United Methodist churches are responding to the surge of the new more contagious delta variant of COVID-19. In line with CDC guidelines, many have gone from encouraging to requiring masks. Still others are returning to online-only activities. Congregations also are taking steps to reach vaccine holdouts.
Will the Peoplew Return
For more than 18 months since the global pandemic gripped human civilization, church leaders are asking whether and when people will return to in-person worship.
How Politics Has Replaced Religion in America
America has always been more religiously devout than other Western democracies. But now, like them, it has begun to secularize rapidly. And, as religion has declined, political ideology has intensified, society has fragmented, and cultural common ground has disintegrated. As a result, politics is increasingly divisive and existentially fraught.
A Strategy for Training Church Leaders and Volunteers
One of the biggest challenges we face as ministry leaders is in training and equipping volunteers on our teams.... In this post, I'll share 7 key elements that I think should be included as part of a strategy for church volunteer training.
Quickly Recruit and Train Church Volunteers
Far too often when there’s a ministry gap in our churches, we focus on leadership placement over leadership development. We settle for warm bodies instead of weekly volunteers. After all, Sunday is coming and we need someone to fill the gaps.
Six Common Mistakes Mid-Career Pastors Make [Podcast]
Experienced pastors are not immune from mistakes. On this episode, Thom and Sam discuss some common blindspots for mid-career pastors. These mistakes are not career killers, but they can set back a ministry. While all pastors can fall into these traps, those who are mid-career are particularly susceptible.
Planning Creative Worship
Reaching outside of the boundaries of your prayer book or your Sunday morning traditions can be a bit overwhelming, but there are steadfast places to begin when you’re planning worship. No matter the type of service you’re putting together, these foundations for worship planning will act as guides as you craft liturgy. They are designed to help you create worship that is grounded in Christian tradition, faithful to biblical witness, and overflowing with the Holy Spirit.
The Bible Doesn’t Come with Instructions. But We Still Need Guidance to Handle It Well.
In my home, we have lots of Ikea furniture products. I’ve tried building some of them without using the instructions, but it never goes well. The same goes for reading the Bible—even if it doesn’t come with a manual, we still need guidance to avoid mishandling it. We can be grateful, then, that New Testament scholar Michael F. Bird has written Seven Things I Wish Christians Knew about the Bible, a trusty primer on understanding God’s Word.
5 Reasons Prayer is Challenging – with Insights for Breakthrough
It’s not uncommon for the work of ministry to steal us away from the power of ministry – prayer.
No comments:
Post a Comment