This week I: welcomed two new members into the congregation, commemorated 20 saints, joined 45 others in a really great Harvest Party, learned about my top 5 leadership themes (Connectedness, Strategic, Empathy, Intellection, Responsibility), learned a lot about industrial motors on my first Take Your Pastor to Work visit, contemplated the earthiness of the Holy Spirit, studied Jesus’ series of dinners with the Pharisees in … Continue reading This Week in Ministry
Sunnyside UMC hosts the Common Cup Family Shelter. Common Cup refers to the fact that several area churches collaborated in the shelter’s founding. Area volunteers went back to their home church (1st UMC Portland) and began the Goose Hollow Family Shelter. Guests at Common Cup and Goose Hollow can receive day programming at Thirteen Salmon Family Center, located at the First Unitarian Church of Portland. Folks at Thirteen Salmon … Continue reading Ministry Context or What I learned About Portland Last Week — Collaboration Rocks!
Vital Learning is Critical to Vital Church Leadership…or so they say. At Greenview, we have been undergoing a revitalization process. I followed a pastor that had been here ten years, so the congregation was ripe for something new. We began in January by reading Vital Signs by Dan Dick. It is a superb book that really got us thinking about who we are as a church. … Continue reading Book Review: “Holy Conversations”-Introduction
Today, I said good-bye to my first appointment. The quality of my first appointment was very high: three churches of differing personalities. I learned so much. Foibles and failures notwithstanding, I think they learned a thing or two from me. Here is a quantitative look at my first pastorate. 3: Number of churches. 4: Number of years served at one church. 5: Number of years … Continue reading A First Appointment, By the Numbers
Lately, I have really enjoyed the teaching ministries in my charge. We have a covenant group reading Richard Foster’s classic Prayer. The participants are smart and curious, a real treat to be with. This week we also began an afternoon study on Genesis. I was delightfully surprised by the number of participants. It is very encouraging to take the time to prepare a lesson and … Continue reading The Teaching Church
Rain. Gray. Rivers rising. Mud everywhere. Vitamin-D low. Worries high. A typical Thursday. Samuel–Son of Hannah, Man of God Samuel is God’s reward to Hannah for her prayers. Then she gives him up to the Temple. Before taking him to the Temple, Hannah has time one-on-one with Samuel, her first son, evidence that God heard her prayer. She retains him in the home until he … Continue reading The Second Day of Lent
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