By Rev. Dr. Rick Jordan It may have been the best sermon I’ve ever heard, but I will never know for sure because it was spoken in Icelandic. Hallgrímskirkja is the largest church building in Iceland, a Lutheran congregation. My experience there sparked these reflections about this church and the Church. Experience: “Hallgrímskirkja” looks like …
By: Dr. Paul Raybon Last time I wrote about how seeing your church facilities as a gift to be shared can change how you do ministry and how you relate with your community. Churches can also use that gift to generate alternate streams of income. As churches we are rightfully wary of becoming profit-oriented and …
By: Dr. Paul Raybon My church, Hominy Baptist in Candler, North Carolina, is over 200 years old. We are a small-medium sized congregation, which in the post COVID world means about 150 folks participating in worship and/or ministry on a regular basis, and about half that number in worship on any given Sunday. Many churches …
By Rev. Dr. Hal Bilbo I have been directionally challenged since my youth. I have been lost in the woods, lost in the city, and somehow, I’ve even been lost on the beach. No one on earth is more grateful nor dependent on GPS than I. How can you know your church is on the …
By Rev. Dr. Hal Bilbo The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. – Mark Twain This statement is as true for your church as it is for you and me. The shorter Westminster catechism summarizes the why for followers of Jesus …
by: Rev. Jerry Chiles What is an event or long-term situation in your life when you wondered if you would survive? You struggled against it and could see no end in sight. You may have wondered where God was. You may have even questioned your call to ministry. In John 6:10ff we find the story …
by Rev. Jerry Chiles But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. …
By Rev. Dr. Rick Jordan If you read my last article, you know it was about a small problem I have with tardiness. I wrote the article, sent it in for publication, then struggled for a while. Should I have done that article? Does it make me look bad? Will people think less of me? …
by Rev. Dr. Rick Jordan This weekend, we have the opportunity to once again “spring forward.” This includes the spring ritual of changing the time on our clocks. It is wonderful fun, of course. How many clocks do you have in your house? As I sit in my home office, I have a computer and …
by Dr. Paul Raybon You may remember doing a values clarification exercise in school with this prompt. “Your house is on fire, what 10 things will you try to save?” Then a follow up, “Time is running out! You have to leave five, what will you keep?” Individual lists are then shared in a small …
