Accompaniment

As I mentioned in my previous post, “All are sought,” which built off of the concept of “all are welcome,” I want to expand on an idea of accompaniment, something the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America seems to be moving towards embracing more and more. Accompaniment in this sense means meeting people where they are at, and walking alongside them, being an embodiment of God’s … Continue reading Accompaniment

This Week’s Links

Happy October!  For those of you in the United States, however, it might not be so happy as the government has shut down as of midnight.  As you might guess there will be some leadership and theological reflections offered as links in the following.  As always, Tuesday brings a host of links which I offer as hopefully good reads that you might find interesting and … Continue reading This Week’s Links

“All are Sought”

What might it mean that all are sought?   We pick up the conversation from last week where we discussed the idea of “all are welcome.”  If the church, and its congregations are going to actively claim that “all are welcome,” I believe it needs to take seriously the conception that “all are sought.”  So what might this mean? It starts in a missional understanding … Continue reading “All are Sought”

Neighbor love in light of the past week’s events

I enter into this post, deeply aware of how divisive this might be.  I shake a little at the thought of this, but deep down I know I must write.  A week and a half ago, perhaps more than at any other time in recent years, I felt convicted (and really, I still do given our current potential for a government shut-down)!  I feel convicted … Continue reading Neighbor love in light of the past week’s events

The Implications of “All are Welcome”

Recently, I had the privilege of having a Facebook conversation with a pastor friend.  He was openly wondering questions about welcome and what that really means after having read Nadia Bolz-Weber’s Pastrix. I think my pastor friend unwittingly gave me the start of a series of blog posts, so we’ll see where this conversation takes us. To set the stage, we have all seen it, churches … Continue reading The Implications of “All are Welcome”

This Week’s Links

It’s that time again.  Time to share some stuff I have read over the past week that I think you might enjoy.  This week I offer them under the headers of leadership and collaboration, church, neighbor love, stewardship, community, and vocation. Leadership and Collaboration Dan offers a great reminder of some of Peter Drucker’s thoughts on treating employees like volunteers.  It’s great advice and worth … Continue reading This Week’s Links

This Week’s Links

It’s that time of the week.  Time to offer some links to articles and things which I have found particularly interesting and thought provoking.  As always, I entrust them to you and hope you find them equally interesting and insightful. Leadership First of all, if you have not heard of Otto Scharmer before, allow me to introduce you to him and his fantastic blog!  Scharmer is the author … Continue reading This Week’s Links

Lessons from Choir Directing about Volunteer Management

As some of you may know, one of my current roles involves me leading and directing a church choir.  As its a church choir, this means that this is a group of people who give up an hour or so every week to rehearse on a weekday evening, and who volunteer to help lead worship a couple times a month. Since I have served in … Continue reading Lessons from Choir Directing about Volunteer Management

“Sent for a Purpose” – What does this mean?

I have spoken about this a little before, but I received a MA in Congregational Mission and Leadership from Luther Seminary.  Integral to this program is a study and immersion in missional theology which has a major focus on the idea of “being sent.”  It is with this in mind, that I am very excited about how Trinity Lutheran Church in Stillwater, MN is shaping … Continue reading “Sent for a Purpose” – What does this mean?

This Week’s Links

There has been a lot of interesting stuff written and published in the past couple of weeks.  These all deserve their own post by me, but for the sake of time and in an effort to share this good stuff, I entrust these links to you for your reading and hopefully thought provoking pleasure. Leadership If you are like me, and you are always looking … Continue reading This Week’s Links