Closing a Congregation as an Act of Faithfulness
Minnesota Pastor Lee Ann Pomrenke reflects on the painful reality of having to bring a congregation or a ministry to an end. While there is…
Browsing: Mainline Challenges
Articles
What’s at Stake when Schism is an Option?
United Methodists are facing major decisions about our legacy and future in the coming months and years. Myriad actions taken over many past years have…
Clergy Age Trends in the United Methodist Church in 2016
Lovett H. Weems, Jr., reports that despite a modest but steady increase in the number of young clergy in the United Methodist Church over the…
Predictable Surprises in the Church
Lovett H. Weems, Jr., encourages congregations to uncover and prepare for their “predictable surprises.” Leadership is about the future, so leaders must take the future…
Roadblocks to God’s Future
Alan Roxburgh describes established patterns, habits, and values that operate in the background of every church, standing in the way of renewal. We must, he…
Putting Ourselves in the Places Where Life Happens
I’m convinced that one of the major challenges for today’s church leaders is a matter of perspective. For ministry leaders, the church, whether by that…
The Church That Wouldn’t Die
Detroit is almost surgically separated into east and west by Woodward Avenue. Woodward stretches northwest from the Detroit River downtown all the way up through…
Measuring What Matters: A Conversation about Metrics and Mission
If your life is anything like mine, you may find yourself at the beginning of the year focusing on numbers from the past year. In…
Remember That We Are Working in Sand
Each summer my family spends a week at the beach. And every year my daughters, their friends, and I build a sand castle. We’ve discovered…
A Love Letter to a Closed Church
You walk up the concrete steps between the tall white columns. You try the door. It doesn’t open. You try again. It is locked. It’s…