Rev. Laura Stephens-Reed One of the primary laments I hear from pastors and laity in this pre-post-pandemic time is that many former stalwarts have not yet returned to church. Maybe these folks continue to be Covid-cautious. (After all, most of us have someone we love who is medically fragile. We might even be that immuno-compromised … Continue reading
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 Paul Baxley To read the New Testament is to discover the powerful truth that the Triune God has always and everywhere been equipping the church for faithful ministry, especially in challenging times. Even before his death and resurrection, Jesus promised his disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit, who would remind them of everything … 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 Many pastors are taught in seminary that a church should never hire one of its members to serve on staff, for reasons explained below. That said, ministers might enter a new-to-them context where a member is already in the role of Administrative Assistant or Director of Christian Education. And there might … 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