~ Advent Three ~ deep peace of the quiet earth to you “Deep peace of the quiet earth to you” is our prayer for the third week of Advent 2023. Here in Nashville and Middle Tennessee, we felt a stark…
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3MMM | Episode 218: Appreciating Ministry Volunteers
During this clergy appreciation month, I want to take time for appreciating ministry volunteers. Let’s also give thanks for the volunteer clergy who serve without pay. And offer gratitude for the variety of Christian vocations to which God calls people.…
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3MMM | Episode 214: Making Connections
This weekend I spent time renewing and making new connections with Baptist friends. As an extrovert I found this mostly energizing. I know it’s not everyone’s idea of fun. And maybe you would rather make connections with one person over…
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3MMM | Episode 209: Rural Ministry Gifts and Challenges
This week I am focusing on rural ministry gifts and challenges related to time, place, and power. The reason for this focus is that I will meet with a group of pastors and congregational leaders later this week. In anticipation…
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3MMM | Episode 205: How Women Thrive in Ministry (Part 2)
Last week I began answering the question of how women thrive in ministry. My inspiration for responding to this question came from Baptist Women in Ministry (BWIM) Executive Director, Rev. Dr. Meredith Stone. She asked recently: If we imagine…
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Finding Our Way – Live Event
We are all trying to find our way, yes? Thank you for finding your way over to this page! We think everyone is seeking ways right now… to live, to be together, to be church, and to make a vibrant…
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3MMM | Episode 199: Pray. Read. Write.
Pray. 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…
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3MMM | Episode 193: Finding Our Way
Everyone I know is simply trying to find our way. Living in a new world and navigating a new era of ministry. Maybe you’re getting tired of hearing me say this?! But I think it’s important. So I keep saying…
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3MMM | Episode 192: Finding Our Way Study Guide
“Finding Our Way” A New Study Guide for the #PandemicPastoring Report Recently, I took the new “Finding Our Way” Study Guide out for a test drive. I’m excited to tell you that it did exactly what we hoped! It got…
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3MMM | Episode 187: Mental Wellbeing
We need to talk about the mental wellbeing of our children and teens. These years of forming identity, re-modeling the brain, and flying further from the nest are already a big challenge. Add three calendar years of isolation, disrupted schedules…
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3MMM | Episode 186: Leading in Loss
Leading in loss is one of the great challenges of this moment. Why? The losses are monumental. The leaders are overwhelmed. And grief is rarely easy. Our guest Dr. Joyce Ann Mercer of Yale Divinity School shares wisdom for attending…
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3MMM | Episode 185: Self Compassion
Self compassion. Who needs it? Well, all the humans. It is hard, however, to love others when we struggle to love ourselves. This can be reality for many people. Sometimes it is just a season. For others it is an…
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3MMM | Episode 184: Integrating Loss
Often at the Three Minute Ministry Mentor we write and share about integration, but integrating loss and grief is a slightly different topic. This week we continue our conversation with Dr. Joyce Ann Mercer of Yale Divinity School about loss…
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3MMM | Episode 183: Ambiguous Loss
What ambiguous losses are you facing right now? I want to speak openly and share a few ambiguous losses that I’m feeling. That is just what I’m asking you to do in this episode of Three Minute Ministry Mentor (3MMM).…
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3MMM | Episode 173: Listening to Children
One of our most important tasks coming out of the last 30 months is to be listening to children. In the recently released #PandemicPastoring Report, I wrote, “teenagers, children and adults everywhere suffered social isolation and profound stress.” The multiple…
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3MMM | Episode 172: Life-Giving Rituals
For two months I have been saying daily that we need more space for lament and life-giving rituals as we transition into a new era of ministry. Today I offer three idea buckets to support you in our ongoing work…
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3MMM Download Gallery
Welcome to the download gallery! We created it especially for new members of our 3MMM community! We are delighted to be supporting you and your ministry. In fact, we want to inspire and inform your #pastoralimagination, so we have some…
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3MMM | Episode 171: Mentoring Opportunities
Coming Soon: New Mentoring Opportunities We have been listening to you. And we will continue listening to you. We are grateful for the ways that you are leading, guiding, and supporting many people in your care. We heard your needs…
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3MMM | Episode 169: Clergy Appreciation for a New Era
In Octobers past, I’ve written about Clergy Appreciation Month, and in 2022 we invite you to think about clergy appreciation for a new era. Because I surveyed an interviewed clergy between 2020 and 2022, I have a pretty good idea…
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3MMM | Episode 168: Communion and Community
World Communion Sunday created an opportunity for reflection on theologies of communion and community in a new era of ministry. The following is a sermon I preached at Glendale Baptist Church on October 2, 2022. ++++++++ Philippians 4: 1-9 4:1…
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3MMM | Episode 167: Five Things Ministers Need Now
The times we are living in remain profoundly challenging, so today we are launching a series on five things ministers need now. The world is somewhat deceptive for all its rush and efforts to get things “back to normal.” Yet…
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