Leadership
CHURCH AS THERMOMETER OR THERMOSTAT
CHURCH AS THERMOMETER OR THERMOSTAT: WORDS FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL To an acculturated and accommodated church, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote these words. He wrote them to us in Birmingham, from our jail, fifty years ago but the words ring true in the church today, perhaps in the church of any age, so let us […]
How much should a church budget for a pastor’s professional development?
This, for most denominations, is in the ‘how long is a piece of string?’ category. The Uniting Church is an exception. We in JMM are on the receiving end of ‘professional development’ contributions for the pastors we counsel etc. but the churches which cover these are often doing it in the ‘contingency’ category (which means […]
Thoughts on The Jesus Enterprise
I’m concerned about a book about the church that uses the word enterprise in the title, a word borrowed from business. But I sure want to reach the unchurched. Thus I read The Jesus Enterprise: Engaging Culture to Reach the Unchurched (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2004), by Kent R. Hunter. Here are some quotes from the […]
Clergy Job Satisfaction
Sightings 5/10/07 Workers in the Kingdom — Courtney Wilder The National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago recently released the results of an eighteen-year-long study on job satisfaction and general happiness. One interesting finding reveals that members of the clergy are both most satisfied with their jobs and happiest overall. The position […]
Lessons We Can Learn From Jack Welch
The Cabinet and I have been pondering our role as personnel officers of the church. It is our job to recruit, evaluate, and to place clergy. We believe that there is much that we can learn about personnel matters from those in business or other organizations. Hal Nobel, Superintendent of the Northwest District, has recently […]
Kierkegaard On Pastors
KIERKEGAARD ON PASTORS WHO ARE SERVANTS OF THE TRUTH Kierkegaard, the ?Solitary Dane,? had some tough things to say about pastors of his day. He firmly believed that pastors are not called to run errands for members of the congregation or to be the freelance therapist for everyone in need. Pastors are, in Kierkegaard?s words, […]
How to Fleece For Fun & Profit
How to Fleece For Fun & Profit II April 17th, 2007 FRAUDULENT CHRISTIAN FUNDRAISING “*SANTA MONICA, CA* *(ANS) *– For churches and ministries across the country, fundraising has become a vital tool that’s used to raise the necessary money to make ministry happen. It’s a noble effort, because people need to understand that without financial […]
Bishops and encouragement
I’ve had the privilege of speaking at about 15 Anglican diocesan clergy conferences in the last couple of decades. At one of them a question came up in many conversations in terms of the encouragement/mentoring role of their bishops. Frankly, in that diocese the bishops were putters-out-of-fires, sackers of clergy who couldn’t meet a minimum […]
Why Men Hate Going to Church
Missing men Is the church low on testosterone? by Lillian Daniel *Why Men Hate Going to Church* by David Murrow Murrow argues that the men are out seeking adventure, risk and challenge while the women rule the pews within a dull but safe feminized church. Where are the men on Sunday morning? The men are […]
False Prophets
From a friend: “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be […]
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