Now that Christmas Day is over many of us feel let down because the day we have been anticipating for so long has passed. The malls strip their elaborate decorations and junk their remaining Christmas stocks with huge 50-70% off sales. Christmas wreaths and trees are thrown out for the garbage collectors and our frenzied activities give way to a low grade …
Thanksgiving: Not Just For Thanksgiving Anymore
I love Thanksgiving. Ask anyone who knows me. I have even been known to celebrate it multiple times a year. Because of my passion for T-day people usually assume that my favorite food is turkey or mashed potatoes. Well, I like pumpkin pie as much as the next gal but that is not why I am a Thanksgiving evangelist. It …
When Dating Becomes Pastoral Care: Three Stories from the Trenches
It’s been a little over 6 months since my blog post, Single White Female Pastor, and just over a year since I started this online dating thing. I wrote that original post because in today’s Christian culture there seems to be an unwritten bias that the married life is more important, valued, and desired than the single life. The response …
Is Your Church Plant Just a Celebrity Fan Club?
To be a church planter, you need to have vision to see something that doesn’t exist yet. You also need to organize your life around the goal of seeing that vision become a reality. There are a million temptations along the way, mostly having to do with trying to take control of the process, attempting to make things happen instead …
A Methodology for Discerning Impact: The Most Significant Change
Two to four years into a church plant? How do you know the church is making a difference? Courageous enough to seriously ask? How do we know our ministries—whether preaching, outreach, serving the poor, children’s programs, or life groups—make a difference? Measuring impact tends to be elusive and often downright avoided, especially in Christian circles. In this blog, however, I …
4 Pressing Needs in Rural Communities and How the Church Should Respond
This year, the Praxis Gathering will be making an intentional effort to expand our conversation to include urban, suburban and rural environments and church plants. Here’s Jonathan Davis on his perspective as a minister in rural America. To hear more from him, sign up for the Praxis Gathering 2017 HERE. While the cultures may be vastly different, rural churches seemingly …
How to Overcome the Trap of Loneliness
“I’m so lonely. I don’t have any friends who understand what I am doing.” I don’t know how many times I have heard variations of this statement from young church planters who feel isolated and overwhelmed struggling alone in a hostile environment. Some leave their fledgling churches feeling they have failed in their vocation. Others struggle constantly with depression, anxiety …
Praxis Gathering 2017: Kyuboem Lee
We’re proud to announce that Kyuboem Lee, church planter, minister, educator and more, will be joining us at the Praxis Gathering 2017. If you’d like to be there too, make sure you click HERE to register. About Kyuboem Lee Kyuboem Lee (BA Biblical & Theological Studies, MDiv Urban Mission, DMin Urban Mission) was born in Seoul, South Korea and raised …
Praxis Gathering 2017: Meet Tim Soerens
Praxis is happy to announce Tim Soerens will be joining us at the 2017 Gathering. Tim is a writer, social entrepreneur, ministry leader, and co-founding director of the Parish Collective. To learn how you can attend Praxis ’17, click HERE to access the late registration. About Tim Soerens Tim Soerens is a social entrepreneur, ministry leader, and co-founding director of the …
The Difficult Reality of Being Present in Your Neighborhood
Passionate about loving and serving your neighborhood? Come to Praxis 2017! Sign up HERE. One night, within weeks after moving to our home in a neighborhood in South Philadelphia, my wife and I heard gunshots. Glancing out our bedroom window, I saw men cowering in fear in the parking lot across the street from our home. A man lay bleeding …