The Stained Glass Ceiling is being raised… And that’s thanks, in part, to the work of gifted female clergy who are finding support and encouragement in the Body of Christ. The Rev. Melissa DeRosia is a dynamic young clergy woman who’s written a book on the subject – to help female clergy survive and thrive [...]

Duke Chapel dean Sam Wells says a first step toward inspiring health in a congregation is to affirm the people who are there and stop lamenting the people who aren’t. Dean Wells, a world-class preacher, prolific writer, gifted theologian, and devoted pastor who’s worked in a variety of ministerial settings, is incredibly hopeful about the [...]

Traditional churches tend to be late adapters to new technology, taking our time to do it right. And Lutheran pastor Keith Anderson says that time is now. Keith, co-author of the upcoming book Click2Save: The Digital Ministry Bible, gives us some tips on what kind of Internet involvement may be appropriate for established churches. In [...]

Dr. Elaine Heath prepares her seminary students for ministry not with the latest, but with the oldest. Dr. Heath, a proponent of the New Monasticism, says a tripos of prayer, deep hospitality, and justice may be the only stool upon which effective ministry will take place in this new millennium. Elaine, who heads up the [...]

Few Christian ministers can lead and preach like the venerable Will Willimon. A United Methodist bishop, prolific author, scholar, and pastor – Bishop Willimon says leading is important because too many congregations have been trained to expect too little. And preaching is important because God has a lot to say to today’s churches. I was [...]

It’s high time established churches got over their ‘Edifice Complexes’ and returned to their first call – says ELCA bishop Mike Rinehart. He’s encouraged that his Synod has made evangelism its first priority, so this self-described bull in a china shop is charging forward. In this interview hear how the Synod’s plan to place 2 [...]

Yesterday’s theory, that all young adults leave church but come back to get married and have kids, may be a thing of the past. For a variety of reasons, journalist Drew Dyck says ‘Generation Ex-Christian’ (the name of his book) sees church a whole lot differently. Drew spent years seeking out and documenting the stories [...]

A younger student body, expanding lay-educational opportunities, a new chapel in the works – yes, there’s freshness and newness at Virginia Theological Seminary – which is what Dean Ian S. Markham suggests traditional churches consider. Dean Markham says much of the energy he’s seeing in the Church is coming from traditional congregations that are investing [...]

Breathing new life into a 150 year old mainline congregation takes a lot of things, and letting go is one of them. Noted blogger, writer, and associate pastor at St. John’s Presbyterian Church in San Francisco Theresa Cho says letting go is also a metaphor for what she sees on the regional and national levels [...]

Opening church doors to everyone in the community is what brought Brian Clark and Edwin Andrade together at Riverside Presbyterian in Sterling, Virginia. The community’s increasing Hispanic presence caused Brian and the church to respond with a welcome mat – and build one church in two languages. Be inspired by this story of Christian hospitality.

Sure, things are tight and times are tough but stewardship pro Kristine Miller is optimistic about what you and your church can do for God. That’s why we’ve put together this Master Class on stewardship basics – to refresh the veterans and inspire those new to the subject. In an age of scarcity, we need [...]

It may be the best kept secret in North American Christendom… The Congregational Resource Guide.  It’s a 10-year-old publication packed with thousands of useful articles – a free gift, says director Martin Davis, for your church. The CRG is a Lilly Endowment sponsored venture that amalgamates every useful church article, program curriculum, worship guide – [...]

Reports on the death of the Church of England are greatly exaggerated, says the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Missioner, Bishop Graham Cray. The bishop is the C of E’s head church planter – and leads a movement called Fresh Expressions, which consolidates the evangelism efforts of several UK denominations into a united front that majors on [...]

It’s the classic missional question: if your church closed would anyone in the neighborhood notice? Years ago Judy Paulsen posed it to the good folk at Christ Memorial Church in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada and when too many people hesitated, the congregation took on a challenge that has reinvigorated the church. Judy Paulsen is an incredibly [...]

Renowned author and emergent church pioneer Brian McLaren says it’s one of the most hopeful things he’s seeing in North American Christianity: a willingness from church leaders to (finally?) do things differently. However, he says, despite this hope we’ve still got a very long way to go to claim our prophetic voice in a society [...]