According to this LifeWay Research study on pastors and sermon preparation, “Saturday night specials” do not occur very often. According to the research, more than 70% of pastors have their topics or passages selected more than a week in advance. Those sermons are not fully developed, but the general direction has been established. It is encouraging... Continue Reading

The amended resolution softened the directions, “to utilize expansive language for God from the rich sources of feminine, masculine, and non-binary imagery for God found in Scripture and tradition and, when possible, to avoid the use of gendered pronouns for God.”   An Episcopal Church resolution calling upon the denomination’s General Convention to “avoid the use of... Continue Reading

Confessions and creeds are good, but they are also unavoidable. Even our friends who reject creeds have one. “No creed but Christ” is a very short and inadequate creed, but it is a creed nonetheless. Thus, the question is not whether we will have a confession but whether it will be biblical, ecumenical, and sound.... Continue Reading

Smaller churches are more normative than larger churches. Churches of 25, 50, and 100 are common. If you pastor such a church, you may feel abnormal because of the attention given to larger churches. However, it’s larger churches that are more the exception than the norm.   Statistics never tell the whole story, but they... Continue Reading

History has roots. Personal examples in sermons are great ways to connect with people. However, they can be fleeting—if not shallow. Everyone laughed at the story of my son and the half-eaten cupcake, but—like the cupcake—it wasn’t sustaining. With historical examples, you tell an enduring story, one that has stood the test of generations and... Continue Reading

In our situation, I was truly shocked at the turn of events that took place. Then confusion set in as I analyzed every detail of the events that had unfolded. I was angry at the people I thought caused it all. My husband and I also felt alone. None of our friends had been through... Continue Reading

He told stories about his life, his family, his work, and the community. Yes, because we have been friends for a number of years, many of these stories I had already heard. Some of them I have even heard numerous times before. And one or two of them were even repeated during the same car... Continue Reading

The real question should not be “where does the bible teach church membership?” but rather, “where, after 1500 years of history in which there were church members before Acts, did the New Testament revoke church membership?” The history of Israel, the history of God’s old covenant people, is instructive. In the Old Covenant, God is... Continue Reading

Only 35% of those who are part of the mainline Protestant tradition say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, with 60% in support of keeping abortion legal. Members of the Episcopal Church (79%) and the United Church of Christ (72%) are especially likely to support legal abortion, while most members of the... Continue Reading

We all know sane, rational people, living much the same as we do yet believing radically different things….But none of them goes to your church on Sunday. There are no more singular, monolithic, obvious takes on the world. Belief has become less of an on/off switch, and more of a series of dials you can... Continue Reading