My first call into ministry made it apparent that if this ministry thing would work out, I needed to be a better leader. Like so many...

In my work with congregations, besides stewardship programs and evangelism causing a rip in the congregational space and time continuum,...

That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other...

Looking back in time I remember vividly embarking on my professional career.  Newly armed from all the training to debate theology with...

The role of the leader is not to do it all but instead to prepare others to participate in the ministry.  Every leader goes through three...

A truly humble man is hard to find, yet God delights to honor such selfless people. Booker T. Washington, the renowned black educator,...

Most people instinctively avoid conflict, but as Margaret Heffernan shows us, good disagreement is central to progress. She illustrates...

It was July 25th, 1993. The day after I had been installed at my first congregation in Berea Lutheran Church in Detroit, MI.  I remember...

Is there a place for passion in the Christian life?  That is an interesting question.  I love this illustration. There is a tale told of...

Stop me if you have heard this: “We are a dying church.  The average age of our congregation is in the sixty plus range. We need young...

When we think of creativity, we picture a composer or an artist at work on a masterpiece. But creativity is a new approach to anything....

“Any change, at any time, for any reason, is to be deplored.” The Duke of Cambridge (late 1800s) The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians...

Life is about transitions.  Whether that transition is from diapers to walking, from High School to college, or more life altering from...

Here are just some struggles Church Staff members have voiced as identified by Chuck Lawless in an article entitled “12 Frequent Burdens...

Rita Pierson, a teacher for 40 years, once heard a colleague say, “They don’t pay me to like the kids.” Her response: “Kids don’t learn...

At a conference, I attended last fall the sectional leader passed out a rock and told us to hold on to it.  He went on to explain that...