CLC Courses as they relate to RCA Commissioned Pastor Competencies Our CLC courses are designed to address and fully equip for the ten competency expectations of the Reformed Church in America for its Commissioned Pastors. Below is a list of the RCA expected competencies and the CLC courses which address them. A fuller treatment of the nuances of each competency …
Advice I would give my first-year ministry self
Written by Laura Osborne God has a plan for your life and it may not match up with your plan. My tenure in ministry is 15 years long now and running. It isn’t the track I thought it would have been, but it is a track that God put me on. He taught and has been teaching me valuable lessons …
3 Ways To Become A Healthier Church Leader Right Now
If you spend any amount of time in a rhythm of Church Leadership, your calendar is probably full of meetings, your whiteboard is full of strategies, and your cup of inspiration is likely running empty —you are busy. In fact, “rhythms” are often replaced by unending weeks of simply reacting. Sound at all familiar? The nature of Church Culture and …
The Most Important Work In Church Planting
When they found him beside the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” This was Jesus’s reply. “I’m telling you the solemn truth,” he said. “You aren’t looking for me because you saw signs, but because you ate as much bread as you could. You shouldn’t be working for perishable food, but for food that will …
Dealing with Discouragement
When in juxtaposition to one another, the songs “Rainy Days and Mondays” and “Singin’ in the Rain” reflect the extremes of our emotions. Karen Carpenter sings, “Hangin’ around, nothing to do but frown. Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down.” To feel sad, click here. Gene Kelly, in contrast, soft (soggy)-shoes while crooning, “I’m singing in the rain, just …
Four Reasons I Love Church Planting
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 ceremony in his house, and required no rehearsal. So when the minister used a new form to lead the couple …
Want To Be A Story Teller? Make diversity your goal, not videos.
Thousands of years ago, storytelling was a passageway into humanity; the craft of making images appear in the mind of your audience gathered around a fire was practically magic. Then, technology hurdled into the scene and, by and large, we became lackluster storytellers, dependent on technology to tell the story in our place. Then, technology evolved and grew up into …
Take it slow – a new anthem for outreach
I always try to pay attention to what’s happening in popular culture. Rhythms and reviews tend to either drive the thoughts and feelings of a generation, or at least reflect it. Although not comprehensive, it still helps to understand the zeitgeist. A few months ago, DC Entertainment released the film “Suicide Squad”. The soundtrack was released a few weeks in …
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; if you can’t preach, you can always teach preachers! When I recite this to my seminary students, I tell them …
Creative Ways to Grow as a Church Leader
It was difficult to see our daughters growing up in big cities. Both my wife and I were raised on farms where we ate potatoes and carrots from the gardens we weeded, butchered chickens and pigs and beef cattle we raised and fed, and drank milk directly from cows. These girls thought food grew in grocery stores! So we made …