(Part four of five in David Roseberry’s Suddenly Surging series on church growth.) A Pivotal Moment In the early days of Christ Church, the congregation I started in 1985, I was moved by a random encounter in a suburban parking lot. My heart was broken after I met one man and learned what had just happened…
5 Takeaways from 7 Years of Bi-vocational Ministry
For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. —1 Thessalonians 2:8-10 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and…
Ministry: Is It to Die For?
Over at LeaderWorks, we’ve been talking about awkward questions for church leaders. Many of them are about money (no surprise there!). Who should be able to see the giving records? How to address the pastor’s compensation? What about retirement? But as I rolled out this series, I heard from a friend with another awkward question….
Falling and Getting Up
The sign on the trail to the falls could not have been clearer. Do not climb on the rocks, it said. The rocks are very slippery, it said. You will fall, it said. I climbed on the rocks. They were very slippery. I fell – hard. Lying a bit dazed on my back, half in…
I Was Burned Out
I was a burned out priest. I realized that something was really wrong when I ended up in the emergency room. I had had a “near syncope” which means I passed out without passing out. (Not sure what that means medically). Anyway, I felt weird and had tunnel vision, and was out of balance for while….
Things Done In Secret
As a new priest, I am careful to follow the liturgical rubrics in the prayer book as well as those that exist as a matter of local custom: bow here, make the sign of the cross now, kneel during this part of the service, extend arms in orans for this prayer, lay hands upon the…
Healing and Wholeness
A priest spends not a little time in health care facilities – hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living centers, the homes of parishioners – where he is granted the sacred privilege of being welcomed into moments of human weakness and vulnerability. It is a holy trust, and one that is best approached prayerfully and with great…
Receiving Love in Loss
On Trinity Sunday this year, I did not have the strength to lead worship. I needed to be present with my wife and children to grieve and rest. This May brought unexpected heartbreak, a shock we were not prepared following the anticipation of new life we had entering the spring. This past March I came to Apostles on…
A Frightening Privilege and Holy Honor
“What should I do? I know that if I do nothing, he’ll be dead. Yet…I know that he would not want to live his life the way the doctors are telling me. How can I let him die? And yet…how could I let him live?” And then she added: “What should I do? What would…
The Gospel in Human Decline
In several of his books, Henri Nouwen recounts how the severely physically and mentally disabled residents of Daybreak, a L’Arche community became his spiritual mentors. Nouwen saw, with the eyes of faith, what many could not: the Spirit is not hindered by human frailty. He believed that great saints who are in continual, hidden converse…
