We jump back into the question of holding space and self-care without sacrificing the ethos of the pastoral office. As pastors we help shoulder the burden of trauma carried by members of our community. The cost of this work can be overwhelming. Yet, to do this work well we must take care of ourselves without feeling the guilt of our …
Is it possible that shepherds with apostolic eyes can help create bridges from predictable and safe sheep pens into missional and open fields? In missional movements growing out of evangelical subcultures it is really important for apostles and prophets to regain their voices in the body which have been lost, quieted or silenced(!) in the overemphasis on shepherds and teachers. …
Do you feel like a failure if you haven’t converted anyone? This was the question that my friend asked me about my work in the neighborhood where I live. My friend who is not a Christian, had read my book Urban Spirituality: Embodying God’s Mission in the Neighborhood. In this book, I write about the work I do in my …
I enjoyed offering a Futures/Creativity Workshop at First Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids last March. As I was leaving the Workshop Pastor Randy Buursma shared “that First CRC Church has always been a “two-fer” congregation.” I asked “what does that mean?” Randy said “several years ago when I first came to the church being a ‘two-fer’ meant members attending …
We are thrilled to be meeting together in Philadelphia this week for The Praxis Gathering! We look forward to Re-Imagining Leadership as we explore soul-healthy leadership, men & women leading together, multicultural leadership, vulnerable leadership, and 5-fold leadership with some of the best on-the-ground church planters and practitioners from across the country. Joshua Grace is one among these, who will who …
The new year has begun – not the calendar year or even the liturgical year but the year around which many of our lives revolve – the start of school for kids, collegians and graduates and the end of summer for all of us. It is time for most of us to get up to full speed after relaxing vacations, …
We are counting down to Praxis Gathering 2018, our fourth annual time together, where we will plummet deep into the hands-on-work of Re-Imagining Leadership with unique emphasis on mutual leadership, emotional healthy leadership, five-fold intelligence, multicultural leadership and leadership in the neighborhood. We are thrilled to have Erica and Brandon Wrencher join us this year. They are among some of the best on-the-ground church planters and …
Cut the number of worship services in half. Sound far fetched? It’s possible to do, and it would cut workload considerably. Of course, then you may have to justify your salary. Ultimately, it may be the best move to re-connect with a post-Christians culture. If we look at budgets and responsibilities, the majority of money and time in a church …
It was the middle of the night when we discovered the creepy crawlers all over our pillows, a disturbing realization that my recent outbreak of hives was actually just a nightly encounter with bed bugs. Scrambling to sort out our options for extermination, I was hit with a strange mix of emotions. First, there was utter disgust at the thought …
It’s the moment I delight in most at a dinner party. It’s the lean back in your seat, completely satisfied (or maybe too full) moment. It’s the pregnant pause, dishes spread across the table with only scraps of food remaining moment. It’s the late in the evening with no place to go moment. Friends–new and old–linger around the table in …