Four Reasons I Love Church Planting Years after each of them went through the great pain of losing their spouses, a curmudgeonly widower and a feisty widow were coaxed toward marriage by well-meaning friends. The wedding was a simple family …
Taming the Beasts
Madeleine L’Engle’s fine story Dance in the Desert begins with a caravan of people traveling in hurried fear through a trackless wilderness. They seem to be running from something, and turn furtively to check the movement of shadows at the …
What You Ought to Know About Becoming a Church Leader
There was a saying, often repeated in the farming community of my youth, that structured the perceived values of work life simply and decisively: If you can’t farm, you can always teach; if you can’t teach, you can always preach; …
Here’s what the local church will look like in 20 years
Written by Wayne Brouwer Some years ago a convention of fortune tellers gathered in Dublin, Ireland. While the group was meeting in a large plenary session, thieves broke into a number of rooms and displays, stealing crystal balls, tarot cards, …
What I Do to Get Myself out of a Leadership Funk
By Dr. Wayne Brouwer My first congregation was very rural, with our home-made church building one of only a dozen whistle-stop structures on the sweeping Alberta prairies. Mail was not delivered, but had to be picked up at the Post …
Nine ways to keep the Holidays Holy
A young girl went with her pastor father when he led a Christmas afternoon worship service at a retirement home. His exuberance while telling the story and implications of Jesus’ coming was palpable, and Christmas carols were sung with enthusiasm …
My Mom Died Last Week
My Mom Died Last Week My mom’s name was Eva. Her twin sister, who died on their birthday a few years back, was Esther. I try to imagine what my grandparents, Harry and Gertrude, were thinking about when they named …
5 blemished Truths About The Church
5 blemished Truths About The Church While celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, both husband and wife were urged to give testimonies to gathered family and friends. He said the usual thing: “The best two words I ever learned were, ‘Yes, …
5 Ways to Care for Your Elders
5 Ways to Care for Your Elders Years ago, the pastor in my childhood church took a call to another congregation. The process began in April, but the pastor did not want to move until June, after his children finished …
7 Beautiful Things about Being a Leader in a Small Church
After reading the story in Genesis 15 where God tells Abraham to look up at the night sky, and promises that his future family will outnumber the stars, a teacher gave this assignment: “Tonight I want you to go out …