Category: Church Leadership
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Two wins from yesterday
I don’t get to celebrate wins every day. So when wins happen I want to make sure I take time to acknowledge those victories. Big rock life goal for Kristen and Adam: Lift up women in leadership. So, two wins yesterday to celebrate towards that goal.
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Youth Ministry Short-Term Missions Cognition
Outside of facilities and staffing, youth ministry short-missions is likely the largest financial investment in young people the local church makes. But do we think about it as much as we do facilities and staffing? I sense we don’t.
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Put an End to the Billy Graham Rule
Most Americans became aware of the Billy Graham Rule in 2017 when they learned that Vice President Mike Pence refuses to meet with women one-on-one. For the record, I defended Mr. Pence’s right to take this position as it’s his own deeply held religious belief in the same way I’d defend any other religious person’s…
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Is your church a safe place?
Is your church a safe place for anyone in the community to come? I know that’s a loaded question… “Adam, safe for whom?” In this case, I mean is your church a safe place to come regardless of immigration status? As a San Diego resident living in Mid-City you might imagine this is highly relevant…
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Untangling Terms to Understand Growing Your Church
Admittedly, I sit in a weird seat. I’m former church staff so I totally get the realities of what it’s like to lead a congregation. But my vantage point is now from the pews, volunteering where I can and cheerleading the best I can. All-too-often I can see things that I wish people working for…
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The Dark Side of Ministry Life
From the outside looking in, ministry life is often romanticized. “It must be so cool to spend your days advancing the Gospel.” And yes, there are plenty of moments when you feel that. But there’s a not-so-hidden dark side to ministry life that act as pitfalls, snares, and traps… these are things that don’t seem…
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Mount Assumption
Our Greatest Invention Like millions of people I am in awe of the Sierras. Each summer, our family vacations in Yosemite National Park. And each summer I seem to have a moment where the mountains sing a Sirens tune. July 2015, wading through an Eastern Sierra creek in search of golden trout. One hand on…
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Emma Dryer is Smiling
About 3 years ago I wrote a blog post that was widely read entitled, “Moody, You Are Worth the Fight.” In this post I addressed Moody’s demarkation from their historic posture on women in ministry. While the school bears the name of 19th century evangelist D.L. Moody, the Institute was the brain child of a…
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Church: Is it for everyone?
Is church for everyone? This is a complex question with a complex answer. And in a Post-Christian world it’s an offensive question because it cuts to something many consider distasteful about Christianity: Exclusivity. Ultimately, most Christians believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven and therefore by process of elimination, Christianity is “right” while all…
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Should churches have open meetings?
Long-time youth worker Titus Benson has gotten himself entangled in a mess. There were sexual misconduct allegations in the congregation, the church leaders allegedly tried to deal with it privately, and from what I can tell… the more Titus tried to step in and help the more trouble he found himself in. This post isn’t about that particular…