I am the lead pastor at People's United Methodist Church in the Wisconsin Conference of The United Methodist Church, husband of my beautiful wife, Barbara, dad to my fantastic son, Josh and his wife Caroline, step-dad to my phenomenal son, Greg, his wife Hannah and our fabulous/glorious/perfect granddaughter Evie, author of seventeen books on spirituality, stewardship, congregational development, research, and spiritual gifts discovery, and an advocate for a more loving, inclusive church for the 21st century and beyond.
I shared some thoughts from an email exchange with a young pastor on the west coast (Open to Interpretation), and he sent me a short response to post. So here it is, Josh’s response: Hey, I’m Josh, I’m single, I’m twenty-eight, I have an M.Div. from Illif, and I now […]
I was talking with a colleague who is scheduling some work in south Manhattan. He shook his head and shared, incredulously, that he wanted to come in the second week of September to meet with ecumenical leadership and they wouldn’t do it because of September 11th. He looked at me […]
I have been engaged this week in a lively, fascinating email exchange with a young male pastor out west over the interpretation of scripture. Think of the “hi, I’m a Mac/hi, I’m a PC” ads. For the sake of the illustration, I obviously am the PC… Anyway, my friend and […]
Okay. I have written some controversial — even inflammatory — things on this blog, but I never thought that the idea that “pastor’s shouldn’t lie” would generate the kind of energy it has. (Caught on the Ethical Horns of a Moral Dilemma) Many people are leaving comments, but I also […]
What’s the difference between “ethics” and “morals” and what does the distinction have to do with the modern-day church of Jesus Christ? Both have to do with “right” conduct — how should we live, think, act, and behave in community? Interestingly, moralizing is often viewed as a negative, while being […]
A colleague took me aside recently and said, “You know, you’re upsetting a lot of people.” I looked at him and immediately asked, “Who?” Furtively, my friend said, “Well, you know, leaders in the church.” “Like who?” I asked, then added, “A lot?” He went on to name two people […]
I think I have simply evolved into an old fart. Quite recently and suddenly I find myself at odds with a significant number of leaders in the church. It is like we are speaking a different language. No, not “like” we are speaking a different language — it’s a different […]
Following a presentation on congregational revitalization, a pastor leaned back in his chair and said, “Any church that isn’t growing should be closed, so that we can launch a healthy one in its place. Revitalization doesn’t work. You can’t raise a church from the dead.” Now, I find this an […]
Word reached me of the death of a member of one of my former churches. The homily preached at his memorial was entitled, “A Good Man,” and it extolled a life of generosity, virtue, community involvement, and leadership. The news made me both sad and angry. While everything shared in […]
A few months ago I wrote a post on Frederich Schleiermacher’s view of the relationship between practical, historical, and philosophical theology. (For whatever reason, this post, “Root Rot in the Theological Tree,” has become my most viewed post of all time…) The main point of the essay was that while […]
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