Connection — Ministry Leaders

There’s an elephant in the room. Everyone sees it, but no one wants to do anything about it. Maybe no one knows what to do about the elephant or how to handle the elephant or some are hoping that if they ignore the elephant long enough it will just go away. Go ahead and open your eyes. Is the elephant still there? What is the elephant’s name? How about we call it what it is, “conflict on the team.” How did this elephant show up? Especially at our church and on our team? Look out, here comes the first lob...

Every one of us in children’s ministry has a unique story. Mine began several years ago when I was volunteering in the nursery at our church. On a semi-regular basis, I would show up and love on the little ones with no preparation and no real responsibility. I had noticed that we often didn’t have any babies, but we had a room full of toddlers who were just playing when they could be grasping biblical concepts we weren’t teaching. But my children are grown, so I wasn’t looking for involvement. That fateful Sunday, when I was volunteering in the nursery,...

The dark storm clouds erupted as I pulled my rental car up to Gate A15 at the Orlando International Airport. Johanna Townsand, my seminar co-teacher, jumped into the passenger’s seat, dripping water from her trench coat. “Hey, friend,” she said, hugging me. “Are you ready for another great adventure?” We were part of a children’s ministry team that trained leaders throughout the U.S. every fall. Our grueling travel schedule gave us time for girl talk and had truly deepened our friendship. “Guess what I did last week?” I said, “I bought a house!” “Me, too!” said Johanna. “Well, mine is...

When Jesus called His first disciples, He did not invite them to a special event or a workshop. Neither did He invite them to a series of classes held over several weeks or months. Instead, He invited them to live life with Him and with one another. That was how they were going to learn to be His followers. This is the biblical model of discipleship. Yet many churches and ministry leaders tend to make discipleship a lot more about the facts we know than the Person we know, more about what we do than about what God does while...

When asked about changing the world, Mother Teresa said, "I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples." This strategy allowed one woman to impact nations on behalf of the poor. Unfortunately, when caring Christians decide community involvement is too heavy a stone to carry, we keep the gospel inside the church walls. But if we go into our communities to impact others in Jesus’ name, we cannot fail. After a year of pandemic isolation, community events are opening up like tulips in springtime. Churches are no longer confined to...