Presby-Musings

Thom S. Rainer, the CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources recently posted an article about the "Eight Warning Signs For Forced Terminations of Pastors."  His list is compiled through the combined research of the National Congregations Study and the Review of Religious Research. Rainer states, "...this research does not tell the why of terminations; rather it deals with certain categories where pastors are more likely to lose their jobs." So let's get to it, and see what you think.  Here are the indicators that will let you know that the Pastor is going to "get sacked," as our friends in the British Isles would so eloquently put it: 1. If the church had a recent church fight.       (I guess if you show up as a new pastor and there's a boxing ring in the        Fellowship Hall, you know you'll be leaving sooner rather than later) 2. If the church is declining in attendance.       (I get this, church members tend to bl...

The second half of Day One of the 2Days with Rob Bell Event covered a lot of ground.  Rob taught about Calling, Preaching and then did some teaching on Spiral Dynamics, which is a topic he is covering in the book he is currently writing.  In this post, I'll cover the Calling and Preaching topics.   Calling Rob began this portion of his teaching by affirming the way that so many pastors and Christian leaders struggle with their sense of call.  He told us that this was natural. "When you become tuned in to who you are as your true self," Rob said, "you begin to ask 'Who am I to do this?'" He then encouraged us (in true Seth Godin fashion) to simply create, to do, to write, to preach, to lead---whatever it is that we have been called to do. We should not, he told the group, hold back our gifts because someone else is better at what we do.  "Sometimes we hold back because of somebody else," he said.  We'll say, "but someone h...

The first day of the inaugural  2Days With Rob Bell event has come to a close. Fried though my brain might be, I feel as though I need to write down some thoughts for those who might be curious about what we've been doing. To begin, there are 50 participants---mostly pastors, but also some lawyers, entrepreneurs, at least one doctor, some non-profiteers, youth pastors and church workers, to name a few.  Roughly 1/3 of the participants are women.   We are from all over the United States and Canada. The event is taking place in an intimate setting overlooking the ocean, and there's not really a bad seat.  Rob sat in front with a couple of flip charts and a stack of notes.  He is tanned, and wearing flip flops.  0 to Californian in 5 months. Introductory Things Of course, he began by asking us to open our Bibles and turn to Matthew 3, and he read the story of Jesus baptism.  I say "of course" because Rob is still a pastor.  On...

I've read a lot books about what it means to be a pastor, but few of them capture what it's really  like.  Instead they typically paint a picture of what pastors should  be doing in an ideal world, and with a great deal of spiritual enlightenment.  It's not that I don't enjoy reading these books, it's just that I generally feel chastened somehow while I am in the midst of them.  I find myself wondering if I will ever discover the "secrets" that the author has discovered, and then be able to write my own sagacious pastoral book. So far, I have been unsuccessful in both arenas. This Odd And Wondrous Calling: The Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers  is a different sort of book about being a pastor.  First, it's written by two very different pastors: Lillian Daniel, a thirty-something female pastor, and Martin B. Copenhaver, a sixty-something male pastor, who both happen to serve within the United Church of Christ.  Second, This Odd And Wo...

Change Your Church For Good (Revised Edition), Brad Powell; Thomas Nelson, 2010 This book was originally published as "Change Your Church For Good: The Art of Sacred Cow Tipping," and has been updated for a new generation of church leaders by author, pastor, blogger and church innovator, Brad Powell.  Powell is the pastor of NorthRidge Church in Michigan, where he has been pastoring since 1990.  Powell relates how he entered into what was then Temple Baptist Church with the realization that the church was dying and had become completely irrelevant to non-Christians, especially those who were coming of age in a Post-Christian society.  Now NorthRidge is home to thousands of members on three campuses and was recently named the Midwest's "Fastest Growing Church."  The transformation that Powell relates is one that has taken nearly 20 years, and was filled with obstacles, trials, tribulations, crises and eventually unbelievable joy, hope and unprecedented growth...

Okay.  I have to admit. I have a little bit of church envy.  After hanging out in the expansive confines of Northpoint Community Church in suburban Atlanta, I came to the realization that it really would be nice to have a children's ministry area in my church that looks like a city street complete with mock storefronts for each class room, a theater and a cafe.  Did I mention that was the JUST THE CHILDREN'S MINISTRY AREA? I did.  Okay.  I am attending the Drive Conference at Northpoint.  This is the annual "download"session that the Northpoint leadership staff hosts for church leaders.  The tagline for Drive is "because we're not there yet."  In other words, you keep driving... because you're not quite at your destination... there yet.  Anyway.   It's a "download" session because the Northpoint leadership basically downloads to all the rest of us the stuff that they have been learning about doing and being church.  Northpo...

Leaving Church:  A Memoir of Faith by Barbara Brown Taylor Four years ago, Barbara Brown Taylor wrote Leaving Church .  A friend of mine told me, "Dude, you need to read this book."  I didn't.  I had a stack of books on my bookshelf that I was working my way through and didn't feel like I could add one more to it. I wish I had.  Leaving Church is the story of Taylor's journey through the pastorate--a journey that eventually led to her to hang up her clerical collar and robes for academic ones.  She now teaches Religion at Piedmont College in Georgia and is an adjunct professor at Columbia Theological Seminary.  I am convinced that every pastor needs to read this book.  If you are a pastor, you will find yourself in it somewhere.  Taylor began her ministry as a pastor in a large urban church in Atlanta.  The pace of the ministry was killing her, she knew that much, but did not know what to do about it.  When she was give...

I did something this past week that has felled lesser ministers.  I changed the worship bulletin. For those pastors out there reading this, I could very nearly hear your audible gasp. And right now your stomach is probably doing flips just to imagine what it would be like to do this in your own church.  But you've wanted to, haven't you?  You've hated it... that thing.   You know... That thing that you produce each week that is full of liberally and randomly used Microsoft Clip Art...  That thing that you produce that makes the Earth weep each time you run it because of all the trees that died in order to promote the Men's Prayer Breakfast...  That thing that has more inserts than a newspaper on Black Friday...  You want to change it, don't you? Now for those of you non-church-y type folk who might be reading this, I know what you are saying.  "Huh?" Exactly.  There are certain things that church-y people do and say that sho...