November 17, 2023
Posts Categorized: Community Development
August 11, 2020
Today’s Worship Experience
Church is where God’s family gathers ‘Prairie lessons’ help mom provide worship experience for family By Karen Milholland Alley While the apocalyptic genre might seem relatable in some ways during these times we’re living in, the characters I have found myself relating to most during the pandemic are those found in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s account… Read more »
May 4, 2020
The Church for Today
Are you ready for hybrid online/in-person worship? The next phase your church needs to consider by Richard Hong Sunday morning has become a stressful time for so many pastors who never imagined that their job would involve being an AV tech. “Hallelujah!” is the cry when the internet connection stays up and Zoom properly connects to… Read more »
April 7, 2020
Barn Boots and Blessings
And the steeple bell rang A rural church’s Holy Week witness in a pandemic by Donna Frischknecht Jackson Frank, I really don’t think it’s a good idea to gather at the church. Yes, I know this is the holiest of weeks. You are correct. Easter is coming. Yes, I know you miss your church…. Read more »
August 22, 2019
Hopeful Church
Don’t Just Inform … Form Are we stuck in informational churches? by N. Graham Standish “Yes! This is what’s missing in the church. This is what I’ve been seeking.” It was my first year of doctoral studies in spirituality. I was immersed in the spiritual classics course, a three-semester deep dive into the writings of Christian… Read more »
June 25, 2019
Hopeful Church
Stop telling them what you believe… Tell them why you believe by N. Graham Standish I was knee-deep into listening on the phone to a potential church visitor when I had a sudden insight: We keep telling people WHAT we believe. What we really need to do is tell them WHY we believe. The man… Read more »
December 20, 2018
Hopeful Church
Building on a Blessed Community Recognizing the Church’s True Center by Graham Standish Years ago I read a quote by the Quaker mystic, Thomas Kelly, that changed my ministry: “Yet ever within that Society, and ever within the Christian church, has existed the Holy Fellowship, the Blessed Community, an ekklesiola in ekklesia, a little church… Read more »
April 17, 2018
justleros: more than nonsense / más que disparates
Like a hired hand A Revised Common Lectionary resource for April 22 by Magdalena I. García ‘The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away — and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.’ – John 10:12 Read the… Read more »
April 13, 2018
The Church for Today
It’s SOCIAL Media… not an electronic bulletin board by Richard Hong You’ve felt the pressure. The church needs a Facebook page. Should we be on Instagram? But while many churches are trying to have a presence on social media, most are being ineffective. And the primary reason they are failing is they are forgetting… Read more »
March 9, 2018
The Church for Today
Snail mail still works Thinking through technology’s uses by Richard Hong My first job was in software development, creating the first-generation of programs that replaced laboratory notebooks with computer systems. Our clients expected that computerization would solve their problems. But we had a saying: “The computer doesn’t do it better, it just does… Read more »