Connection

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...

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou (1928-2014) As our kids grow toward independence, we can find ourselves in choppy waters, sometimes feeling unsettled. Changes are not always easy. A child or teen can come home one day and we sense a shift that we can’t quite identify. They may be processing new ideas and values that seem exciting or confusing. Nurturing these changing relationships requires energy, time, and wisdom. We want to navigate these shifts as we sense them...

In church staff ministry, there are several tensions at play. One, your ministry is a response, and recognized as a call to ministry. There is a place in the church for you to use your calling and gifts to build and invest in the kingdom of God. As a result of answering this call, you are part of God’s team! Second, once you have taken personality assessments, you have discovered your strengths and maybe just a little more about yourself in the process. But most importantly you’ve discovered, you’re the perfect fit for this ministry position. Finally, you have the...

If you are involved with Children’s Ministry at your church, you know all too well that securing volunteers requires constant attention! I was becoming disenchanted with not having “depth” in the number of volunteers at our church when a friend suggested a recruiting strategy that had been used at her previous church. Briefly, the strategy was to recruit volunteers via an informative luncheon that appealed to a sense of purpose, mission, and utilization of God-given gifts.WHEN/WHERE: Since January and February can be “doldrum” months, we intentionally scheduled our “volunteers recruiting” luncheon for a Sunday in February. By holding the luncheon...

You know you are involved in preschool ministry or have a preschooler in your midst when the infamous “Why” questions start! “Your child probably uses the why word for the same reason you do: to get information about a world they don’t fully understand. Preschoolers have only been in the world for a short while, after all, so life experience is minimal, but their wonder and imagination is huge! Here’s why: At this age, their brains are developing rapidly and they’re trying—really trying—to connect the dots in their always new and fascinating world” (Flanders, 2021). Working with and ministering to...