Congregation
A couple of years ago Debbie and I were watching a fashion program on A&E or some other cable channel that we didn't ask for but that the cable company gives us anyway. The fashionistas were discussing the hottest, latest, hippest clothing lines, when one of
Community
Believe it or not, VBS planning time is just around the corner and I wanted to share this experience with you. In June, 2004, about 60 kids and leaders attended our community-wide VBS. Four churches in our small town were involved -- Methodist, Baptist (that's us), Presbyterian, and
Resources
My apologies to Rick Warren, but it's time to talk about what we're doing here. I've been at this for a little over a month, and I'm having a ball! But the point is to do something helpful and start some conversations.
Community
(This is a great story I used as introduction to a DMin paper I wrote last year. Hope you enjoy it. -- Chuck) As Europe emerged from the Dark Ages, China was the undisputed master of the eastern world. Chinese culture was centuries ahead of European culture. While the library
Congregation
We host a Boys and Girls Club downstairs in our old fellowship hall. About 40 kids attend the club each afternoon, Monday through Friday. We started the club about a year ago, and it has grown steadily and is now seen as a community asset. Hosting this club was a
Congregation
Lyle Schaller is one of the best, most insightful congregational consultants I have ever heard. His book, Small Congregation, Big Potential, is a great resource for ministry in the small church. Here are the 12 assumptions he makes in this book: 1. "Americans no longer live in a culture
Community
I stumbled across a guy who may be the smartest person in the world. Kevin Kelly -- a founder of Wired magazine, member of thinktanks, techie nerd, futurist guru, and believer -- gets my nomination for Mr. Smartguy of the Universe. And I'm not kidding. His writing is
Congregation
Okay, I can't resist this. I ran across a blog about MacWorld attendees -- folks who go to the annual keynote address by Apple founder Steve Jobs. It seems that attendees amuse themselves while listening to Steve Jobs talk by playing MacWorld Bingo. Just like regular bingo, except
Congregation
Our church was founded July 28, 1857. This year, 2007, we are celebrating our 150th anniversary with a series of events on the last Sunday of each month from January through July. To kick off our anniversary year, this morning I preached from Isaiah 43:1-7. Through Isaiah, God says
Congregation
According to A Field Guide to U. S. Congregations: Who's Going Where and Why, here are some interesting statistics on churches: * Number of people associated in any way with the median congregation: 200 * Number who regularly participate in the median congregation: 110 * Number 18 or older who participate
Congregation
Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." -- Matthew 9:37-38 NIV It occurred to me the other day that the difference in the church
Missional life
In a recent post, Earl Creps, professor at AGTS, said he was throwing out all his files of sermon illustrations. Creps said we used to think of information (including sermon illustrations) as commodities -- they were scarce, hard to find, and needed to be saved. Now, however, Earl suggests we