It’s one of the Church’s biggest mistakes: over-reliance on one person to do the bulk of the work (planning, visioning, preaching, organizing, cleaning gutters… you name it). In this new, inventive, age, the PCUSA’s Landon Whitsitt, author of the book Open Source Church, thinks that the day of the ‘super-pastor’ is way over – and [...]

The North American Church is too easily enculturated, says author Rodney Clapp – and is at its best when it’s set apart as a peculiar people (1 Peter 2:9). Rodney, whose written several books and has a column in The Christian Century, says we need to get back to formation as a central organizing principle [...]

What are we called to do? It’s a pervasive question that author, blogger, counselor, and pastor of Calvin Presbyterian in Pennsylvania, Graham Standish just keeps asking. He credits an emphasis on discernment, in various levels, with the  substantial growth his congregation has seen. In this interview Graham tells us how he created a culture of [...]

23 books and 53 recordings later, 0ne of Contemporary Christian Music’s pioneers, John Michael Talbot, is still going strong. The 58 year old Talbot tours most of the year, allowing the Spirit to breathe through his heart-touching gift of meditative music. He does it out of obedience to a Francis-esque call to ‘rebuild God’s Church.’ [...]

Connecting the poorly resourced with the better resourced is Dr. Jimmy Dorrell’s soul and passion – he’s the founder of The Church Under the Bridge and Mission Waco/Mission World. This full-time social service administrator and part time seminary professor and pastor says that when congregations get a deeper vision for the plight of the poor, [...]

How does an increasingly secular society take religion seriously? United Church of Canada minister Bruce Sanguin says it’s by being dedicated students of both. So this avid blogger and writer is making headway with evolutionary theology – an approach to Christianity that pays a lot of attention to evolution and world history. Bruce says his [...]

Inspiring people about the wonders of the Bible has been Bishop NT ‘Tom’ Wright’s sustaining passion – which he believes is at the heart of congregational health and vitality. The former bishop, New Testament Scholar, and author (the new one is How God Became King) says Christian leadership has always been about the same four [...]

Billed as an intersection between justice, spirituality, and art – The Wild Goose Festival is poised to make Year Two its best yet. Gareth Higgins has been working on this U.S. version of the epic U.K.  Greenbelt festival that is aimed at helping real people have real conversations about really important topics from which no [...]

A vision isn’t something that’s memorized, it’s something that’s memorable – so says experienced church leadership coach and consultant George Bullard. George has consulted for 35 years in 50 denominations and one of the most frequent problems he comes across are congregations that are simply not taken with their vision. George says a key is [...]

Author, activist, and new monasticism practitioner Shane Claiborne says it’s all about having a heart for others and concentrating on life here before the life hereafter. Shane, a member of The Simple Way community in Philadelphia, moved into the Kensington neighborhood years ago with a desire to build a community, not a church, and it’s [...]

It may seem like a really easy question – but lots of established congregations really struggle with how to reach out to the local community. That’s what The Rev. Judy Paulsen’s Anglican congregation was like when she arrived nearly a decade ago – but through hard work, great people, and most importantly the Spirit’s leading [...]

The well-known voice of the mainline radio program Day 1 revels in the breadth of preachers that are featured on this 67-year old program (formerly known as The Protestant Hour), but hints that the way into the future may not be promoting a particular brand of Christianity – but the One behind it all. Peter [...]