narrowed the list to two finalists. So What? With respect for the remaining congregations, I've decided against sharing any details that would make them easily identifiable to my readers. As a result I've used an image of a bridge that connects downtown Forth Worth with the cultural district. The two congregations remaining are Read More …
Search for a Church 2.0 – Plan C (#1781)
This time around our search for a church was supposed to be relatively easy because we decided to only consider a small geographical areavisit Mainline Protestant congregations (and those largely aligned with Mainline theology) Our relatively modest attempt has grown a few times: Plan A: 10 congregationsPlan B: 13 congregationsPlan C: 15 congregations (still far smaller than our last search that included 36 congregations!) Plan C When we set out for our original search for Read More …
Current Issues & Church (#1780)
According to a recent Public Religion Research Institute survey of adults who attend religious services at least once or twice a month, most people never hear clergy speak about current issues from the pulpit. More specifically, the percentage who have heard clergy speak about a given current issue is Immigration: 32%Homosexuality: 42%Abortion: 45% So What? Something is wrong when the church is silent about current issues. People should not be able to regularly attend worship Read More …