It’s a genre now: the article or blog post about how seminary fails to teach the practical things pastors need to know. “Five Things They Didn’t Teach in Seminary.” The piece usually mentions monthly finance reports and broken air conditioners. I’m sympathetic. For five years I co-pastored an urban church with my wife. Each month,…
Category: Ministry
Mother’s Day: It’s Complicated
My friend Judy once told me that every year on Mother’s Day, she makes sure to sign up to volunteer in her church’s nursery during worship. When I asked her why, she said, “Ever since my mom died, I just can’t be in worship on Mother’s Day. They make such a big deal of it…
Ecotheology and the Role of the Church
Earth Day is the day when Christians have the opportunity to celebrate God’s amazing gift of creation to all of humankind. In the past, few Christians saw reason to celebrate Earth Day. It seems we were unable to connect the budding environmental movement with our practice of the Christian faith. The problem was not necessarily…