Ministry in the Middle

This is the third in a three-part series on weather cancellations and the church.  You can read part 1, "When to Cancel." here.   You can read part 2, "Who Makes the Call?" here. There are many ways to communicate about weather cancellations and the church.  Some TV and radio stations are willing to broadcast the news.  There are ways to share over the Internet through email and social media.  Or you can use the phone, either with an old-fashioned telephone tree or with newer mass texting or robocalling applications. The challenge is two-fold.  First, decide which means of communication are best for your congregation.  Second, prepare people to expect  how  you will communicate long before the harsh weather arrives. Some means of communication need to be set-up some time before the need to use them will arise.  Most media outlets will create access accounts for people to use their weather notification systems during the fall. ...

The second of a three-part series on weather cancellations and the church.  You can read part 1, "When to Cancel?" here. If weather and road conditions make travel treacherous, or if the forecast strongly suggests that travel will become treacherous, someone needs to decide whether worship services or other church activities will be canceled or not. In most situations, the person making the final decision should be the congregation's senior minister or solo pastor.  Partially, this is because the pastor should have the best understanding of who would be attending the worship service or activity and what their travel would be like.  Mostly, though, this is because a senior minister should have the respect of the congregation to abide by the decision, even if they disagree. In almost no situation should the senior minister or pastor make the decision in isolation, though.  It is a good habit to discuss the matter with other leaders in the congregation (understand...

This is the first of a three-part series on weather cancellations and the church. Late last month, our congregation's office received information from a couple of TV stations about changes to their weather-related closings and delays announcement procedures.  This is a timely reminder of the need to be prepared for the ways that winter weather can affect -- and force changes to -- church activities. The first part of this preparation is to decide the conditions that will force a congregation to delay or cancel worship services, other activities, or regular office hours.  Creating criteria ahead of time can make it easier to decide whether to cancel or not.  In fact, it may even allow you to prepare the congregation for what to expect. No one likes to cancel activities that have been planned, especially worship services, but sometimes that is the most responsible decision.  There comes a point where the risk is unnecessary, and there are times when it is wise to...

Without question, one of the weirdest things that happens in my ministry is when someone in the church quotes me to others.  It is particularly weird when I find out that my words have been shared in a newsletter article or meeting beyond our congregation. As far as I know, it doesn't happen that much.  The few times that it has been mentioned to me, though, I have caught my breath, hoping that what they had remembered was something good and worthwhile, rather than the alternative.  Frankly, I desperately hope that I haven't led them in the wrong direction. I don't know what I expected when I was preparing for ministry.  I frequently quote things that I've learned from books, articles, and presentations, including from teachers I have had.   Given that much of my ministry is centered on public communication -- preaching, teaching, and writing -- I hope that what I am doing is valuable and nurturing for many people. Don't get me wrong.  I'm not a ...

Over the weekend, I attended a service project with my local college alumni group.  Per usual, I enjoyed it.  We do this once a year, and the organization we volunteer with only asks for two hours of work.  So we talk, we do some basic labor, and we are finished before lunch. Sadly, not many of us participate from year to year.  This year, I could have opted out.  First, I had multiple church responsibilities that day, including one I chose not to go to so I could support the service project.  Second, I had to arrive before 8:30 on a Saturday morning.  Third, I drove through torrential rain to get there that morning.  I wanted to be there.  I wanted to show my support of the alumni service project (which we do in coordination with alumni groups in many other cities) with my presence.  I wanted to see other alums that I know in the area -- all of us there had important things to share about recent things in our lives.  I wanted t...

Like many Americans, I paid close attention to the public Senate hearings regarding allegations of sexual assault against Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh.  While I could not watch the hearings in their entirety, I watched or listened to roughly half of the proceedings. That was more than enough to find the entire conversation demoralizing.  While many of those involved paid lip service to seeking truth, mostly it was an exercise in political warfare, pitting one side against another.  Both Republicans and Democrats railed against the questionable tactics of the other side related to hiding or revealing evidence and rushing or slowing the process. Others have written extensively about the increasing tribalism in our culture, in politics and beyond.  Without question, this tribalism stretches into the church as well.  We join our teams and we stick by them.  We circle the wagons when others threaten or challenge someone in our own tribe....

The church, we are told, is shrinking.  Statistics suggest that overall American church membership is declining, sometimes drastically.  In most of our congregations, we see the decline.  There are fewer people in the pews and fewer people participating.  In most congregations, this becomes painfully obvious once a year when leaders begin to prepare the next year's budget and nominate the next year's officers.  Financial support of the church lags behind the expenses of the church, creating pressure to cut programs, cut outreach giving, or even cut staff time or positions.  There never seem to be many new options for officer position, forcing people to keep serving again and again... and again, and sometimes requiring people to serve in multiple capacities to keep programs going. In the season of planning, it is easy to lament that our church is too small.  If we just had a few more people and more reliable financial giving, things would be easier ...