Presby-Musings

I read a lot of books on church transformation, leadership and growth.  And when I say "a lot" I mean a lot.   What I've discovered is that a great deal of the work that is being done on church transformation, leadership and growth is coming out of the non-denominational, or "evangelical" wing of the Church.  There's a decided lack of voices (at least in my experience) from experts within the " mainline Protestant " tradition. Which is why I was excited to read Charles E. Gutenson's book Church Worth Getting Up For , which was published last year.  Gutenson is a former pastor, current consultant and professor at Asbury Theological Seminary .  His frame of reference is the United Methodist Tradition (UMC). For Church Worth Getting Up For  Gutenson interviewed a virtual "who's who" of pastors , authors and church leaders who have been in some way, shape or form connected to what was once known as the "missional church...

Sometimes you have to be careful what you preach. Last week I preached the first sermon in an Advent series called "Stuff: Are the Things We Buy Killing Christmas?" I had a lot of people approach me after that sermon and tell me how much it affected them. One of those people was my wife.  She told me on Sunday that she had been really moved by what I said---particularly the part about how when we put our focus on acquiring "Stuff" we participate in idol worship and by extension collude (albeit unwittingly) with the demonic. I also essentially said, "Christmas is in crisis, and Christians aren't helping." So a couple of days later, my wife came to me and said, "I know what we need to do."  Apparently she had been listening to the morning radio show on our local Christian radio station.  I do my best not to listen to morning radio shows--even Christian ones--but my wife is a better Christian than I am.  I am serious when I say th...

David Kinnaman, one of the co-authors of the influential book " unChristian " and the president of Barna Group (one of the most on point research companies in the country) has a new book: You Lost Me : Why Young Christians Are Leaving the Church and Rethinking Faith. I had the chance to see Kinnaman this past week at the Catalyst conference and to hear him speak a couple of times. The thing about Kinnaman is that he backs up his assertions with data, which is what made "unChristian" such an eye-opening work. I fully expect that "You Lost Me" will be just as eye-opening, and sobering. I have an extra copy of "You Lost Me" that I will give away to the first person who offers a comment on this blog. Leave your email so I can contact you. Visit the book site at www.youlostmebook.org Related articles The Barna Group - Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church (connecttofammin.wordpress.com) Why Are Christians Leaving the Church? Tur...