Perhaps 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…
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There’s a lot of hand wringing right now. Some of the world’s news sounds alarming and more than a little confusing. Earlier this summer we thought the pandemic was perhaps winding down. For many of us, a majority of adults…
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So you’ve been hearing the phrase pastoral imagination? And you’re thinking hmmmm, that’s interesting. Sounds kind of fun. Maybe a little mysterious. I’d like to know more…. But what is it exactly? You have come to the right place. I…
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In this second episode of Season Three of 3MMM, we are excited to hear from from guest author, Christian Scharen. He and I are co-directors of the Learning Pastoral Imagination Project. And we just learned in recent weeks that we…
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Boundaries can serve us well in the practice of ministry. When boundaries give clarity to relationships and prevent the abuse of power, they are worth maintaining. Boundaries can also become barriers in the work of ministry. How does this happen?…
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When I was in college and seminary, I took a lot of tests. I made really good grades on most of them. I memorized dates, names, cities, battles, theorems, species, genus, phylum, periodic tables, chemical compounds, and rules of grammar…
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Conflict in ministry is hard. It is hard because it often feels personal. It is hard because it can evoke feelings like anger, self-doubt, fear or shame, feelings that are unpleasant to digest. And it is hard because change of…
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Facing our fears. It can be hard even to admit our fears, much less face them. Fear of loss. Fear of disappointment. Fear of not getting what you want and fear of getting it. Fear of walking down the street. Fear…
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Vocation. Work. Calling.Ministry. Family. Life. Vocation is a word that often evokes the idea of work. Yet vocation is not just work. Vocation may bring to the top of your mind the idea of calling. Yet vocation is more than…
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