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.
Two recent experiences stay in my mind that cause me to question some of the current values driving many of our churches. Three values specifically call for some reflection: do we prefer substance or do we prefer style? are we more concerned about our identity or our image? is being […]
Question: Which is more important, inhaling or exhaling? Answer: Depends on which you did last… Breathing requires both, and life depends on good breathing. Too little oxygen leads to asphyxiation; too much to hyper-ventilation. You can’t be good at one and bad at the other. No one can say, “Well, […]
Recent articles from Barna, Alban and Gallup highlight a growing trend in young America — a deep desire to be engaged in activities that make a positive contribution to others and that yield immediate results. We are witnessing a shift from passivity to engagement — not a new phenomenon, but […]
Once in awhile, a book comes along that is so seminal, so formational, that it stands as a standard for a long time. One such book, for me anyway, is Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith’s, The Wisdom of Teams. For congregational leaders, who do so much in small group settings, […]
It is said that one of the most important functions of leadership is to bridge the gap between where we really are and where we say we want to be. Where we are — our current reality — reflects our lived values. Lived values are those that cause us to […]
As I have been clearing files, I came across a very interesting conversation. It is a one-on-one interview with a young Christian woman who has turned her back on “organized religion.” I present an excerpt from it here verbatim, then offer a few personal reflections. My portion of the conversation is in […]
In times of economic stress, it is fascinating to see how the church responds. ‘In God We Trust’ is apparently only true to the extent that we have the currency on which it is printed. Cut losses, panic, make shortsighted decisions for the short-term — it makes one wonder, where […]
What follows is an email, in its entirety, that I received today. The author has approved my sharing its content, but asks that I protect both her identity and that of her congregation. I think it is both a message of hope and realism — fair, reasonable, balanced, and deeply […]
An insidious distrust is raging throughout our connectional system. Pastors don’t trust laity and vice versa. Congregations don’t trust their Annual Conferences, and neither one fully trust the General Conference. Confessors don’t trust Reconcilers, Contemporary Worshippers don’t trust Traditional Worshippers, and Traditional Worshippers don’t trust that someone won’t sneak drums […]
This isn’t a post about when the most people attend church in our denomination (or Pentecost would be replaced by Mother’s Day). This is about three ecclesial worldviews I have experienced in my 30+ years of church leadership that shape the spectra of contemporary Christian belief. This is a personal […]
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