A fellow pastor wrote to me recently and asked me to write a post about how to leave your church. I instantly wondered why I had never thought of doing that before as I, and every other pastor, have been burned by people who leave in hurtful ways. Have you ever decided it was timeContinue reading “How to break up with your church, prt. 1 (of 5)”
Tag Archives: church
Letter to my church family
What follows is an update I just posted on my church’s Facebook page, to my church family. I was thinking of them when I wrote it, but I know this blog is read by many dear friends who care deeply for me and my family, so if you’re one of those people, this is forContinue reading “Letter to my church family”
On being right
I think maybe the Catholics are right. I went to a Catholic funeral this morning. Every time I go to a Catholic funeral, I wish I were Catholic. Seriously. Catholics know what to do with death. They’ve been doing it much the same way for hundreds of years. If your loved one dies as aContinue reading “On being right”
Reasons Why Churches Often Don’t Work Together #1: Introversion Among Church Leaders
To begin with, it is true that some churches do work together. When this happens it is excellent. In this series, I want to address misunderstandings people commonly have about this. It’s not as easy as it sounds, and it may sometimes not even be desirable. In this post, I’ll tell you why. Today we’llContinue reading “Reasons Why Churches Often Don’t Work Together #1: Introversion Among Church Leaders”
The Church is Fundamentalist on Your Behalf
Peter Rollins says that the church, in its rituals and traditions and creeds, is already fundamentalist. You have to go deeper than that.
Church — The Five Things I Dislike Most
Image courtesy of Richard Croft under this Creative Commons License In my last post, I covered the five things I like most about church. In this one I will take on some of the things I dislike most. To be honest this is going to be hard to keep to five. A lot of things frustrate meContinue reading “Church — The Five Things I Dislike Most”
Church — The Five Things I Like Most
Church people and everyone else aren’t as different as you might think. Both groups tend toward black and white thinking — that things are all good or all bad. In truth, everything is touched both with sacredness and profanity. We are shocked and mystified when we see profane acts and words proceeding from supposedly sacredContinue reading “Church — The Five Things I Like Most”
Church, the enemy of our solitude
Recent studies have shown that the average congregation on a Sunday morning can tolerate only fifteen seconds of silence before someone feels compelled to break it with an announcement, a song…or whatever. Too often the church is the enemy of our solitude. Too often the church is one more agent in the vast social conspiracyContinue reading “Church, the enemy of our solitude”
Pain is our mother
And though we love to numb the pain We come to learn that it’s in vain Pain is our mother She makes us recognize each other — Linford Detweiler I have long said that stories of brokenness and failure bind a community together much more than stories of success and victory. Not there’sContinue reading “Pain is our mother”
The myth of the Bible-based church
[featured-image link=”null” link_single=”inherit” single_newwindow=”false”]123rf.com[/featured-image] I have an announcement to make that will be self-evident to some people and will scare (or anger) the living hell out of others. There is no such thing as a Bible-based church. Go to 1000 different such churches and you will hear about 1000 different interpretations of the Bible. Okay,Continue reading “The myth of the Bible-based church”
Temp Arbor 