In many churches, this is the time of year when annual reviews of staff take place. For some pastors, these conversations are the only times they hear what is and isn’t working from their congregants’ point of view. That makes reviews somewhat nerve-wracking for clergy. They wonder: What surprises await me when that conference room … Continue reading
Rev. Laura Stephens-Reed Recently I published an article on the CBFblog about the biggest challenges for ministers right now. That data was pulled from a survey I distributed in late August. There was a lot of food for thought in the numbers. But the news is not all sobering! There were many aspects of ministry … Continue reading
By Rev. Laura Stephens-Reed In my coaching, I often hear themes across clergy about what is hard and what is delightful about their work. But in late August, I decided I wanted something more than anecdotal information about this season in ministry. I sent out a three-question, anonymous survey to my newsletter lists and posted … Continue reading
By Rev. Laura Stephens-Reed Recently my family moved from one town to another, which meant my son changed schools. A couple of weeks into the semester, the school hosted a Back-to-School Bash on a Friday night. What a great idea! The students would have an opportunity simply to have fun together without the constraints of … Continue reading
By Rev. Laura Stephens-Reed The Theological Education Fund of the Presbyterian Church (USA) recently noted on Facebook that 85 percent of clergy currently serving in the PC(USA) are set to retire in the next 10 years. Eighty-five percent. Let that number sink in. I’m guessing that the percentage is similar across most Protestant denominations, including … Continue reading
By Laura Stephens-Reed It is no secret that many churches, once pushing the fire marshal’s maximum occupancy to its limits, are now in numerical decline. I have my pick of statistics that I could cite, but here’s a particularly poignant visual from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research: The pews are no more than 38 … Continue reading
By Rev. Laura Stephens Reed Recently, I was talking with a pastor whose congregation has weathered the pandemic as well as any church I know. There have been no significant conflicts. The pastor has felt her people’s grace when she has made mistakes navigating new technology. The congregation has welcomed new worshipers and found innovative … Continue reading
By Laura Stephens-Reed During the pandemic, when church committees could not gather in person and were forced to find other ways to discuss and decide, many of us realized that we had long been attending some meetings that could have been emails. It does not require a two-hour negotiation to choose a Sunday school curriculum, … Continue reading
By Laura Stephens-Reed A few years ago, I was a regular guest preacher at a church in the city where I lived after the minister there had submitted his resignation and as the church awaited the arrival of an interim. On the first of those Sundays, a woman stood up during the announcement time and … Continue reading
By Laura Stephens-Reed Two years ago the world locked down, seemingly overnight, due to the rapid spread of COVID-19. Many congregations went from having a website and a minimal social media presence, which sometimes included recordings or livestreams of worship, to creating online community wholly through previously utilized and new-to-them media. Churches pivoted again and … Continue reading
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