Boundary Leadership: a Video-Based Small Group Curriculum
BOUNDARY LEADERSHIP AT EMORY The past three years of course work and research in the Emory University community have deeply shaped my view of how community is formed and how Continue Reading
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Teaching White Sin, Black Skin: Toward a Christian Antiracism Pedagogy in the Era of Mass Incarceration
By Willie Dwayne Francois III The Problem More than individual acts of discrimination, White racism persists as a form of power that works beneath the consciousness of human subjects[1], regardless Continue Reading
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SOUL CONVERSATIONS
Written by Andrea Summers Dedicated to my spiritual friend, Sarah Jackson. She modeled Soul Conversations for me before that’s what they were called. Always guiding me toward God’s transformative Continue Reading
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Re-membering Who We Are: Congregational Care in the Face of Dementia
By Jared R. Wortman Background Bread and cup are lifted high above the expansive marble altar every week at Peachtree Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Atlanta, Georgia. The Eucharist liturgy Continue Reading
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Leadership Development Among Early Career Adults
A Challenge Let’s get right down to it: early career adults are less likely to make themselves available as leaders in their communities and congregations. Likewise, as society becomes even Continue Reading
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Reproductive Loss & Story Sharing
1 in 4 pregnancies ends in miscarriage. 1 in 5 couples experience infertility or struggle to become pregnant. Reproductive loss, including miscarriage and infertility, impact a large portion of our Continue Reading
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Pastoral Prophetic Preaching: A Spiritual and Cultural Hermeneutic for Prophetic Speech
Sunday, September 20, 2015, I preached as the pastoral candidate of the Historic Shiloh Baptist Church of Alexandria, Virginia. The sermon was entitled “It Doesn’t Make Sense,” taken from Job Continue Reading
Hospitality in a Culture of Othering: A Critical Exploration of Multigenerational Community-Building Dialogues in Crumly’s Chapel
A Study Across the Lines: An Exploration in Community Reconciliation in Crumly’s Chapel Serving as pastor in the outskirts of northwest Birmingham, Alabama has radically transformed my appreciation for Continue Reading
Moving Beyond the Walls of the Church: Shifting the Paradigm of Missional Engagement in Rural United Methodist Churches
A workshop leader asked the predictable question to a room full of ministers, “What is the purpose of the church?” One brave person honestly answered, “To survive.” This is Continue Reading
“Where Two or Three Are Gathered”: Prophetically Disrupting the New Religious Marketplace
“Where Two or Three Are Gathered”: Prophetically Disrupting the New Religious Marketplace by Jeremy Battle Church membership in the US has plummeted by over 20% in the last twenty years, Continue Reading
MILLENNIALS AND THE CHURCH: A FOCUS ON RETENTION AND ORGANIC GROWTH
THE PRESSURE TO GROW It is an intimidating time to be the pastor of a church; frightening even. Along with the spiritual responsibility of caring for the souls of Continue Reading
GIVING CULTURE A VOICE IN CHURCH: An Exploration of Popular Music and Holy Scripture
INTRODUCTION There are many personal theologies present among the congregants of First United Methodist Church of Chipley (FUMCOC) due to fluid movement between denominations over decades. One of the many Continue Reading
Sometimes You Lead By Listening: Introducing Ministry Innovations in a New Ministry Setting
A Boy and His Idea When I was the pastor of St. John’s United Church of Christ in Easton, Pennsylvania, I had a great idea about doing church. In fact, Continue Reading
From Politics to the Pews: Loyal Partisans Becoming Faithful Politicos
Introduction As a progressive congregation in a state that strongly identifies as conservative and evangelical, Mayflower Congregational United Church of Christ in Oklahoma City offers an unexpected expression of Christianity Continue Reading