Tuesday's Catch: 'Five Symptoms of “Ministry Knots” in Your Church' And More

Five Symptoms of “Ministry Knots” in Your Church
What are the symptoms of ministry knots, and how can they be massaged out in a church? Consider these five symptoms.

Principles for Leading an Effective Meeting
Here are a few ideas for the effective leadership of regular ministry meetings. They’re written for ordinary meetings of modest groups and may not apply to retreats or crises.

If God is Sovereign, Why Do We Pray?
Why should we pray if we know that God is sovereign? Whether it is a curious young mind trying to make sense of the complexities and mysteries of the Christian life and the ways of God or a mature Christian wrestling with the implications of the teachings of Scripture, the question of God’s sovereignty and the necessity of prayer will feature somewhere.

A Peaceful Presence
We live in times when the volume is loud and emotions are raw. As followers of Jesus, we can’t remove all turmoil. But what we can do is bring the peace of Jesus as we walk in this tumultuous world.

Anglican Church in North America elects Steve Wood as archbishop
Wood will replace Foley Beach, who has been the archbishop of ACNA for a decade.

Bishop Hunn Calls for Church Culture Change
The Rt. Rev. Michael Hunn of the Rio Grande critiqued a church culture of fruitless meetings and wasteful spending, the disconnect between national church initiatives and the experience of local churches, and the failure to measure the effectiveness of its programs in a sweeping critique during the House of Bishops’ Monday legislative session.

I question the wisdom of the bishops slashing the funding for the development of resources and models for online/in-person hybrid worship and shooting down the funding for creation of a new supplement to The Hymnal 1982. The online service is now the front door to the local Episcopal church. People looking for a new church home will view as many as six of these services before visiting the church in person. Online servics have different requirements from in-person ones.

Contrary to what Bishop Martins asserted, my experience has been that most Episcopal churches, particularly the small ones,the majority of Episcopal churches, do not look for alterative music when it is needed. They "make do" with The Hymnal 1982. Hymnal supplements are useful resource for expanding the repertoire of the local Episcopal church and making its worship more attractive to a diverse segemnt of the community. What would also greatly benefit the Episcopal Church is a website that promoted such music and assisted Episcopal churches navigate the complexities of obtaining copyright permission, performance licenses, live-streaming licenses, and the like. Regrettably these two decisions will further contribute to the decline of the Episcopal Church.

The bishops need a mission-mind set, not the maintenance-mindest Hunn advocated.

Bishops Back Communion Across Difference Canons
By wide margins, the House of Bishops passed resolutions that amend the Episcopal Church’s canons to acknowledge two teachings on marriage, and to protect access to ordination, deployment, and canonical residency for clergy irrespective of their conscientiously held belief that marriage is between a man and a woman or between two persons

‘Bad Guys’ vs. ‘Good Guys’ narrows the framing on SBC and sexual abuse
The Southern Baptist Convention’s Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force disbanded without having implemented much of anything. The database they purported to “launch” last year — even hyping it as “historic” — remains empty. It holds not a single name of any credibly accused pastor. Similarly, there has been no permanent funding allocated for abuse reforms.

Clergy, parents file suit against Louisiana Ten Commandments law
'This is religious favoritism, and it is not only dangerous, but runs counter to my religion and faith,' said the Rev. Jeff Sims, a Presbyterian Church (USA) minister and a plaintiff in the case.

Also See: Fighting Ten Commandments law is part of ‘the civil rights movement of our generation,’ ACLU leader says and Why Posting the Ten Commandments in Schools Is Wrong

‘Not a gay church’: UMC of Liberia won't bless same-sex marriages, ordain LGBT clergy
The United Methodist Church in Liberia will not bless same-sex unions or ordain noncelibate homosexual clergy even after the denomination voted to allow both practices. Liberian Bishop Samuel J. Quire Jr. released a statement earlier this month in response to the UMC General Conference voting overwhelmingly to remove rules from the UMC Book of Discipline prohibiting same-sex marriage and ordination.