Eliminating the Downward Drag of Ministry Clutter
Michael Kurtz explains that churches are quick to add new programs but slow to eliminate older ones, creating ministry clutter and program overload. Regular pruning…
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Room at the Inn
Doug Ruffle, who once served as a missionary in Argentina, shares the heartwarming story of a Christmas pageant that went off script, yet captured the…
Episode 22: “Anxious to Talk About It: Helping White Christians Talk Faithfully About Race” featuring Carolyn Helsel
How can white Christians talk faithfully about racism? In this episode Carolyn Helsel discusses her book, Anxious to Talk about It, with Lewis Center Associate Director Ann Michel.
Young Clergy Effectiveness: Good News-Bad News
Data from the Lewis Pastoral Leadership Inventory™ (LPLI) suggest that younger clergy share many of the same strengths as their older colleagues and that they…
What Happened in One Small Church Mattered
Roger Lovette shares the touching story of returning to the first church he ever served, thirty years later, to find they had finally acted on…
7 Ways Congregations Can Respond to the #MeToo Movement
The #MeToo movement has been a wakeup call regarding the pervasiveness of sexual harassment and misconduct in virtually every sector of society, including the church.…
Begin with Where
Rev. William H. Lamar IV, pastor of the historic Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal church in downtown Washington, DC, considers what it means for an older…
Episode 8: “Rooted in Place — Committed to the City” featuring William Lamar
What does it take for an older church to thrive in a changing urban context? Listen as Lewis Center Associate Director Ann Michel speaks with Rev. William Lamar, pastor of the historic Metropolitan AME church in downtown Washington, DC.
Related Resources
Begin with Where by Bill Lamar
5 Key Practices for Connecting with Your Context by Mark Gornik and Maria Liu Wong
Is Your Building Impeding Your Mission? by Mark R. Teasdale
3 Ways to Extend the Impact of a Sermon
Mike Schreiner and Ken Willard describe ways to get more traction from each week’s sermon by layering its message into other materials that reinforce the…
What is Your Signature Ministry?
In their book Small Church Check Up, Kay Kotan and Phil Schroeder say stable, smaller churches can remain vital by focusing on a “signature ministry,”…