As a pastor, I have the great honor of being part of some of the most significant events in the lives of people. One of these is when a couple is joined together in Christian marriage. Premarital appointments with a couple are crucial as they create the opportunity to: Get to know each other Plan a service of Christian […]
Tag: church
An occurrence that is becoming more and more common as the weeks go on is people congratulating me on my new appointment. There are a myriad factors that are playing in to this transition. While there is a lot going on for our family, I simply try to recognize both the opportunities and challenges in this […]
I am preparing to transition to a new appointment beginning July 1. One of the things that I have learned from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership is that good leaders ask the right questions. I have been working on a list of questions that I believe will be helpful in getting started well at […]
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What I Learned at Lutheran Church of Hope
Yesterday, I traveled with the senior staff from Resurrection to the Lutheran Church of Hope. It was an opportunity to benchmark another church and have conversation about how ministry happens in their setting. I have had the opportunity to take part in several of these trips during my time at Resurrection to visit other congregations […]
I have been appointed to serve as the lead pastor at First United Methodist Church in El Dorado, KS beginning July 1. This is a series of posts about this transition. At times the appointive process for pastors in The United Methodist Church can seem a bit mysterious – for pastors and congregations. I wanted to share how my […]
I have been appointed to serve as the lead pastor at First United Methodist Church in El Dorado, KS beginning July 1. This is a series of posts about this transition. When I have the chance to talk with someone more than briefly about the move one of the most common questions that comes up is about how pastors […]
I have been appointed to serve as the lead pastor at First United Methodist Church in El Dorado, KS beginning July 1. I am writing a series of posts about this transition. One of the more common questions that I have received is: What is Nicole going to do? My wife, Nicole, is an ordained elder in the United […]
I have been appointed to serve as the lead pastor at First United Methodist Church in El Dorado, KS beginning July 1. The news was announced at El Dorado and Resurrection West on Sunday. El Dorado is a city with a population of about 13,000. It is located just off I-35 about 30 minutes east of Wichita. […]
At one of my favorite coffee shops, I overheard a group of students say to the barista, “We’re going to work here when we get old enough.” I was struck by the power of this statement. The environment and culture is so enjoyable that someone would want to work there in the future. Not just […]
Last week my son and I met Nicole for lunch at Chick-fil-A. This is a restaurant that has hospitality down pat and from which the church could draw helpful lessons. I have come to expect this when I go there to eat, but this time I had a surprise. We had ordered a Kid’s Meal […]
There are many things that I hope to do well as a pastor. One of those is strategic planning. The Wikipedia contributors define strategic planning in this way – “Strategic planning is an organization’s process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people.” This process […]
Thanks to Tim Stevens for bringing this story to my attention via this post – One Church Becomes Two… Without Splitting. Beach United Methodist Church, in Jacksonville, Florida will be launching one of their worship venues, Eleven 22, as a new non denominational church in 12 to 18 months. You can read more about it at […]
