Church size dynamics and the role of pastor in a post-pandemic world: What now?
Pastoral Care

Church size dynamics and the role of pastor in a post-pandemic world: What now?

By Laura Stephens-Reed For a long time there has been commonly-held wisdom about church size dynamics and the role of the pastor at each church size: The family size church has fewer than 50 people, with most of them related to one another. This congregation experiences little numerical growth because it is difficult for visitors … Continue reading

The Challenges and Opportunities for Pastors in Supervising Staff
General CBF / Pastoral Care

The Challenges and Opportunities for Pastors in Supervising Staff

By Laura Stephens-Reed Over the course of their vocational lives, many pastors find themselves charged with leading a church staff. This is not only true for senior pastors, but associate pastors can also function in the same way within their more specialized ministry areas. The supervisory role is challenging. Most pastors enter ministry expecting to … Continue reading

Pastors are lonely, and this is a big problem
General CBF / Pastoral Care

Pastors are lonely, and this is a big problem

By Laura Stephens-Reed In A Path to Belonging: Overcoming Clergy Loneliness, leadership specialists Mary Kay DuChene and Mark Sundby raise the red flag that loneliness among clergy, a stress response to not having adequate levels of social connection, is epidemic. This was true before the pandemic, but our need to distance ourselves physically during the … Continue reading

Season of growth: CBF Fellow Kan’Dace Brock challenges clergy to consider their gifts to cultivate their congregation
General CBF

Season of growth: CBF Fellow Kan’Dace Brock challenges clergy to consider their gifts to cultivate their congregation

By Brian Foreman CBF Fellows is a two-year ministry program for ministers in their “first-call” in congregational ministry. They meet six times a year to provide support and empower ministers to commit to serving their congregations. At the Chicago cohort, Kan’Dace Brock, pastor of The Message Church in San Antonio, invited fellow clergy to consider … Continue reading