As a writer myself, I’ve long admired the work of The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson—over the last decade or so, I’ve quoted him often in my books. He’s an agnostic who is perpetually drawn to writing about faith, the church, and the state of religion in America. He bemoans the scandals
If you’ve ever been in need, then you already know that we often don’t know what we really need, or how to ask for help. When someone we care about is in need, we offer a default response: “Please let me know if you need anything.” And then, predictably, that
It’s the great cultural mystery of our time—how can so many, so often, so passionately name themselves “Christian” while adamantly supporting rhetoric and behavior that directly violates the teachings and example of Jesus? I subscribe to three daily news services that cater to Christian ministry leaders, and this perplexing dynamic
We’re nearing the finish line of our four-year research project “4-Soil Parenting,” and one of our primary takeaways is a truth we’ve heard project leaders and parents tell us over and over: Listening is a powerful catalyst for growth. In fact, during this week’s free ministry leadership webinar (“Who’s In
This week, I heard a national news anchor on NPR say something I’ve never heard before—she noted how we’re inundated with shocking, disturbing news reports right now, and encouraged people who are struggling to contact mental health services for help. And then she suggested a couple of free services, with
Our longtime colleague, favorite coach, and dear friend Jim Ladoux would always ask our Vibrant Faith team (and pretty much everyone he’s ever coached): “What’s your scorecard?” Churches have long been known for evaluating success in physical rather than spiritual terms, haven’t they? It’s the ABC’s—attendance, buildings, and cash. Jim’s
As Christian people trying to follow Jesus, and even more specific, as Christian ministry leaders trying to create spiritually forming environments for the families in our church, it’s easy to fixate on getting it right. I mean, our try-harder-to-be-better muscle is well-exercised. And it’s only a casual stroll from “excellence”
On a Saturday morning I’m sitting across the table from my longtime friend, sipping coffee at our usual Panera-Bread haunt. We have to leave soon, so I ask how he’s doing with his wife, and in his relationship with Jesus. He pauses to collect himself, then skips over my first
I’m not a musician. And I don’t play one on TV. When I was a kid, I was way more interested in playing backyard football with my friends than in learning how to play an instrument. And I vaguely remember my parents telling me they couldn’t afford to put me
As a writer myself, I’ve long admired the work of The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson—over the last decade or so, I’ve quoted him often in my books. He’s an agnostic who is perpetually drawn to writing about faith, the church, and the state of religion in America. He bemoans the scandals
If you’ve ever been in need, then you already know that we often don’t know what we really need, or how to ask for help. When someone we care about is in need, we offer a default response: “Please let me know if you need anything.” And then, predictably, that
It’s the great cultural mystery of our time—how can so many, so often, so passionately name themselves “Christian” while adamantly supporting rhetoric and behavior that directly violates the teachings and example of Jesus? I subscribe to three daily news services that cater to Christian ministry leaders, and this perplexing dynamic
We’re nearing the finish line of our four-year research project “4-Soil Parenting,” and one of our primary takeaways is a truth we’ve heard project leaders and parents tell us over and over: Listening is a powerful catalyst for growth. In fact, during this week’s free ministry leadership webinar (“Who’s In
This week, I heard a national news anchor on NPR say something I’ve never heard before—she noted how we’re inundated with shocking, disturbing news reports right now, and encouraged people who are struggling to contact mental health services for help. And then she suggested a couple of free services, with
Our longtime colleague, favorite coach, and dear friend Jim Ladoux would always ask our Vibrant Faith team (and pretty much everyone he’s ever coached): “What’s your scorecard?” Churches have long been known for evaluating success in physical rather than spiritual terms, haven’t they? It’s the ABC’s—attendance, buildings, and cash. Jim’s
As Christian people trying to follow Jesus, and even more specific, as Christian ministry leaders trying to create spiritually forming environments for the families in our church, it’s easy to fixate on getting it right. I mean, our try-harder-to-be-better muscle is well-exercised. And it’s only a casual stroll from “excellence”
On a Saturday morning I’m sitting across the table from my longtime friend, sipping coffee at our usual Panera-Bread haunt. We have to leave soon, so I ask how he’s doing with his wife, and in his relationship with Jesus. He pauses to collect himself, then skips over my first
I’m not a musician. And I don’t play one on TV. When I was a kid, I was way more interested in playing backyard football with my friends than in learning how to play an instrument. And I vaguely remember my parents telling me they couldn’t afford to put me
