Church planters need to have vision. They need to be able to see a future that doesn’t exist yet and call people into it. But too often the vision becomes a “thing” that we use people to accomplish (rather than calling people to inhabit the vision). One of the greatest temptations you’ll face as a church planter is to use people …
Rejected, Dejected, Confused: Dealing with Frustration
Returning from Mission It may be that when we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work and that when we no longer know which way to go we have come to our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings. “The Real Work” …
Single White Female Pastor
I am a heterosexual, 33 year-old, single woman. I happen to also be in the process of becoming a fully ordained pastor. I am starting the process of ordination with the PCUSA. I went to seminary in Seattle. I’ve been in ministry in one way, shape or another for as long as I can remember. I have a strong sense …
To What Will Your Lenten Season Give Birth?
Lent is here. It begins with Ash Wednesday on March 1st and ends with Maundy Thursday on April 13th. Last week I updated all our Lent, Holy Week and Easter resource lists, reread posts from previous Lenten seasons and started to think about what I want to do this year. Lent is often seen as a time of giving up; we focus …
Film as a Form of Mass (Theology at the Theater, Part 2)
Philosopher and theologian, James K.A. Smith, in his book Desiring the Kingdom, helps us understand that at a gut level, we are creatures who love and desire. Thus we need liturgies, rituals and routines that reshape our desires. While Smith focuses on how worship gatherings could be better designed to shape our desires toward the kingdom, Craig Detweiler, in Into …
What has Hollywood to do with Jerusalem? (Theology at the Theater, part 1)
I remember sitting down with a Christian friend of mine recently. He had just finished his MDiv at Fuller. He was working as a teacher, active in church and engaging in meaningful fellowship. Yet he found himself in a funk in which it was hard for him to escape. As we sat at the coffee shop he told me about …
Stillness in a Time of Transition
We are living in a challenging season. Since the inauguration of a new president, civil discord and angry protests have had many of us oscillating between despair and hope. In the midst of venting our strong feelings we lose the ability to listen to each other, and we increase the conflict and the divide between us. Hope so easily gives …
Phillip Yancey: Church Planters as Artists and Culture Shapers
Philip Yancey will be speaking on “Church Planters as Artists and Culture Shapers,” followed by a panel discussion with Mako Fujimura and Sam Theophylus, pastor and planter of Beautiful Gate LA. You can participate at the Fuller Pasadena campus or by BlueJeans videoconferencing. The event is free for Fuller students, $5 for church planters, and $10 for others. A videoconferencing option …
You Won't Like Everyone in Your Church Plant, and That's Okay
I was talking with a first-time church planter about how things were going. As we were talking about some of the difficulties he was facing, he blurted out, “I just don’t like the people who are coming to my church! I wouldn’t choose to hang out with these people, and it’s hard to create a community with people you don’t enjoy hanging …
What Would Help You Most?
What do you need to start a movement? The V3 Movement is a dedicated to creating resources and training opportunities for Church Planters and Missional Movement starters. If you are reading this, it is because you want to start a movement. You want to see the kingdom of God to take root in your neighborhood. You want to see new movements …