Grace Memorial Church

Shut down the bus tours: What older church members should really be doing

So how do you engage older church attendees… say people over age 50? The question’s been around a long time. And, as most church leaders could tell you, it’s a bit of a loaded question. It’s also a question I’m...Read More→

Why we will no longer be a welcoming church

We’ve decided to quit being a welcoming church. No kidding. We’re giving it up. Like so many congregations, we’ve sunk an amazing amount of time and energy into becoming a welcoming church. We changed worship styles, trained greeters and ushers, wore name tags, brewed coffee, went to workshops on hospitality and put our friendliest people …

How I Learned to Embrace the Stand and Greet Time

I may not know you, but I think one thing is safe to say: You do not have as much natural revulsion as I do toward a stand and greet time during a church service. You don’t feel a greater measure of inward terror when you hear a service leader command, “Stand up and greet a few of the people around you.” I am naturally shy, introverted, and easily intimidated, and can always feel the fear rising when I hear …

The Meaning of Namaste: Greet the World Authentically

The word Namaste literally means “bowing to you”. To say the word, while bowing your head and joining hands, symbolizes humility. Learn five ways to embody Namaste.

8 Concerns That Church Members Seldom Tell Pastors

There are some concerns that are harder to bring up than others. Things like: We're concerned about your marriage.

Why Millennials Are Valuable in the Church

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word millennial? Lazy? Commitment Issues? Entitlement? These are just a few of the major stereotypes that revolve around the millennial generation. But as a millennial myself, I can tell you that these aren’t always true when it comes to my generation. In

Green Valley Community Church

What Piece of the Puzzle Is Your Church?

If you’ve ever worked a jigsaw puzzle, you know the frustration of not being able to find that one missing piece. Most of us could get OCD about one missing piece. We look frantically for that one small piece; in the box and box top, under the box, all around the table, under the table. … What Piece of the Puzzle Is Your Church? Read More »

How To See Light In A Season Of Darkness

Maybe you’re depressed, anxious, overwhelmed, stressed, or irritable. You can function in this life, but you aren’t thriving, and like the…

How To Be Something By Becoming Nothing

It came to mind, as much as anything can at four in the morning when my one-and-a-half-year-old screamed like a deranged rooster.

The Bible. Should I Bother?

GQ magazine recently released a list of 21 books you don’t have to read. The Bible was on it. Reason being? “It is repetitive…

Is Too Much Grace Possible?

Helping broken people find wholeness in Christ.

What if the Church Was the Church?

What does it look like to be the salt of the earth? For one thing, it might look like Christians welcoming sinners and eating with them.

Seven Things the Church isn’t and what the church is.

As a pastor in the 20th century, a part of preparing sermons is coming up with the “phrase that pays.” Sometimes they stick, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes I don’t even rem…

Why Isn't My Church Like The Church In Acts?

It’s tempting to imagine that the early believers represented a golden era of the Church.

11 Ways to Be the Church for Those Who Don’t Go to Church

People need to know us before they can trust us. And they need to trust us before they’ll go to church with us.

Church? I Haven't Been to Church in Fifty Years

One of the sweet things about being a priest is being able to minister at a person’s deathbed. The veil between this world and the next is very thin at that point, and you can see so much. When I say you can “see” so much what I mean is that so much is revealed. …

What Is Singing In Church?

What role does singing have in the life of the Church?