Musings on Faith, Culture and ADHD
What is church all about? That's a question I've been asking for some time. It kicked into overdrive when I read the Interim Regional Minister's monthly column. Churches in my region were worried. Would they continue? What can they do turn things around? My denomination, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) describes the local congregation... Continue Reading →
Disclaimer: I have to start this blog post off by saying that the following criticism is not directed at any one person. It is NOT a personal attack on anybody. This is a critique of a larger system that people might be a part of, but again my beef is with the system and not... Continue Reading →
Just before I left for the 2015 General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Columbus, Ohio back in July, a special appeal was sent out via Facebook about the upcoming event. Registrations were well below what was expected and there was talk about what to do concerning the 2019 General Assembly which... Continue Reading →
I came back from the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) a week ago. I got some great ideas about revitalizing First Christian of St. Paul, but there is still this desire to be part of planting a new church. I tend to believe that the Twin Cities and Rochester are poised... Continue Reading →
A few years ago, I was at a local gathering of Disciples (my denomination) in Minnesota. It was a good event overall, a time when our small tribe could gather to worship and fellowship. Somewhere early in the event, there was a slide that showed all of the Disciple congregations in Minnesota that no longer... Continue Reading →
First Christian Church of St. Paul is looking for the curious, the energetic, the adventurous and others who are interested in relaunching this Mainline Protestant congregation as well as launching a preaching point somewhere in the St.Paul area. The Re-Launch/Launch Team is the group of people who are simply saying I want to be a... Continue Reading →
I'm a little wary about writing this. The reason for my skittishness is that I don't want my frustrations to be misunderstood. But I think I need to try to find someway to share these frustrations; otherwise they will eat me alive. Anyone that knows me knows that I am a bit focused on new... Continue Reading →
Writer’s note: I was going to write another post about church planting in Mainline churches, and I still plan to, but I think this post sums up a lot of what I am feeling still. One update: I am not leading the new church team anymore.
As most of you know, I’ve been the head of a new church ministry in my Region. There have been some good and not so good developments in the area of church planting last year, though for the most part it was a down year in many ways. The good news is that our group got bigger as a few more people expressed interest in being involved. The so-so news is how I’m leading. I want to give people the chance to step up and take part, but I have to balance that with the need to just get something done.
The not-so-good things is the fact that a lot of potential church plants just died on the vine. One planter looked like he was going to plant a new community in the eastern suburbs of the Twin Cities. Things seemed to be moving ahead and then he back out…
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It's been a bittersweet time for me. On the one hand, I am excited of being pastor at First Christian. There are a lot of challenges; the church is down a faithful few and we are starting to find ways to grow numerically and spiritually as well. Most churches that are down to a handful... Continue Reading →
Last week, I had a conversation over the phone with a fellow pastor who is interested in planting a church. He share some of his plans and ideas. It seemed solid, so I asked him to share an outline of his idea that I could pass on to some other folks in the area. While... Continue Reading →
The Clockwork Pastor 