Welcome! Over the summer I am going to share 9 short blog and video posts on how churches can grow worship attendance and professions of faith. This series is inspired by Bishop Grant’s challenge at Annual Conference to increase worship and professions of faith in the Cal-Pac Conference. It’s a great challenge, but how? How …
Read more “01 – 9 Actions to Grow Worship and Professions of Faith”
When I was in 5th grade I began a yearly tradition, breaking in a new planner. My new planner would arrive at Christmas and my winter break would be filled with time to copy all the birthdays and other milestones into the next year’s book. I loved it. (Is it weird to say some of …
So I have been picking a small number of clothing each season and dressing from just these pieces for a year. It has been w o n d e r f u l! What I like: +Easy to get dressed every morning and easy to put clothing away at night. A lot less stress. +I …
This year one of my successes has been my morning ritual. I get up by 6:30 AM, walk, meditate/pray, write and jump into the day. It has worked well to have my standard plan even if there are times I travel or a too late night keeps me from perfectly following my ritual. It is …
Small groups where people develop their faith have been the bedrock of Methodism. We began not as churches but as a movement of small groups. Today less than half of our churches have small groups. Why? One reason is that we are too busy in committee meetings. I experienced this recently when I was told that …
Read more “Fall Reflection Pt 1 – Small Groups from Church of the Resurrection Downtown”
My last Core Competency for pastors is being Spirit Centered. You can call it Christ Centered, God Centered, Kingdom Driven, Spiritually –what you call it may depend on your background and on what connects with you. But whatever you call it, it is core to pastoral competency. Faith and trust in God is a lifestyle for …
Read more “Spirit Centered 06 – Six Core Competencies of Pastors”
My Mother wanted me to be a professional photographer. She thought I had a good eye for photography and she loved how passionate I was about it. I took classes starting when I was 16 and spent long hours in the darkroom trying things out. I like to think that some of what my Mom …
I didn’t grow up in the United Methodist Church (UMC). But when I was in college I fell in love with the UMC and I especially fell in love with what they called Connectionalism. Connectionalism (or Connexionalism) is a funny word. In the UMC we use it to talk about the relationships churches and pastors …
Read more “Six Core Competencies of Pastors 04: Connectionalism”
I spent the 100 days of summer using the Happiness Planner. The planner style I’m using is a 3-month version. I picked it up by chance when I had a gift certificate from Anthropology and thought it looked the mid year pick-me-up I need. It was. The planner starts by asking what makes you happy & …
Read more “100 Days of Summer – A Review of the Happiness Planner”
If I could change one thing about pastors and church folk it would be that they would give each other the best possible interpretation of every action. For example… You forgot to return my email? You were busy, not negligent. You didn’t talk to me at coffee hour? You were dealing with an emergency not …
Read more “Six Core Competencies of Pastors 03: Communication”