Posts

From Competition to Collaboration

What happens when a small church decides to stop competing? Everyone wins.  The small, suburban bedroom community where I pastor is saturated with churches. There is a main road that will take you all the way through town, which begins at a highway exit. In one four-mile stretch, there are no less than fifteen church […]

A Ministry of Ending

Would we close? Or could we keep going?  It was the question that occupied my mind as I drove to meet with a denominational leader about my congregation. And it was the question that came at me from every side as I began my ministry as a solo pastor of an urban congregation in St. […]

The Twilight of Easter

One of the most complicated aspects of losing Lily has been proclaiming Good News in the midst of resounding darkness. In my anxiety over preaching on Easter, a Young Clergy Woman International colleague reached out and shared a sermon she had written in a dark time in her life. I leaned heavily on her words […]

Shared Leadership: Lessons from YCWI

After serving three years as a co-chair of YCWI, I am beginning my third month as “just a regular board member.” I am loving that I get to spend my final year on the board with the fabulous women of the editorial group. It is a joy to have the opportunity to lift up the […]