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People in Foreground of Preaching
Ministry Reflection

Preaching on Empty: The Importance of Prayer in Preaching

Everything I know about preaching–or at least some portion of what I think I might understand–I learned from a stomach virus. I have to assume it was a virus that induced the three days of vomiting because I can’t bear the thought it was food poisoning from America’s…
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Ministry Reflection

Gift or Office: Etymology for Ministry

In April 1969 at the Institute for the Study of Christian Origins in Tuebingen, Germany Canon Douglas Webster began his lecture “The New Testament Concept of the Ministry:” with “…the idea of ministry is unique to Christianity.” He continued, “at the heart of the Christian Gospel…is this whole idea of…
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Ministry Reflection

Faithfulness with Time

“But what do I do?” My very first memory of life in ministry was a question. I was serving as an intern for a semester at First Christian Church in Chicago and I had a desk in a small office that doubled as a storage space…
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Ministry Reflection

“Flourishing for All People”: Early-Career Ministers Reflect on What They Value in Congregations

Spencer Taylor, upcoming Emmanuel Christian Seminary graduate, has spent his time in seminary ministering to the youth at Central Holston Christian Church. In his work, Spencer often returns to the wisdom of Andrew Root. Root writes, “ministry is about connection, one…
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Ministry Reflection

Retelling Our History: Stone Campbell Sanders & EU

In undergrad I took a reading course on Church history. Our reading list involved a great variety of texts from early Christian primary sources to comprehensive histories of the crusades, Reformation, and more. Yet in the thousands of pages of Church history, the name Sanders never crossed my…
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Ministry Reflection

Disagreeing in Love

My steps have been captured by the slogan, “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, and in all things love.” And this slogan is only worth saying if my essentials list is short. If I decide that all my convictions are essentials, then it would be simpler if I just didn’t use the slogan. Colloquially, I say, “If we can arrive in eternity to find out which of us was right, then our disagreement might have been important, but it clearly wasn’t essential.”
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Ministry Reflection

Remember MLK and Remove the Barriers

As a federal holiday approaches when we will recognize the birthday of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it is important to remember that he is the first and only clergy person to be so honored. Most of us are familiar with some, if not all of his…
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Ministry Reflection

Three Lessons for Sustainable Ministry Under Strenuous Church Leadership

There are no perfect churches, no perfect church leaders, and no perfect church leadership bodies. I guess I knew that on some level, over 30 years ago, when Christ’s vocational ministry through me began. Nonetheless my excitement for ministry and lack of experience allowed…
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Ministry Reflection

Lasting Friendships in Ministry

It feels weird to have been at this work long enough to actually have some perspective. But the calendar doesn’t lie! This year marks 43 years in ministry, and in December I will step down from a 28-year ministry with Hopwood Christian Church in Elizabethton, TN. On to more adventures!…
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Adaptive Leadership

Flourishing in the First Five Years of Ministry

Researcher Matt Bloom begins Flourishing in Ministry, his work on pastoral wellbeing, with the story of Carolyn. Carolyn discovered a love for theology and ministry in college and switched vocational paths from medicine to ministry. Her time in…