I read with interest an article highlighted this week in the Harvard Business Review’s “Today’s Tip” on How to Succeed When Your Predecessor Was a Star. The author, Rebecca Zucker, states that new leaders should, “[not] try to take on…
I have been employed by a local church as a lay person or as a clergy person for thirty-one years. (I started at age 19.) Over those years I have served under the leadership of 9 district superintendents (Lloyd, Marilyn,…
What would happen if…we appoint pastors to circuit-based ministries to develop new faith communities, language ministries, innovations, and shared ministry/staffing under the supervision and leadership of a circuit leader? The first church I attended after my conversion at age 13…
This blog entry is part of a larger series about a shared aspiration for the future of the United Methodist Church. These aspirations are framed by three things: 1) making the local church the center of our life together, 2)…
Since the disastrous Special Called Session of the General Conference in 2019, a new longing for a different way of being the United Methodist Church has emerged. In the months since the conference has adjourned, a bevy of new proposals…
(This post is again another school-based project for my class at BU.) My “go to” religious app is linked to a piece of software that I have used for thirty years. The Logos bible software app has been a constant…
(During this fall I am completing my final online course as part of my Doctor of Ministry program at Boston University. The class focuses on how we communicate using the media of the 21st century. As part of the assignments,…
I fell in love with maps as a child. As a native Southern Californian, I would read and study the old Thomas Guide map of Los Angeles. Growing up in LA meant learning that there were often many paths to…
Like many United Methodists, we awake to the day following our Special Called General Conference with a host of differing responses. In taking just a few moments to review the national news and my Twitter feed, it is clear that…
One tradition I have kept in the local church is that these words are read during our worship: This Christmas night bestowed peace on the whole world; So let no one threaten; This is the night of the Most Gentle…