I am often reminded of what my friend Margaret Marcuson, author of Leaders Who Last, says about bringing about change in congregations, which is, “Everything takes five years.” While that’s a bit tongue-in-cheek, it’s not far from the truth. Over…
The forced termination of clergy remains one of the most difficult, and often tragic, issues for congregations.
It can take a congregation years to recover from the forced termination of a pastor—and so, also, for the pastor.
A single episode…
June 10, 2019—What does it take to be an effective leader? That’s a complex and perennial question that has spawned countless books, lectures, seminars, courses, and workshops (and countless moments of personal self-doubt on the part of anyone in the…
May 13, 2019—We all have that painful memory of a moment when our emotions got the better of us during a moment of reactivity. As soon as we said those words we regretted them, or, if not immediately, then eventually,…
April 8, 2019—Beginning a ministry at a new church is an exciting experience. New challenges, a fresh start, promising possibilities, new relationships, can all be energizing. For most clergy, the first year at a new church is filled with excitement…
September 24, 2018—One common and practical schema used to understand congregations is the congregational size approach to classifying churches. Looking at congregations through this lens is used not only by denominational strategists in assessing and planning, but also by sociologists…
August 13, 2018—Rev. Dr. Cody Sanders taught the online course, “Ministry With LGBTQIA Youth” at the Center for Lifelong Learning in October.
He is the pastor of the Old Cambridge Baptist Church, and serves as the American Baptist Chaplain…
July 23, 2018—Chris Hedges states that after a period of time, war begins to develop its own life. The former theology student turned journalist wrote in his book, War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning, that those involved…
Ethics are often a victim of forced pastoral terminations and for that matter, the continuing conflicts in church life which lead to such traumatic moments.
Nearly every minister who has suffered an involuntary termination or a ‘near miss’ can testify…
May 21, 2018—As a bi-vocational pastor, I am constantly reflecting on how one vocation informs the other. I serve a small congregation but I also work through The Outreach Foundation to resource small churches, and to connect them with our…
Congregational ministry associates are second chair leaders. They are the lieutenants of the congregation who “get things done.” For those called to this ministry, it can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience (“I can’t believe they pay me to do…
When we hear of a minister being terminated, we may think about a “gang of three” as the instigators and carriers of bad news that a minister must leave.
Or we may think about the minister who was terminated and…
April 23, 2018—One of the biggest challenges in ministry is outreach, especially if your church is small and doesn’t have the financial or human resources to do BIG outreach the way some city and suburban churches might. Yet, we are…
