Listening. Listening matters. It matters for pastoral practice as well as personal relationships and every part of our lives. Listening is intimately connected to paying attention to life with all of our senses. My guest this month is Rev. Dr.…
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Every child needs to be loved and cherished. Yet bringing children into a family is not always easy. In this episode of Three Minute Ministry Mentor Dr. Danielle Tumminio Hansen and I talk about the intersection of the call to…
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This week we are excited to share more connections between the Harry Potter series and the practice of ministry, in conversation with Rev. Dr. Danielle Tumminio Hansen. Danielle talks with us about offering grace, receiving grace, and what it takes…
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“You have to meet people where they are for any conversation to be meaningful.” – Rev. Dr. Danielle Tumminio Hansen I am a fan of Harry Potter. I like him of course, but even more I like the whole world…
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Navigating difference and diversity in US American churches remains among the biggest and most important challenges for ministry leadership today.
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This 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…
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Epiphany 2020 I awoke on January 6, Epiphany morning, excited and a bit nervous. It’s a big day and I’ve been waiting for it, preparing for it, and anticipating it for a while now. This is the week we launch…
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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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โOh man, she thinks Iโm a minister!โ Martha had this startling thought while talking with Linda, the newly elected chair of deacons at FBC Benson. The church started out as a placeย whereย Martha could meet her field education requirement for seminary.…
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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 notย getting what you want and fear of getting it. Fear of walking down the street. Fear…
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Sometimes help is literally in the palm of our hands and we cannot see it. Sometimes our ability to see or imagine or welcome the things we need in life is blocked by the kind of deeply seated beliefs and…
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Vocation. Work. Calling. Ministry. Family. Life.ย 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…
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โMinistry as Spiritual Practice: How Pastors Learn to See and Respond to the โMoreโ of A Situation” by Eileen R. Campbell-Reed and Christian Scharen Abstract Christian ministry in a changing and challenging context requires โpastoral imagination,โ a capacity to perceive…
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Salience. Seeing what is important in a field of things or a situation;ย sorting through possible meanings to find the one that is pertinent, urgent or more immediate in character. Salience. /หsฤlฤษns/ This week’s episode of Three Minute Ministry Mentor…
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Improvise. Rearrange and fit to size. Change. Adapt. And revise Move it around as time flies. Pivot. Shift. Sidestep. Riff. Play it like jazz. Do you get my drift? A finely honed practice of professional tennis, or vegan cooking, or…
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Erosion. Not a pretty word to think about when it comes to chaplaincy, activism, congregational pastoring, or nonprofit leadership. And yet, it is real. The routines and daily rigors of the work can surely wear ministers down emotionally, relationally and…
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“Questions?” When I took a public speaking course a few years ago, this is how the instructor taught us to end our speeches: Ask, “Questions?” And then wait for the audience to start asking. In ministry, teaching, and lots of…
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Accountability. Without some accountability, learning goals can certainly fall flat. Learning practices as complex and subtle as ministry, does not work well in isolation or without good partners, mentors and friends. Being accountable to them requires trust and openness. Today’s…
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BIG. Squishy. Learning goals. Everyone working to learn the practice of ministry needs at least one or two of these. When I ask students to imagine this kind of goal, I’m urging them to think long-term and big-picture, to set…
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** GREAT NEWS ** We have extended the deadline July 31! We are so happy to gather with friends and colleagues, ministers and mentors this summer at denominational meetings, academic meetings, retreats and renewal meetings. What about you?! Gathering with…
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“Patience!” ~Yoda When Luke Skywalker arrives on the stormy, swampy planet Dagobah in search of Yoda, he is impatient. In fact he has no patience at all. He does not know what or who he is seeing. Instead he exudes…
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