A few days ago I took part in a conversation with The Bridge for Early Career Preachers. The focus of the webinar was sustainable preaching. The coordinators for The Bridge, Dr. Rich Voltz and Rev. Mandy England Cole invited me,…
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A few days ago I took part in a conversation with The Bridge for Early Career Preachers. The focus of the webinar was sustainable preaching. The coordinators for The Bridge, Dr. Rich Voltz and Rev. Mandy England Cole invited me,…
Read MoreIntegrity. Congruence. Consistency. What is preaching without integrity? Not much. This week we are continuing our focus on the practice of preaching as we support the NeverthelessShePreached Conference. We are celebrating preaching by women and LGBTIQA+ clergy in lots of…
Read MoreIn my new book Pastoral Imagination: Bringing the Practice of Ministry to Life, I address preaching in multiple chapters. I was fortunate to learn from wise and skilled pastors and professors in my years of seminary. Many of the concepts…
Read MoreRecently I joined a few other preachers to talk about the craft of sermon writing. We held our conversation as a panel discussion in a Sunday morning worship service. Six women talking together about how they might plan for preaching…
Read MoreWhat is the role of prayer and meditation in the practice of ministry? I have worked on that question for many years. It became focused as a question around the time that I finished my doctoral studies. In these last…
Read MoreI felt enthralled and overwhelmed by the sculpture of Mary holding Jesus (pictured above) when I stepped into the foyer at Belle Meade United Methodist Church to film this week’s episode of Three Minute Ministry Mentor. And the name of the…
Read MorePray. Read. Write. This three-part creative process is one of the most enduring patterns of work in my life. I have been praying and reading and writing and creating as long as I can remember. They are the forms of…
Read MoreHow is it with your soul today? The last 33 months have been so much. They have taken quite a toll… on life, on church, on everyone who is called to ministry, on our relationships, and our embodied ways of…
Read MoreThis is clergy appreciation month, and we are here this week to help you thank a minister. Who needs thanking? A minister or pastor from your past who helped you to discern a call? Or perhaps your current minister –…
Read MoreThis week we are celebrating mentoring! And we are also going to celebrate the Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) of Central Seminary. I know we are still on the Lenten journey for two more weeks. And I am so grateful for…
Read MoreEditor’s Note: Today we welcome Rev. Jake Hall as our guest! Jake lives in Macon, GA with his wife Erin and their children. He is the Director of Initiatives in Faith and Culture at Mercer University’s Eula Mae and John…
Read MoreToday is our final post for Celebrate PRIDE this week! We are sharing stories of ministers in the Learning Pastoral Imagination (LPI) Project. Every time we tell a story or share a narrative from our research, we believe it becomes…
Read MoreWelcome to Part 2 of Celebrate PRIDE this week! We are sharing stories of ministers who identify as LGBTIQA+ in the Learning Pastoral Imagination (LPI) Project. This week we drop in on two ministers at the stage of deciding on…
Read MoreIn the past nine days I attended two seminary graduations, three worship services where we blessed graduates, and one live-stream ordination. Each event gave me a sense of joy. Yet the joy was also rooted in something more complicated. Something…
Read MorePerhaps you have been hearing about the concept of pastoral imagination for a while. We hope so! And maybe you are wondering: how would someone teach that? Today, let’s talk about teaching pastoral imagination, the concept, the book and the…
Read MoreThis week I want to share with you PART II of my interview with Rev. Dr. Angela Parker and her thoughts on freedom and liberation. In PART I of our conversation we talked about her new book, If God Can…
Read MoreThis month I am having conversations with friends, family, students, fellow church members. In person (rarely), on phone calls, in texts, and by email. And in these conversations, I hear a resounding theme. We are exhausted, grieved, and uncertain about…
Read MoreThe topics and videos in Three Minute Ministry Mentor prepared the way forPastoral Imagination: Bringing the Practice of Ministry to Life – available now! Find your copy of Pastoral Imagination, the companion journal, and gift set here. Season Three…
Read MoreWhat do pastoral imagination and pastoral care have to do with each other? I’ve been working on that question for a dozen years. And recently I received a question from a friend that inspired me to articulate the relationship between…
Read MoreThis week, Eileen Campbell-Reed is enjoying some time away to rest and rejuvenate. Many thanks to Erin Robinson Hall for today’s post. She has 10 fantastic ways to show appreciation and honor clergy who make difference in your life. It’s…
Read MorePreach It is the best of preaching times. It is the worst of preaching times. Headlines are full of natural and human disaster. People’s lives full of uncertainty and grief and lament. We all could use a word. But which…
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