As a writer myself, I’ve long admired the work of The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson—over the last decade or so, I’ve quoted him often in my books. He’s an agnostic who is perpetually drawn to writing about faith, the church, and the state of religion in America. He bemoans the scandals
If you’ve ever been in need, then you already know that we often don’t know what we really need, or how to ask for help. When someone we care about is in need, we offer a default response: “Please let me know if you need anything.” And then, predictably, that
It’s the great cultural mystery of our time—how can so many, so often, so passionately name themselves “Christian” while adamantly supporting rhetoric and behavior that directly violates the teachings and example of Jesus? I subscribe to three daily news services that cater to Christian ministry leaders, and this perplexing dynamic
We’re nearing the finish line of our four-year research project “4-Soil Parenting,” and one of our primary takeaways is a truth we’ve heard project leaders and parents tell us over and over: Listening is a powerful catalyst for growth. In fact, during this week’s free ministry leadership webinar (“Who’s In
Our longtime colleague, favorite coach, and dear friend Jim Ladoux would always ask our Vibrant Faith team (and pretty much everyone he’s ever coached): “What’s your scorecard?” Churches have long been known for evaluating success in physical rather than spiritual terms, haven’t they? It’s the ABC’s—attendance, buildings, and cash. Jim’s
On a Saturday morning I’m sitting across the table from my longtime friend, sipping coffee at our usual Panera-Bread haunt. We have to leave soon, so I ask how he’s doing with his wife, and in his relationship with Jesus. He pauses to collect himself, then skips over my first
I’m guessing you might have noticed that there are fewer children in many churches these days. The number of children in our Sunday schools is declining—for some churches, so dramatically that they wonder whether they should continue to keep it alive. There are also many churches that have more or
Let’s do a little reverse-engineering… As ministry leaders, we know that spiritual transformation always happens in the context of relationship. That’s true theologically and experientially. When we say “relational ministry” it’s really a reiteration—all ministry is relational, and all relationships invite ministry. And the Trinity spotlights the mechanics of the
Americans are navigating a cycle of disillusionment with religion, and more specifically, the Christian church. But new research shows why it’s important to frame this “decline” as a cyclical journey, rather than a linear trend. More and more, the people in your community are re-thinking the cost of abandoning their
By Fred Oduyoye and Rick Lawrence Welcome to our post-election reality—the immersive division and polarization of our culture, our cities, and our neighborhoods continues. Already-strained relationships now have new news to swallow and wallow in. And all of us face new challenges as we follow Jesus into “love your
By Fred Oduyoye and Rick Lawrence All relationships have seasons of tension—and sometimes discord and division. In church ministry and pastoring relational tension comes with the territory. Shepherding would be easy if the sheep behaved themselves and got along. But that’s not reality. And when tension or discord surfaces
By Fred Oduyoye and Rick Lawrence Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is a shorthand way to spotlight our need for the advance of justice in our culture, and for our call to reconciling relationships. Many academic institutions, and many public/private organizations, now have DEI departments and executive-level officers. But,
We’re people created in the image of a triune God, and that means we’re fundamentally relational. That also means we’re in constant need of repair in our relationships—we hurt others, and they hurt us. So, how do we navigate when repair is needed in a relationship? In this Reachable Reconciliation
Summer moves at a different pace in our church communities. Some ministries are on hiatus and others are in maintenance mode. And while we may not intend to do so, this may include our hospitality ministries. As we look ahead to the fall, now is the time to consider what
Last month I had lunch with a ministry leader—I get to see her in-person only a couple of times a year, so it was so good catching up. We lost track of time; for almost four hours we talked about life, ministry, faith, and everything in-between. We were well into
By Fred Oduyoye and Rick Lawrence We have so many micro-interactions with people throughout our day—co-workers, family members, random people on the street, service workers, and on and on… In all these relational connections we have the latent capacity for seeding redemption, grace, and even healing. For real. So
Recent research reveals that 40 million Americans who used to go to church no longer do… These are the “nones”—people who are disaffiliating, deconstructing, reconstructing, and de-churching. People who once included churchgoing as a normal part of life, but no longer do. For the first time, in the eight decades that Gallup
By Fred Oduyoye and Rick Lawrence Some people are simply hard to “unlock.” Their body language, tone of voice, facial expression, and relational “posture” all converges into one simple message: Leave me alone. And, mostly, we oblige by leaving them alone. What we miss is an opportunity to connect across
