Getting Ready for 2021 End the Year Strong is a new resource from the Evergreen Project! You can download it for free on The Evergreen Project website. Getting ready for 2021 is vital for wrapping up 2020. Start looking ahead now. Spend some time praying and dreaming! In May of 2020, Tim Keller did a webinar with Francis Collins through [...]
Take Stock of 2020 The Evergreen Project began precisely to help churches grow for the kind of difficult days we have faced together in 2020. It is the hope of Archbishop Foley Beach and founders of this movement to help churches become “evergreen,” that is, green at all times. You have probably learned a lot about your congregation this year [...]
“Sermons aren’t commentaries, sermons are events” (14). This statement from J. Brandon Meeks encapsulates the message of his new book, The Foolishness of God: Reclaiming Preaching in the Anglican Tradition (affiliate link). This collection of essays possesses rich reflection on preaching from a brilliant man. To me, The Foolishness of God is a singularly captivating book. Dr. Meeks has given [...]
Do you know about The Evergreen Project? The Evergreen Project is an initiative of the Anglican Church in North America to help pastors and congregations grow in generosity and stewardship ministry. The main work of the Evergreen Project is collecting, creating, and curating the best resources for a thriving church. Now more than ever, every congregation needs to get generosity [...]
When most of us think of “youth ministry,” there are usually several classic images that come to mind: goofy games, contemporary worship music with lots of energy, young youth ministers with cool clothes, and big summer church camps. While these things can be good (and I’m sure a lot of us have plenty of nostalgic youth group memories that look [...]
One summer during college I thought it would be fun to sew a dress for myself. I only succeeded because my grandmother intervened to rescue the project. Her generation still had a muscle memory for homegrown and homemade goods. I grew up shopping for what I needed. Our consumer economy trains us to buy, not to make. This reality affects [...]
Kids aren’t stupid. Today’s teenagers face more pressure to learn well and succeed academically than ever before. AP and IB programs around the country treat high school students like college students in the amount and difficulty level of the work assigned to them. Outside of the classroom, students are exposed to a host of heavy and difficult concepts in the [...]
We are living in some of the most challenging times the church has faced in recent decades. If truth be told, many leaders find themselves at a loss in times of crisis. One thing is for sure; we live in a different world than we did a few months ago, and things probably will never go back to the way [...]
What does quality pastoral care look like? How many pastors, priests, and deacons receive training that adequately equips them to aid healing rather than add new wounds to the emotional and spiritual lives of people in their care? As a priest’s wife and an observer by nature, I could offer a little perspective. But as someone who has experienced dire [...]
If your church is just riding out the pandemic, hoping that you can get back to normal, you are missing the opportunity of the century to reimagine the ministry of your congregation for the century ahead. The main activity of every congregation has been upended. Sunday worship, which has been the core of church life for 2000 in most places, [...]
We live in a strange world where things like pandemics and protests seem to be the new norm. Since March 2020, the world has radically changed and will continue to change in the coming days ahead. Andy Crouch, Kurt Keilhacker, and Dave Blanchard describe the effects of COVID-19 as an economic and cultural blizzard, winter, and the beginning of a [...]
Early on in the midst of this global pandemic, Ed Stetzer told us to think about the next few months like an accordion. He predicted multiple phases of expanding and contracting in terms of our ability to gather in-person. We are beginning to see this accordion effect. The U. S. News & World Report ran an article Monday morning about [...]
In the shadows cast by the early English reformers (such as Cramner and Hooker) on the one side, and the giants of Anglican theology since the 18th century on the other, sits the rich trove of Anglican theologians and devotional writers known collectively as the Caroline Divines. “Caroline” (derived from the Latin version of the name “Charles”) is the term [...]
It’s been an exhausting week. You spent much of it at the hospital, praying for a dying Christian, giving comfort to a grieving family. You missed time with your own family to be a pastor to the parish. You sat with a beloved parishioner’s children as they argued over how they wanted the funeral and burial to go. It was [...]
Leading a church through the changes required for missional living is seriously complex work. Many people, understandably, are fearful of the disruption taking place in our culture. With political and racial tensions reaching new heights in our communities, neighbors now see one another as enemies. Having any sort of conversation, let alone a faith conversation, puts people on edge. But [...]
The last few months have been incredibly disruptive. We have all been navigating a global pandemic. Now, we are navigating phases of COVID-19 recovery (and possible resurgences) alongside renewed conversations about race and justice amidst social unrest. As we move into the Summer, many congregations are regaining some sort of rhythm as they begin regathering. We have also noticed a [...]
Our COVID–19 Resource Roundup Focus This Week This week, we want to highlight several different areas. First, the national conversation is focused on race, justice, and social unrest. There is a robust conversation taking place and we are seeing different responses from church leaders. Anglican Compass published "A Letter to Fellow ACNA Clergy" and hosted a Roundtable Discussion Webinar on [...]
St. Thomas Anglican Church is a "maturing church plant" in the Anglican Diocese of the South. Like many church plants, we are completely mobile and rent the facility we use for worship on Sundays. Normally, we gather in the Day Chapel located in the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, which is managed by the University of Georgia. Over the last [...]
Expanding Our COVID-19 Resource Roundup Focus Last month it felt like many of our churches and leaders were finding their legs again. They had pivoted to various creative ministry avenues during the COVID-19 lockdowns. (Pivot and unprecedented are probably in the running for the word of the year.) Everyone was making plans for post-COVID-19 recovery and phased regathering. How would [...]
COVID–19 has created new struggles as churches struggle to go digital. Here’s how they can succeed at it. "I just don't even know where to start with all this." The tone of his voice conveyed a frustration I have grown used to hearing. The new coronavirus – and the measures put in place to contain it – have created a [...]
Whiplash! Remember COVID-19? Last week, we witnessed the tragic death of George Floyd. His murder released new waves of social conversation, violence, prayerful reflection, and a wide variety of responses within our communities. Amazingly, within a few days, the national focus on COVID-19 and COVID-19 recovery shifted. The COVID-19 crisis seems like it is 'so last week'...except that it is [...]
We need your help. We are assembling the best resources for ministry in the church relative to the COVID crisis. This is the ninth edition of the round-up. Thank you all for your support and for your readership. We want to turn our attention to how churches are dealing with the IMPACT and EFFECT of the Pandemic on the people [...]
Pentecost is, for many of us and our congregations, the Sunday (or season) in which we turn our attention to the person and work of the Holy Spirit. The reality, however, for many of the people in our pews, is that the Spirit is often conceived of as more like the Force from Star Wars than a distinct divine person. [...]
After several months of ministry in the midst of a pandemic, things are slowly beginning to shift. Some states have begun re-opening. Most states and churches are announcing and exploring phased stages of regathering. Communities are thinking about recovery and what the "next normal" will look like. By the way, there are two helpful images we have been hearing to [...]
