Blog Archives

The stress of the movable Sabbath

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Alan Rudnick — No Comments ↓

Someone at church once asked me, “When is your day off?” I replied, “Friday.” “Wow.” He said. “I wish I could have Friday’s off. Must be nice.” “Well, I don’t get many Sundays off. That must be nice to have…

Tagged with: Alan Rudnick, Christianity, Church, churches, congregation, Facebook, Formation, leadership, ministry, Relationships, Sabbath, Sabbath rest, spiritual formation, Spiritual Practice, stress', Sunday, worship
Posted in Health & Wholeness, Leadership, Mental Health, Spiritual Formation

Church uses vandalism as social media message

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Alan Rudnick — No Comments ↓

What do church leaders usually do when someone vandalizes the side of a church with graffiti? Cover it up, repaint, or remove the vandalism. A church in Randolph, New York was recently vandalized with the words, “Can I still get into heaven…

Tagged with: Alan Rudnick, Church, churches, community, congregation, congregations, Jesus, leadership, social media, social media churches, Spirituality
Posted in Ministry, Religion, Social Issues, Spiritual Formation, Technology & Church

Good news for exiles

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Chris Robertson — No Comments ↓

My morning routine is pretty standard. After my alarm goes off, I hop in the shower, fix some breakfast, and head to work. Sometimes I find a few minutes to read my Bible and pray, but even then, I have…

Tagged with: Body of Christ, Compassion, Kendra Creasy Dean, leadership, Sarcasm
Posted in Faithful Living, Health & Wholeness, Leadership, Ministry, Social Issues, Spiritual Formation, Theology

Young ministers want to be mentored

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Ircel Harrison — No Comments ↓

Starting out in any field is not easy, but ministry has its own challenges. Most congregations expect that their new pastor or staff member will “hit the ground running” and be ready to deal with both the routine and the…

Tagged with: leadership, ministry
Posted in Education, Leadership, Ministry, Young Baptists

The Church Draft

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Alan Rudnick — No Comments ↓

As millions of football fans will undoubtedly will be glued to their televisions and social media, they will hunger for the latest information about NFL draft picks. The NFL draft is part pageantry and part celebration for football teams and their…

Tagged with: Alan Rudnick, church draft, community, congregations, dialogue, Formation, leadership, Missional churches, Relationships, the church draft
Posted in Blog Posts, Leadership

How to talk to kids about trauma

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Alan Rudnick — No Comments ↓

As the country saw the horrific bombings at the 2013 Boston Marathon on television, we learned that there were adult and child victims. Television crews and photographers were at the finish of the race and they captured the raw footage. Every news channel…

Tagged with: Alan Rudnick, Boston Marathon, Children, churches, community, leadership, parenting, trauma
Posted in Health & Wholeness, Parenting

Why Pope Francis is good for Christianity

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Alan Rudnick — No Comments ↓

As Pope Francis starts his papacy, it is very clear that his leadership will set a very different tone for the Catholic Church. Upon leaving Rome, Pope Francis paid for his own room, rejected lavish apparel, and referred to himself more as…

Tagged with: Alan Rudnick, Christianity, Christians, Church, churches, congregation, congregations, dialogue, faith, Jesus Christ, leadership, Pope Francis
Posted in Ecumenical Leaders, Leadership

Underestimating staff burnout

Posted on April 11, 2013 by Alan Rudnick — 1 Comment ↓

You don’t think your staff are stretched thin? Don’t think you are above burning out? Have you checked the health of your organizational staff? Perhaps you underestimate the power of staff burnout in your congregation or organization. It’s real and…

Tagged with: Alan Rudnick, Church Leadership, congregation, congregations, leadership, senior pastor, spiritual formation, Spiritual Practice, staff leadership
Posted in Leadership

Poll: Most Americans feel connected to local church

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Alan Rudnick — No Comments ↓

In an age where cries from denominations about declining membership and church participation, a new poll offers some encouraging news on American’s feelings towards their congregation. A Rasmussen poll found that 54% of American adults feel at least “somewhat connected” to their local…

Tagged with: Alan Rudnick, Christianity, Church, Church Leadership, community, congregation, congregations, faith, Formation, leadership, ministry, missional, outreach, Politics, Relationships, spiritual formation, Spiritual Practice
Posted in Leadership

The lifetime value of church leaders

Posted on March 14, 2013 by George Bullard — No Comments ↓

Last year our homeowner’s insurance company paid, minus our deductible, for the replacement of our roof. Significant hail damage over a year or two necessitated the replacement of the roof. This year we had a plumbing problem that resulted in…

Tagged with: Church, churches, collaborative, congregation, congregations, control, empower, faithfulness, George Bullard, God, leaders, leadership, lifetime value, oral tradition, power, Prodigal Son, tenure, tithes and offerings
Posted in Blog Posts, Leadership, Ministry

If you can say it to Jesus, you can say it to anyone

Posted on February 26, 2013 by George Bullard — No Comments ↓

One of my mentors in the area of conflict mediation was Bill Treadwell. I loved that guy. I miss him. He had so much wisdom about how to deal with people in congregations. He was as much right-brained as I…

Tagged with: antagonist, Bill Treadwell, Church, churches, conflict, conflict mediation, congregation, congregations, George Bullard, Jesus, Larry McSwain, leadership, mediation, mentor, mentors, pastor, senior pastor, solo pastor, triage, Triune God
Posted in Blog Posts, Leadership, Ministry

Robert Griffin III, the Redskins and dying churches

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Alan Rudnick — 3 Comments ↓

It was awful. It was embarrassing. I couldn’t watch it anymore. My team, the Washington Redskins had started a good fight against the Seattle Seahawks on a recent Sunday night football. The Redskins came out strong and scored 14 points…

Tagged with: Church, community, congregation, congregations, dying churches, faith, Formation, healthy churches, leadership, missional
Posted in Leadership, Missiology

At what speed should congregations move?

Posted on January 8, 2013 by George Bullard — No Comments ↓

As we enter 2013, at what speed is your congregation moving? I believe congregations should move at the speed of the leading edge 20 percent of the people in the congregation who are the proactive, positive, and passionate leaders; that…

Tagged with: change, Church, churches, conflict, congregation, congregations, discern, discernment, future, George Bullard, leaders, leadership, leading edge, management, passionate, past, present, speed, transition
Posted in Generational Differences, Leadership, Ministry

Clergy self-esteem

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Mark Wingfield — No Comments ↓

If you suffer from low self-esteem, you might not want to go into local church ministry. Of course, if others suffer from your overly inflated self-esteem, you probably shouldn’t go into local church ministry either. Who, then, can survive, you…

Tagged with: administration, Church, conflict, leadership, pastors
Posted in Leadership, Ministry