Who hasn’t seen a shape-sorter ball for infants and toddlers? From the earliest days of our cognitive development, we learn to identify, differentiate, associate, and categorize. It is so much fun to watch the joy of a child slipping the appropriate shape through the proper slot. It obviously imprints strongly on […]
Following a recent conversation about “growing the church,” I realized that the church we want to grow bears a striking resemblance to the church we already have… and to the church model made popular by the conservative evangelical movement of the late 20th century. A dozen different entrepreneurial pastors described […]
I received word today that a matriarch of the first church I served died recently. Betty (not her real name) was, without doubt, one of the greatest thorns in my side in my entire ministry. She lived to the ripe old age of 96, active in the church right up […]
Various recent studies and articles note an upswing in the practice of prayer in American culture. Must be a good thing, right? More prayer, more devotion to God? More prayer, more kindness and compassion in the world? More prayer, more attention to God’s will? Not so much. The increase in prayer […]
I got a heartbreaking email today. I know it is sincere. I know it is well meant. I know it is representative of a large group of today’s United Methodist believers. What I believe… let me reiterate, it is my belief… is that it is an opinion grounded in fear […]
In college, I learned an incredibly important lesson about problem solving and planning. It involved errors, and four main types of errors we make but are often unaware of. A Type I error involves applying a good solution to the right problem, not getting the expected result, and abandoning the […]
I often wonder who reads this blog. There are a handful of diehards that have become kind of a cyber-family — I’m disappointed when they don’t leave a comment and I really enjoy the give and take around different issues. In an overwhelming number of cases, the feedback I get […]
When I wrote l the book Vital Signs, I shared that there was no magic formula for vitality, and that I have yet to find the perfect church — a church that is healthy and vital in every way. I also stated that there was no single prescription for vitality. […]
bipolar — characterized by opposite extremes, as two conflicting political philosophies When I began doing congregational consulting in the late 1980s, I made a distinction between two core strategies of healthy churches: growth or mission. A growth strategy pursues more — more people, more programs, more money, more building, more […]
How long does radical transformation take? What is a reasonable time frame for the development, first of competency, then of mastery? Put another way, how long would it take you to become Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods? Think you could reach mastery by attending a weekend retreat or a one […]
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