Not Home for the Holidays – A woman in ministry writes her mom, "You didn’t sign up for this strange and wonderful life your daughter has chosen. You have not made any vows to the church. We young clergy women know that it isn’t always fair how our pastoral vocations impact our loved ones, from missing holidays with our extended families to spending too many evenings away from our kids to seldom being able to go away for the weekend with our spouses … Broadway stars have to work Friday and Saturday nights, tax preparers have to work long hours in March and April, pyrotechnicians have to work on Independence Day, and pastors have to work on Christmas and Easter."
Churches Losing Career Women – We frequently encounter articles about the church losing the male demographic, or losing youth, but this one offers an entirely fresh perspective. Why are working women disconnecting? The article is a mix of stats, theory and practical concerns. "'The existing programs for women don’t align with my work schedule or my needs.' We often hear professional women in the church say they would rather go to the men’s 6:30 a.m. group events because of scheduling and content, but can you imagine if they went strolling into one? … [T]he women’s events are scheduled during the workday or at other times that a busy working woman who is putting in 40+ hours at work plus running a home plus often mothering children and getting them to school, arts and athletics, etc. just can’t make it." This makes a good discussion starter for church leaders.
Twenty for 2015 – Tony Morgan's ideas and opinions do make you think: "#6 Once a church gets beyond a few hundred people, it’s really dysfunctional for boards and committees to be involved in day-to-day decision-making around purchases, facility maintenance and staffing issues … #9 Every church should be actively planning to add a service, add a campus or plant a church … #12 Shared leadership doesn’t work. When all the leaders are equal, no one is leading … #18 Every church should do a marriage series, a money series, and a series on life purpose every year …" In total, twenty, some of which he admits are politically incorrect.
The Recognition and Function of Spiritual Gifts – A look at common misconceptions and questions raised by the topic of unique, individual talents: "A few believers have not fully appreciated, or embraced, their gifts because they were ones that did not appear to require some mysterious spin to its explanation. So they did not think very highly of those as spiritual gifts. So then, we tend to see how a vibrant biblical teacher could have a spiritual gift but not a skilled church administrator … So, what happens when we are outside of the walls of the church? … One who is blessed with wise counsel or sympathy does not automatically become unsympathetic or full of foolish advice when they are, say, with a colleague at workplace instead of at church." Responding to a variety of questions people will ask.
Crossing Theological Categories – Samuel James has been blogging on the Evangelical channel of Patheos for just a few days past one year. He's been flooded with readers on a recent piece on Rob Bell, who he notes is a product of the Emergent movement but now espouses a teaching that is perhaps more in line with Pentecostalism, "which, of course, ends up making sense, since that’s exactly the kind of preaching that Oprah Winfrey seems partial to." He observes, "Bell has now become the very thing he once decried;" and suggests something important regarding the people of Mars Hill Grand Rapids, Bell's former church, "I feel a measure of sadness for those people; they have to feel a bit betrayed right now." With all the attention given this, don't miss James' analysis in defending Dr. Russell Moore.
When the Translators Finish, Everyone Gets a Book, Right? – Growing up in a missions saturated church, I always thought that a printed Bible was the end product of every translation project. But orality, not literacy, is the norm in nearly half of the world. The problem is that traditionally, tech solutions involved moving parts that rusted quickly in many parts of the world, and batteries which wore out. Today, the face of Bible distribution involves unsung organizations such as Galcom and Megavoice using microchip content and solar powered devices to relay Bible content in dialects most of us have never heard of. This video isn't new, but gives the backstory.
Should Religious Scholars Be Tackling Climate Change? – Last week the New York Times reported that the American Academy of Religion (AAR) would be taking a sabbatical from its annual meeting every seventh year in the interest of saving the planet. One writer disagrees with this emphasis: "The real problem is that [AAR President] Zoloth has been drawn in by the challenge of her scientist colleagues at Northwestern, who apparently asked what the study of religion was doing about climate change … Must every discipline have some significant contribution to make to every social problem we face? Maybe, as an academic discipline we ought to show a little more humility. As much as we find it irresistible to pontificate, maybe there are times when a particular academic discipline needs to get out of the way and let those better placed get on with the work."
Not Everyone Shares The Spirit of the Season – "As the spirit of generosity increases in the weeks leading up to Christmas, so do break-ins and thefts. Churches are not immune from the threat. In fact they may be easy targets during the holidays … 'The major problem with a lot of churches is not that they do not recognize the need for security,' [security expert Jerry] Turpen said. 'They either procrastinate or they develop the attitude of ‘this won’t happen at our church.’ Churches must decide if it’s worth the risk not to take the threat seriously.'"
Bonus Link: Although the original story is two years old, making the rounds again is the marginal notes—complaints is a better word—that monks wrote in the margins of manuscripts they were copying.
Paul Wilkinson blogs daily at Thinking Out Loud
