Since the year 2000, I've served 9 different Mainline Protestant congregations. Congregational Diversity I'm thankful for the beautiful diversity of these congregations. Denominational Affiliation United Church of Christ - 3 Presbyterian (PCUSA) - 3 Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) - 2 Lutheran (ELCA) - 1 Location North Texas - 5 Southwest Florida - 4 Size - Average Weekly Worship Attendance Family (1-49) - 1 Pastoral (50-149) - 3 Program (150-399) Read More …
Leadership
Leadership Development (#1759)
Leadership Network recently surveyed their readers about areas in which pastors wished they were better equipped. The question invited respondents to choose three areas of ministry. The top answer overall was leadership development. Since congregations of varying sizes have different challenges, the report also showed the top several responses within each church size with average worship attendance of 0-499, 500-999, 1000-1999, 2000-2999, 3000-4999, and 5000-9999. 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 …
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 …
Ministry Opportunities: Search or Surprise? (#1724)
I had a very positive seminary experience, and graduated well prepared for pastoral ministry within a congregational context. When I reached my final semester of my M.Div. program I began to seek my first pastoral position. The search process went very much like I expected it would, and I secured a role as Associate Pastor. I managed to navigate similar discernment processes to secure positions in congregations affiliated with multiple mainline denominations for both permanent Read More …
Stuck in the Past? (#1721)
Boston Logan aka General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport or BOS is "the largest airport in the New England region and 17th-busiest airport in the United States." It is also home to the bank of pay phones shown at right. Pay Phones I traveled to the airport with colleagues, and arrived at my gate well before it was time to board the plane. When I sat down I immediately noticed the pay phones, and had to take a picture. I positioned myself in a Read More …
Spiritual Entrepreneurship (#1720)
"What do you do?" One of the simplest ways people interact with others is by asking polite questions that are normally considered safe in nearly any social setting. And, one of the most popular of these questions is to ask about the kind of work someone does. Many Answers For many years I did like most people did during that era and worked in one professional capacity at a time. Most of the jobs I held had titles that provided a new conversation partner with a general concept of Read More …
Adese Fellowship (Social Enterprise) (#1712)
Two months ago I wrote about experiencing "many first days" in a relatively short period of time. One of those first days was starting my role as Director of Social Enterprise at the Wesley Mission Center in Mansfield, Texas. Shortly after starting that position I learned that the United Church of Christ was accepting applications for a social enterprise fellowship targeting those interested in changing the world for good via social enterprise. Adese "Adese" comes from Read More …
Politically Partisan Pastors (#1689)
Over the last week I have seen one red, gray and blue graphic more than any other. It seeks to tell the complex story of pastoral political affiliation in the United States in a single image. The widely shared graphic comes from Kevin Quealy's June 12 New York Times article "Your Rabbi? Probably a Democrat. Your Baptist Pastor? Probably a Republican. Your Priest? Who Knows." Quealy's article reports on the most ambitious research of its kind, which was undertaken by Eitan D. Read More …