I’m here to find resources that can help me innovate faithfully and renew Christian communities.
Many things strike me about today’s post by Kyle Meyaard-Schaap of Young Evangelicals for Climate Action. First, I appreciate the urgency and theology. I’m also struck, however, by how his organization supports its mission with practices in line with their teachings. Such consistency should be normal and expected, but alas, all too often our organizations…
I have a brother who is five years younger than I am. Growing up, I remember when he got to the “why phase.” Whenever my parents would ask us to do something, or when they described an event in our future he would ask, “Why?” Why do we need to go to the store? Why…
I don’t remember most of the gifts I received for my high school graduation. In fact, I’m not sure I can remember any … except for one: a beautiful set of stationery with my name embossed across the top. As I wrote thank you notes for the gifts, I remember feeling as if my first…
Many stewardship conversations consider the question what’s possible? What’s possible for our mission and ministry? What’s possible to do with others? What’s possible for the budget? What’s possible when God is working in our midst? In our newsletter this week Elizabeth Hagen continues her two-part series on the global church and stewardship. She helps us…
When I was in seminary, I was required to take an “Alternative Context” course. At the time, we had programs deep in the Appalachian Mountains, and as far away as the Czech Republic. The point of studying off-campus, however, was not to teach the people we encountered about what we knew about God, but to…
Many congregations are currently in the midst of planning or implementing an annual stewardship program of one sort or another. Such campaigns will have a lot of variety, but they all likely have two things in common: numbers and narratives. In this week’s article, Cesie Delve Scheuermann reminds us of the power of storytelling. In…
One of the joys of teaching at Luther Seminary is the opportunity to learn from my fantastic colleagues. This week Matthew Skinner, Professor of New Testament, reflects on how the vision of giving in Acts 4 can inspire the church today. I’m particularly drawn to Skinner’s description of the scene as a time “when things…
The Funding the Next Church series has been a great joy to organize, and I’m very grateful to our six fine writers. Today, our final article in the series is no different. In fact, the Rev. Andy Greenhow ends with the perfect exclamation point: a contemporary, powerful modern metaphor for funding congregations today. Yours truly,…
For the last four weeks, our series Funding the Next Church has featured articles by leaders of new worshipping communities. These leaders have described new visions for Christian life together, and for supporting mission with money. Today, Rev. Sara Hayden explains the why behind the how of recent weeks, with a fine article about theology…
A blog post by Terri Elton This weekend I sat behind a grandpa and his preschool granddaughter in worship. It was sweet to watch him guide her and explain the various parts of worship. At one point in worship small group leaders of children, youth, and adult ministry were invited up front, and we prayed…
Courtney Young is a graduate of Luther Seminary – M.Div. with an emphasis in Congregational Mission and Leadership. Missional, a Millennial, and a new mother, Courtney shares her thoughts with us here: Last year when I was taking a class on revitalizing churches, we read Diana Butler Bass’ book Christianity for the Rest of…
A blog post by Terri Elton Sunday I participated in my first race of the year, a duathlon in downtown Minneapolis. It was a hot, humid August morning. As racers made their way to the starting line, the race organizers warned us that they’d be keeping an eye on the weather and if the heat…
Courtney Young is a graduate of Luther Seminary – M.Div. with an emphasis in Congregational Mission and Leadership. Missional, a Millennial, and a new mother, Courtney shares her thoughts with us here: Two observations I’ve had since I am not being paid to be at church on Sunday morning: First, Sunday morning is the only…
A blog post by Jesse Weiss A good friend of mine is about to start his first teaching job in a couple of weeks — high school English. As we were talking about what excited him and what made him nervous, he pointed to one area in which he was very unsure of himself: where…
A blog post by Jesse Weiss Often, when we realize that we need to make changes in programming or other ministry-related endeavors, the tendency is to search for ways to change in places that might be more complicated than they need to be. Change is good, but we can be overcome with new curriculum, new…
