Blogs
Have your read the newest Advocate?
4/4/2009
Back on page 8B I read about Julia Kuhn Wallace categorizing churches in three ways, a hospice, a hospital or a hospitality place. She stated, "Hospice Churches are typically small, dwindling congregations." The article lacked the space to more fully explain the three categories but they are worth considering. I tend to focus on Walrath's three categories in my work with churches, the smaller church, the stable small church and the not yet big church. The smaller church looks inward and ...
Worship Planning Tool
4/3/2009
Dave Benson and the worship team at Birmingham UMC found this to be a vital link to keep everyone informed and connected as they seek to do excellent worship planning. Check it out! Go to Planning Center Online
Continuing Education Ideas for Clergy
4/2/2009
Christianity 21: Faith in the 21st Century - Please let me know if you go or have been 21 Voices 21 Ideas 21 Minutes Each Christianity 21 will gather 21 of the most innovative Voices for Christianity's future, October 9-11, and give them each 21 minutes to share their passion. Website: http://christianity21.com Theological Conversation with Jürgen Moltmann an Emergent Village gathering - Please let me know if...
Good Friday Images - 10th Anniversary of Columbine - 4/20/09
4/2/2009
Haunting Images of the 15 Crosses at Columbine - 1 for Each Victim?. . . but then two are cut down. See the article from 10 years ago and the pictures as well. Greg Zanis, crafter of the crosses, deliberately used a different font (letter style) for Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold's crosses to seperate them from their victims. The very presence of the killers' crosses among the victims' outraged many. Greg Zanis with one of the crosses he built. He was opposed to removing Eric & ...
Leaders, Oxygen and Hope
4/1/2009
The Swiss theologian Emil Brunner is credited with having said, “What oxygen is to the lungs, such is hope to the meaning of life.” Hope is the message of the Church to a doubting and worried world. Romans 5:3-5 reads this way: “We know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Our hope is founded on God’s faithfulness. ...
Sowing Seeds of Discontent
3/27/2009
What to do when your church is content - but shouldn’t be My book fell open to that page believe it or not, page 51 (makes me think of one of my favorite verses – Luke 9:51.) Jody Flowers was sent to a church that had plateaued. He asked himself “how can a new pastor take an impressive but flatlined church to new levels of outreach and faith?” Answer: Sow intentional seeds of discontent He asked questions like this, “Isn’t it great that God is bringing people to our region who need Jesus?” “I ...
Clergy Make Pledges to CCPI
3/26/2009
At the March 24 Bishop's Day Apart North Georgia clergy made 319 gifts and/or pledges totaling $343,455 to the Central Conference Pension Iniative (CCPI). These gifts push the total receipts to over the $15 million level for the CCPI campaign. Approximately 630 people attended the event. Clergy can still give online at www.ccpi-umc.org. Click “Give Today” on the right panel of the page and complete the online form. Send payments to: Central Conference Pension Initiative c/o GBOPHB 75 ...
Participation Pays
3/26/2009
You may be aware that we encouraged our HealthFlex participants to complete the Health Quotient (health risk assessment) and wellness exams last year. There were cash incentives to the individual participants but there were also incentives for the Annual Conference. Here are the results: Health Quotient 573 clergy and lay employees 349 spouses 922 total (62.2% of 1483 eligible persons) Wellness/Pro-Check 545 clergy and lay employees 317 spouses 862 total (58.1% of 1483 eligible persons) ...
Tent Meeting: Preaching to the Choir has Never Sounded Better
3/26/2009
A long rainy day was coming to an end. I had settled into a seat a bit too close to the stage when the four-part harmony began. I could feel the smile swiftly stretching across my face. There was a balm in Gilead that evening. If you are looking for a reviving night out, let me invite you to a Tent Meeting. The simple story follows one man’s struggle to hear the voice of God in a time of financial distress and scarcity. Since all good stories are stories of redemption, knowing that he ...
'The Right Thing'
I Was Thinking… Life according to Peanuts can be exactly what we need to hear. Several years ago, just before Thanksgiving Day, there was a Peanuts comic strip that pictured Lucy feeling sorry for herself and lamenting, “My life is a drag. I’m completely fed up. I’ve never felt so low in my life.” Her little brother Linus tries to console her and says, “Lucy, when you’re in a mood like this, you should try and think of things you have to be thankful for; in other words, count your ...