Does ministry seem like Groundhog Day? You wake up and it is the same thing every day? Where nothing changes or improves no matter what you do? You are not alone. In 1993 Bill Murray played a weatherman named Phil
Moving the Needle in 2024
Moving into a new year can involve as much anxiety as excitement. You are excited about a new year with new possibilities. You trust in God. So you are ready to dig in, keep trying and remain faithful. Good. Yet
Ministry Silver Bullets
The expression “silver bullet” comes from folklore as a means by which to kill werewolves. It is also a metaphor for a powerful or simple answer to a complicated question. So when we refer to a silver bullets in church
What Did He Say? Leadership Communication
You are a professional communicator. You preach and you teach. You lead worship. You lead devotions. You spend a lot of time on the phone: calling, texting, emailing. You make visits. You sit on boards and committees. You are busy
I Can’t See What I Need To Do!
It’s difficult to see what you aren’t looking at. If you aren’t looking at it, you certainly won’t change what needs to be addressed. That explains a lot of what we do or don’t do in church and ministry. The
Who is to Blame? (What’s Really Going On?)
We all face the reality at some point. Which is your reality? Church with few attending? Youth group with few or no participants? Parochial school enrollment barely meeting the break even point – or worse? The annual event didn’t happen?
Playing Church?
In high school I worked on weekends and missed a lot of church, but I attended a Christian high school ministry where we gathered for Bible study once a week, then signing and a talk another night a week. It
Clergy and the Puzzle of Professionalism
Perhaps “professional clergy” is an immediate turn off for current society. Popular pastors come in skinny jeans and untucked shirts with beards. The “professional” designation used to imply suits and polished shoes and neatly trimmed hair, if not bare faces.