September 29, 2013 By Phil Maynard Have you ever tried to teach a child to tie their shoes? It’s something most of us do so naturally and automatically that breaking down the process into teachable steps is a challenge. According to a number of pastors I’ve spoken to recently, teaching people to extend Christ’s radical hospitality [...]
September 23, 2013 By Phil Maynard There seems recently to be an epidemic of people feeling that there is not enough. Not enough money. Not enough time. Not enough talent. Not enough power. Not enough creativity. Not enough me. Jesus taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." Yet, often we focus [...]
September 16, 2013 By Phil Maynard You would think that church people would be good at funerals, but we aren’t. It seems instead that when it comes to programs and special events it’s, “Once done, always done,” or, as a staff member once quipped, “The show must go on!” But why? Why must the first [...]
September 9, 2013 By Phil Maynard He is a friendly sort and a fine neighbor, but he loves yard care by chemicals. When we first moved in he had quite a nice yard – recently sodded, I believe. Then some weeds began popping up here and there. He would go out and spray the weeds [...]
August 20, 2013 A guest post by Jeff Stiggins A missionally vital congregation is a fruitful congregation. Jesus in John 15 makes it clear that fruitfulness is expected. Unfruitful branches are cut off. Fruitful branches are pruned so that they will bear more fruit. Obviously, fruitfulness is important to Jesus. So, what does it mean to be a fruitful congregation? [...]
August 13, 2013 A guest post by Jeff Stiggins A vital congregation makes present and impactful the incarnational ministry of Jesus in a particular place. Vital congregations are homegrown. They are rooted in and reflect the culture and people in their communities. Therefore, there are no vanilla, one-size-fits-all vital congregations. Everyone is tailor-made for their particular location. What blooms like [...]
August 6, 2013 Guest post by Jeff Stiggins It isn’t my church or your church or even our church. The church belongs to Jesus. It’s easy to forget that the church is a franchise. We don’t get to decide what the church is about. The mission is set. Still we vote on what we want as if our preferences [...]
July 31, 2013 Guest post by Jeff Stiggins There is lots of talk these days in United Methodist circles about increasing the number of vital congregations. Okay, what’s a “vital congregation?” If one ran through the room right now, how would you recognize it? In this blog series, I’d like to offer a definition of a “vital congregation.” The [...]
May 5, 2013 By Phil Maynard “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first, must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to be served, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew [...]
April 28, 2013 By Phil Maynard “We are not meant to remain as children…but we are meant to speak the truth in love, and to grow up in every way in Christ, the head.” (Ephesians 4:14, JB Phillips) There is a deep-seated expectation in the contemporary church that it is the responsibility of the church, [...]