Ministry Would Be Great If It Weren’t for the People
Difficult people are part of every congregation, but Margaret Marcuson, author of Sustainable Ministry: How to Lead (and When to Nap), argues that leaders make…
Author
Margaret J. Marcuson
Margaret Marcuson helps clergy get lighter and less burdened by their ministry so they can have more influence with less stress. She has worked with leaders from over 20 denominations as teacher and coach over 25 years. She is the author of Leaders who Last (2009, Seabury Books) and Money and Your Ministry: Balance the Books While Keeping Your Balance (Marcuson Leadership Circle, 2014). An American Baptist minister, she served as pastor at First Baptist Church, Gardner, Massachusetts, for 13 years. She lives in Portland, Oregon, where she sings in two choirs. Check out her new book, Sustainable Ministry: How to Lead (and When to Nap) (Bloomsbury, 2026), available from the publisher, Cokesbury, and Amazon.
Being a Stewardship Leader Requires Clarity
Margaret Marcuson encourages pastors to reflect deeply on their own motivations, habits, and beliefs around giving, including influences from upbringing and current practices. By understanding…
How Perfectionism Gets in the Way of Ministry
Does perfectionism keep you from leading in the most impactful way? Margaret Marcuson describes the nature and origin of perfectionistic tendencies, how they can limit…
How to Ask People to Give (Even in a Pandemic)
Margaret Marcuson shares ideas for asking people to support the church even in these most uncertain times. She says leaders should set an example through…
6 Tips for Effective Preaching on Stewardship
Preaching is a critical component within a broader strategy for stewardship ministry, says church consultant Margaret Marcuson. She provides six tips for more effective preaching…
Tell Your Stewardship Story
Early in my own ministry, I always found stewardship season anxiety-producing. While I got better at it, I still found the fall campaign difficult. One…
10 Tips for Handling Criticism in Ministry
Margaret Marcuson says that criticism and complaints are an issue in almost every area of ministry. She outlines ten strategies for handling complaints and criticism…
When Church People Swarm
Margaret Marcuson says that when anxiety is high, church people often function reactively rather than thoughtfully, and band together like locusts. As a young seminarian,…
Leaders Stay Connected
Margaret Marcuson discusses the tension between individuality and togetherness for church leaders using the metaphor of a string quartet. Leaders straddle the tension between togetherness…
Knowing the Pathways of Congregational Life
Margaret Marcuson advises pastors to learn the history and familiar ways of a church before introducing change because the patterns of the past will have…