Where do leaders turn when the hard questions of life and culture press in? For one take, enjoy this grounded piece from PARSE regular Mandy Smith. - Paul

Church staff retreats rarely go according to plan.

I usually come with a list of decisions we need to make. Sometimes God has something else in mind.

Our most recent staff retreat was no different. During our breakfast together, the conversation turned to relationships in our lives where we felt burdened. One staff member was wrestling with how to respond to a family member who had walked away from faith and now called herself an atheist. Another staff member was being asked almost weekly about what the bible says about homosexuality and reading every book on the subject. A third member of staff was engaged in an intense creation/evolution debate with a friend. After a while we realized we were all burdened in a similar way: How can we ever know enough, read enough, explain enough to keep up with all the questions our people and ...