Counting the Costs of “Independence Day” If one of you wanted to build a tower, wouldn’t you first sit down and calculate the cost, to determine whether you have enough money to complete it? (Luke 14:26, CEB) If we want…
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Counting the Costs of “Independence Day” If one of you wanted to build a tower, wouldn’t you first sit down and calculate the cost, to determine whether you have enough money to complete it? (Luke 14:26, CEB) If we want…
Read MorePlease enjoy this post by my friend, recent graduate of Central Seminary, and chaplain, Kim McKay Allen. In today’s blog she tells us how she survived the onset of the global pandemic this spring while completing her internship and seminary…
Read MoreFor men of color, White women, and White men to stand in solidarity with women of color (and for us to stand in solidarity with one another) requires them to adopt an ethic of caring, a position of receptivity, trust,…
Read MoreHow do we shift the balance of our internal narratives, so that we become witnesses rather than victims of our fear, grief, pain, and trauma? Recently our host, Eileen Campbell-Reed led a webinar for the Wayne Oates Institute: “Working with People in…
Read MoreThe world is on fire. How are we going to respond? In the past week, my attention and all my news and social feeds were riveted to the protests in more than 140 cities in the US and globally, over…
Read MoreThis Friday we welcome guest blogger Lauren Plummer who offers a encouraging word for #pandemicpastoring. Lauren is a pastoral intern at Glendale Baptist Church in Nashville, TN, where she recently preached this sermon in a zoom worship service. We welcome Lauren’s…
Read MoreThis week we want to share a guest blog by my friend, Laura Edgar. She is the Associate Pastor at First Baptist Auburn, Alabama and a graduate of Baptist Seminary of Kentucky. She ministers with students from middle school through…
Read MoreTeaching and learning are essential aspects of human development. From parenting to governing, from sports team to PTA, and from ministry to industry, human beings are creatures who can learn and grow from first cry to final breath. How we…
Read MoreWe need new rituals for #PandemicGrief. This is our space to gather and collect our best practices for grieving in this season of isolation. Part of the struggle of leaning into joy or beauty — which are desperately needed for…
Read MorePaying attention fully to a ministry setting, requires some practice and skill. Pastoral attention can be learned and cultivated over time. One way to grow in those skills is through the work pastoral ethnography. Professional ethnographers spend many years of…
Read MoreAre you a minister or chaplain, an activist or congregational pastor? Whatever your role in ministry, you are now living and working in an unprecedented worldwide season of the coronavirus pandemic. And we want to support you as you bring…
Read MoreThis week we want to share a wonderful guest blog by my friend, recent graduate of Vanderbilt Divinity School, and new minister, Anita Peebles. When I asked, Does it feel better to be in the second year of ministry? She…
Read MoreEach year for the last few, I’ve taken time, with inspiration from my friends and writing pals Duane Bidwell and Frank Thomas, to compile a Gratitude List of Important Things that I have invested myself in during the past year.…
Read More“Ministry as Spiritual Practice: How Pastors Learn to See and Respond to the ‘More’ of A Situation” by Eileen R. Campbell-Reed and Christian Scharen Abstract Christian ministry in a changing and challenging context requires “pastoral imagination,” a capacity to perceive…
Read MoreThe bells chime for worship. I am walking away from them. My path leads me deeper into the woods, through a cathedral of trees. A lush carpet of green stretches away to my left. Low hanging clouds reflect on the…
Read MoreMerry Christmas and Happy New Year from Hawai’i! This is the most unique Christmas holiday I have ever had in my life. My family and I traveled to Hawai’i where new adventures and new discoveries filled up each day of…
Read MoreNew Weekly Video Series Launches in Advent Everyone in ministry needs a mentor. Whether you have one currently or feel like you could really use one, our new video series, Three Minute Ministry Mentor, is created exactly with you in…
Read MoreFeedback This month I’ve been taking a class in creative non-fiction over at The Porch. A dozen or so women sit around a big plank table each week, and we talk about delicious classics like “You Blow My Mind! Hey,…
Read MoreSouthern Festival of Books This weekend I met Clyde Edgerton and got to ask him about his practices for writing. Our interaction was one of many joys I found at the 29th Annual Southern Festival of Books (2017)! On Sunday…
Read MorePlanning One of the harder tasks in the world of writing is the planning required. Yet, planning helps spread out all the other tasks, and makes getting started one step. Otherwise, all the overwhelming steps come at you at once. Even writers long…
Read MoreHow to Plan Your Writing Retreat Have you ever wished for an uninterrupted time of focused writing or editing? Yet you don’t want to sink back into binge writing that drains your life and energy, making you want to abandon…
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