Perhaps one of the places most clearly identified in culture with congregational vitality is in the area of worship. After all, for most people, worship is the first experience of a church, and what is experienced in that service will likely be a factor in determining whether to go deeper in developing a relationship with … Continue reading Engagement vs. Inertia–Worship
Category: Church
Engagement vs. Inertia–Worship
Perhaps one of the places most clearly identified in culture with congregational vitality is in the area of worship. After all, for most people, worship is the first experience of a church, and what is experienced in that service will likely be a factor in determining whether to go deeper in developing a relationship with … Continue reading Engagement vs. Inertia–Worship
Engagement vs. Inertia – Discipleship Development
Worship guru Dean McIntyre raised the question in my last post as to how to differentiate between those congregations that are engaged (leading toward vitality) and those who are driven by inertia (surviving and perhaps even growing numerically, but disconnected from the source and power of vitality). He asked for practical descriptions of the differences … Continue reading Engagement vs. Inertia – Discipleship Development
Engagement vs. Inertia – Discipleship Development
Worship guru Dean McIntyre raised the question in my last post as to how to differentiate between those congregations that are engaged (leading toward vitality) and those who are driven by inertia (surviving and perhaps even growing numerically, but disconnected from the source and power of vitality). He asked for practical descriptions of the differences … Continue reading Engagement vs. Inertia – Discipleship Development
Vital Churches = Engaged
Every morning one of my daughters and I head out to the car to get to school. We open the doors, adjust our seats, put on our seatbelts, and I turn the key to start the car. By many of the indications used by most churches, we are doing pretty good – we’ve shown up, … Continue reading Vital Churches = Engaged
Vitality = Forward Leaning
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is … Continue reading Vitality = Forward Leaning
Church Vitality = Dynamic
As I’ve been reflecting on the Call to Action report, especially in light of John Meunier’s very good questions about the disconnect between the methodology from the recommendations, and Neil Alexander’s suggestions that nothing in the report is to be seen as a “one size fits all” means of engendering vitality in the church, I … Continue reading Church Vitality = Dynamic
More Call To Action Information
Our good friend John Meunier offered some great questions on how the data in the Call to Action report led to the conclusions of the Steering Committee in the comments of a recent post on this blog. I forwarded the questions to Neil Alexander of UMPH who was one of the leaders of the Call … Continue reading More Call To Action Information
Harvesting from Afar
One of the crappy things about moving from one appointment to another is that there are many seeds that have been planted that haven't quite sprouted. We leave them in hope -- hoping that the congregations we are leaving will keep up the watering and fertilizing; hoping that the folks that are following us in … Continue reading Harvesting from Afar
The Drive for Discipleship – Setting the Stage
Over the past few weeks I have been thinking quite a bit about the state of the church in America, focusing of course on the United Methodist Church in particular. Reports such as the Council of Bishop's Call to Action report have driven some of this thinking, but most of it comes in my context … Continue reading The Drive for Discipleship – Setting the Stage
A “Vital” Reponse
Neil Alexander is the President and Publisher of the United Methodist Publishing House, and a member of the Steering Committee which produced the Council of Bishop’s Call to Action report, which I recently wrote about. Neil e-mailed me his thoughts on that post earlier today and has agreed to allow me to share them in … Continue reading A “Vital” Reponse
A “Vital” Reponse
Neil Alexander is the President and Publisher of the United Methodist Publishing House, and a member of the Steering Committee which produced the Council of Bishop’s Call to Action report, which I recently wrote about. Neil e-mailed me his thoughts on that post earlier today and has agreed to allow me to share them in … Continue reading A “Vital” Reponse
Pastoral Accountability
A couple of commenters on my post on congregational vitality have suggested that critique of the Council of Bishop’s Call to Action report is based in a discomfort with pastoral accountability. To quote one commenter: “Spiritualize it away all you want, but the old tired notion referencing unmeasurables is a transparent attempt to avoid accountability. … Continue reading Pastoral Accountability
What is Congregational Vitality?
For many years, going back to the Council of Bishop’s “Vital Congregations” initiative (a project I worked on back in pre-1996 UMCom days), the United Methodist Church has talked quite a bit about developing and promoting “vital” congregations. The language of congregational vitality has been on the tips of our tongues as we wring our … Continue reading What is Congregational Vitality?
Ministry to the Dechurched
The word "dechurched" is not a common term in mainstream Christianity. In fact, it doesn't even appear in Webster's unabridged dictionary. But for me, it describes a neglected group of Christians: those whose firsthand encounters with Christianity have been negative, painful, and alienating, and because of this significant wounding have left the church or lost … Continue reading Ministry to the Dechurched
United Methodist Parsonages
I'm trying to get a sense of the norm regarding parsonage standards throughout the United Methodist connection and need your help. Here in the Tennessee Annual Conference there are published standards for clergy parsonages in our Standing Rules which lay out certain requirements for the house, and specifies what furniture must be provided. In a … Continue reading United Methodist Parsonages
United Methodist Call to Action — Some Questions Part 1
I am in the process of reading in detail the Call to Action report produced by a Steering Team at the request of the Council of Bishops. No, really . . . I am reading the document write now, as we speak (uh . . . well . . . we aren't speaking, but you … Continue reading United Methodist Call to Action — Some Questions Part 1
Some clarification…
In my previous post, I suggested that there were some throughout the United Methodist Church that wanted to use a “franchising model” as the guiding metaphor for how we function. Based on the comments that came in following that post, I need to offer a couple disclaimers: It is indeed probably unfair to tarnish the … Continue reading Some clarification…
Some clarification…
In my previous post, I suggested that there were some throughout the United Methodist Church that wanted to use a “franchising model” as the guiding metaphor for how we function. Based on the comments that came in following that post, I need to offer a couple disclaimers: It is indeed probably unfair to tarnish the … Continue reading Some clarification…
Is the UMC a Franchisor?
In my previous post I shared the recognition that United Methodist Communications and other agencies are involved in creating a national "brand" for the United Methodist Church based in the language of marketing more than theological identity. I've had at least one person suggest that in fact the phrases I mentioned represent "brand statements" rather … Continue reading Is the UMC a Franchisor?
Only Wonder Understands 