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Frequently, I hear and read people making statements that members of the Church of Christ do things that those in other religious groups don’t do. Some have left the church to go to other groups to escape this treatment. People (elders, preachers) in the Church of Christ always…” In many, if not most Churches of…
Interim Ministry Workshop, Tuesday-Thursday March 12–14, 2024, Heritage Christian University, Florence, Alabama: Click for more information Jerrie,Is the self-study survey you use readily available? I think churches with preachers might do well to take it. What do you think? Answer I like to get information in many ways. I love criticism. That’s one way to…
Interim Ministry Workshop, Tuesday-Thursday, March 12–14, 2024, Heritage Christian University, Florence, Alabama I’m often asked what’s the best way to prepare for a new preacher or a new church. My answer: Do a good job leaving your former church or saying “Goodbye” to your leaving preacher. Good beginnings begin with good endings. The best model…
Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory, by Tod Bolsinger; InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL, © 2015 by Tod Bolsinger, ISBN 978-0-8308-7387-6 (digital) What do leaders do when their carefully laid plans have no way of working? Tod looks at Lewis and Clark when they planned to find a river to get them to…
Ross Jordan began his work with the Central Church of Christ in October 1987. Cordell Holloway, our education minister, Ross, and I met the first Monday to get acquainted and discuss how we would work together. Among many other things, Ross asked Cordell and me, “Do you want the church to grow?” Cordell replied that…
Many read Matthew 6:14, 15 and come up with the rule that a faithful Christian will forgive everyone, everything, every time. But, as John 3:16 doesn’t contain every detail in the plan of salvation, Matthew 6:14, 15 doesn’t contain all the teachings of Jesus on forgiveness. He also said: Pay attention to yourselves! If your…
Interim Ministry in Action: A Handbook for Churches in Transition, by Norman B. Bendroth, An Alban Institute Book, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Copyright © 2018 by The Roman & Littlefield Prublishing Group, Inc., (electronic) ISBN 9781538104989 This is the latest book I’ve read about interim ministry. Mr. Bendroth lays out the need, advantages, and helplessness…
Elders are to be hospitable. 1 Timothy 3:2 Christians are to be hospitable “without grumbling.” 1 Peter 4:9 Three ways to be “friendly to strangers” (CEV) that have been helpful to me. These are ways I’ve experienced learning about new people in a community and beginning to find ways to work together. What’s been helpful to you?
[This post is from a previous Jenkins Institute magazine, Hope and Expectation. Used by permission.] I begin by saying I’ve had few people who aggravated me constantly. I’ll discuss some people who brought pain for a time and how I dealt with each. As a young preacher, a man came by the church building each Saturday…
Jesus tells us how to deal with a brother who sins against us. Matthew 18:15-17 When an elder or eldership is in sin, “missing the mark,” Paul tells a preacher, “As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear” 1 Timothy 5:20, ESV….