Books
Mark Thiessen Nation, professor of theology at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, has broken new ground in the story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Nation's new book, co-written with two former students, argues that Bonhoeffer was a pacifist from the time of his tenure in America in about 1931. Going against the
Outreach
Today at NOC2010, I'm leading the workshop titled, Outreach in the Crises of Life. We'll be exploring the variety of ways that churches can reach out to individuals and families during life's most challenging times. Life crises cluster into what I call the "
evangelism
Wednesday I head off to San Diego for my fourth year at the National Outreach Convention, known affectionately as NOC. I hope you'll be there for all of the workshops, discussion forums, worship sessions, major speakers, and more. One of the really great things about NOC is the
Culture
A fellow pastor emailed me with some kind words, and a suggestion -- blog about the 10 books that changed my life and ministry. What a great idea, and here goes, Clay! Of course, the Bible goes without saying, but I said it anyway to avoid unnecessary comments on its
Culture
Terry Jones, pastor of the Dove World Outreach Center, leads a congregation of 50 people in Gainesville, Florida. Normally, churches with 50 members are not featured on CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, the NY Times, Washington Post, and every other media outlet in existence. But, Terry and his flock, like Fred
evangelism
Outreach magazine's annual small church issue is on its way to subscribers right now. For those of you who don't subscribe, you can order this single issue from Amazon. That's right, the entire issue is available to you today from the friendly folks at
Leadership
For those of you who missed the webinar, The Strengths of a Small Church, with Brandon O'Brien and me, the video is online now. Tim Avery at BuildingChurchLeaders.com put it up yesterday at their site. The seminar was well-attended with lots of participation in the comments and
Creativity
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuPqx3PIaGQ&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1] Bruce Feiler, author of the book, The Council of Dads: My Daughters, My Illness, and the Men Who Could Be Me, talks about his diagnosis
Outreach
I just finished writing "A Tour of Small Churches in America" article for Outreach magazine. I'm not sure that will be the final title, but in the article I sketch 7 types of small churches, and other writers are profiling a specific church in each category.
evangelism
I admit to some ambivalence when I received Shannon O'Dell's book, Transforming Church in Rural America: Breaking All The Rurals. I write for small church pastors and leaders, and one of the themes I keep hitting is "small churches don't have to be
Leadership
The Strengths of Small Churches webinar went really well today, and BuildingChurchLeaders.com has posted our presenter notes from the first topic we covered -- authenticity. The notes actually contain some material we didn't get time to cover, so whether you logged in to the seminar or not,
Leadership
Only one more day until "The Strengths of a Small Church" webinar on May 6, 11 am to 12 noon EDT. You can join the almost 500 other participants by registering here. The free video webinar hosted by Christianity Today's BuildingChurchLeaders.com features Brandon O'