Every church has, at some time or another, complained about a lack of volunteers. Excuses are given as to why volunteers aren't showing up and a mad scramble usually ensues to figure out how to get the work of the church done. But most of the conceptions that we have about volunteers are misconceptions. Some of the reasons our churches give for not making great strides in recruiting volunteers are ...
A lot has been written lately about the church and culture; most of it, however, refers to the culture around a church. Just as important is the culture within a church, the shared attitudes, values, and beliefs that define a church and shape its practices.
Fresh out of seminary, my husband and I began ministry at an established, 850-member church in a large city. During the interview process, we were ...
ARTICLE Community from Scratch How one pastor is building Christian community where it doesn't come easy. An interview with Eugene Rivers
Rating:Not yet rated
In the shadow of inner-city crack houses, Eugene Rivers preaches a
radical gospel.
It's the same message he preaches to Boston politicians, gangs, and the
Christian Coalition: love, radical love.
Educated on the streets and at Harvard, Rivers's journey from gang member
to minister began when he was confronted with his own mortality while listening
to Billy Graham on the radio. Rivers, 49, now pastors ...
Capital Punishment. Last Rites. Cape Fear. After Death. Hell Fire. Apocalypse Now. 911. Endorphin Rush. The latest movies?
Nope. Labels from Rick Warren's collection of hot sauces.
"Listen to this one," he says with a grin, reading from a label. "There is a point where pleasure and pain intersect, a doorway to a new dimension of sensual euphoria, where fire both burns and soothes, when heat engulfs ...
Several years ago, our church needed to rebuild its children's ministry. No one stepped forward to lead it. The leadership vacancy raised several questions: Why didn't someone offer to serve? Who would recruit leaders? And if we found no gifted leader, should we shut down the ministry? It became obvious that we couldn't put a sign-up sheet in the lobby and expect people to "volunteer." And we knew ...
The Case
On the surface, the couple's class at Hope Community Church seemed to be thriving. The class was stable—unusual in a relatively young church: Hope had recently celebrated its thirty-fifth anniversary, and the class had been around for fifteen of those years.
Yet Hope's pastor wondered if stability was turning into stagnation. Over the course of a year the average attendance had declined ...
On the surface, the couple's class at Hope Community Church seemed to be thriving. The class was stable—unusual in a relatively young church: Hope had recently celebrated its thirty-fifth anniversary, and the class had been around for fifteen of those years.
Yet Hope's pastor wondered if stability was turning into stagnation. Over the course of a year the average attendance had declined ...
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