The United Church of Christ has long been known as the church of the comma. That campaign resonated with me to the degree that I have (and have often worn!) a comma pin. I have also said the line attributed to Gracie Allen on many occasions: "Never place a period where God has placed a comma." In short, I appreciate the reminder that God is still speaking. New Punctuation Since God is still speaking the United Church of Christ's latest additions to the punctuation serve both Read More …
Social Media
View from the Pew: 8 Sacred Spaces (#1602)
Soon after relocating to Texas in September of 2015, I wrote "In Search of a Church," explaining a bit about the process my wife and I were undertaking to find a new community of faith to call our own. During this process, I have posted a "view from the pew" photo most weeks on Facebook and Twitter. As someone who has spent most of his life working in a church and a good deal of that time in pastoral leadership, my ability to visit other congregations has been limited (and Read More …
Top 5 Posts of 2015 (#1601)
My most popular posts written in 2015 (according to the number of page views during this calendar year) are Sermon: Lost –> Found –> Party Effective Leaders Ask for Feedback Leaving Parish Ministry World Religions from 2010 to 2050 Leaders Clear Obstacles So What? Leadership is the only topic to appear more than once on this year's list. While four of last year's top posts related to worship, only one worship related post made this year's list. Which of these Read More …
Last Blog Post (#1599)
This will be my last blog post for awhile . . . History Six years and four months ago, I launched this site. At that time, I never imagined that I would become a prolific blogger who would author 1,600 blog posts (an average of just over 250 a year!). I also had not given any real consideration to what my life might look like if I were not employed by a church. Happening Now After serving Mainline Protestant congregations for fifteen years in a variety of capacities, I am Read More …
Most Popular Sermons of 2015 (#1593)
I preached around forty sermons this year at Fort Myers Congregational United Church of Christ (Fort Myers, FL). According to YouTube views, the most popular messages are That's the Book for Me – watch / read - a 16 min. message on the Bible (warning: this is the first and only sermon I have ever preached that includes singing) Titleless – watch / read – a 13 min. message on humility Surprising Salaries – watch / read – a 12 min. message on generosity Personal Read More …
No Sermon Sunday #1 (#1591)
I did not preach today, and I will not be preaching again anytime soon. Last Sunday I preached my final sermon as Transitional Pastor of Fort Myers Congregational United Church of Christ (Fort Myers, FL). During my nine months there and for ten months while serving as Interim Senior Pastor of United Church (Marco Island, FL), it was my habit to post my sermon here each Sunday. Those posts contained the Scripture reading, a sermon excerpt (along with a link to the manuscript and Read More …
Twitter: My First 6 Years (#1584)
I started my social media journey in 2009 by launching this blog, opening a Facebook account, and beginning to tweet. At that time, I realized I was anything but an early adopter of Facebook (stats show around 300 million active users by the time I joined) or blogging (stats show around 125 million active bloggers started blogging before I did). I was, however, a part of Twitter before it really took off (stats show only about 15 million active accounts at the time I Read More …
Prayers for Racial Justice (#1576)
This Sunday, August 9, 2015, is the first anniversary of Mike Brown's death. On this day the congregation I pastor (Fort Myers Congregational United Church of Christ) will join with hundreds and perhaps thousands of other congregations in the United Church of Christ by including prayers for racial justice as a part of services of worship. This shared emphasis is the direct result of a group of faith leaders who have met regularly by conference call under the leadership of Read More …
Most Popular Sermons (#1570)
We are now almost two weeks into the second half of the year known as 2015. A few weeks ago I shared my most popular blog posts from the first half of the year. Today, I offer my most popular sermons from the first half of the year (based on YouTube views) in lieu of new sermon content since I am on vacation and not preaching this morning. Titleless - watch / read - a 13 min. message on humility Surprising Salaries - watch / read - a 12 min. message on the Read More …
Top Posts of 2015 (Jan-Jun) (#1565)
In a few days the second half of the year will begin. The most popular posts here on So What Faith so far this year (based on total number of views of posts published in 2015) are Effective Leaders Ask for Feedback, World Religions in 2050, Toward Church Renewal, From Mainline to Sideline to Oldline, and Top 10 Faith Enriching Books. Statistical Curiosities The list includes two posts from January, two from February, and one from April. Each post was tagged with a Read More …