Before congregations return to default assumptions about their future, it would be good to answer this important question: How else could the church move forward? In this entry, some answers that might apply to any congregation. What’s most basic for a congregation that’s emerging from the confines of COVID? Ministry that equips members for their work in the world. Intimate knowledge of members’MORE...
Months ago, many congregations turned off their metaphorical lights. Before those lights get turned back on, though, it would be good to answer this important question: What will it mean to be the church? In this entry, some additional observations. In the previous entry, I offered the opinion that it will be difficult to reassemble our congregations to resemble their pre-pandemic selves. I endedMORE...
Months ago, many congregations turned off their metaphorical lights. Before those lights get turned back on, though, it would be good to answer this important question: What will it mean to be the church? In this and subsequent entries, I offer some observations and recommendations. Let’s start at the beginning: I’m not sure we can put our congregations back together like they were before. TooMORE...
I don’t know for sure, but it feels to me like this pandemic has been especially hard for pastors and other professional church workers. Most professional leaders seem to be enduring all of this—quiet and uncomplaining—even when they might feel alone in keeping their congregations functioning. Many of them have also had to deal with the burden of keeping their congregations financially viableMORE...
NOTE: It is said that when you let a writer loose in a garden, you can expect perhaps-strange exultations framed by organic metaphors. Today I illustrate how that maxim might be true! While battling the gardener’s scourge that is Creeping Charlie, I found myself wondering why *rhizomes seem so widespread, so insistent and so successful. After a little research I found that this variety ofMORE...
I’m writing after a weekend of rooting around in the soil, flowers, veggies and weeds that comprise our backyard. Among my ruminations are two ideas to add as a possible addendum to Jesus’ parable about The Sower. Some seeds never germinate. Every year, no matter the quality of the *seeds or the condition of the soil, fewer seeds germinate than the number that I planted. As a sower, I’m prettyMORE...
I’ve been meaning to do this for awhile: Invite you to subscribe to a free online newsletter/journal especially written for older adults and their caregivers! This one-of-a-kind resource can be found at www.nextavenue.org and it’s definitely worth clicking on, worth supporting financially, too. Let me tell you why…. In my experience, Next Avenue is probably the most helpful source ofMORE...
A few days ago Chris and I watched the Academy Award-winning film, Nomadland. The film follows Fern, a van-dwelling older adult, through a year of her life as a contemporary nomad. The film’s plot moves slowly through a series of small events, gradually revealing Fern’s character and history. Her future? Left in the air at the film’s closing scene. The following thoughts have stuck with me…. FernMORE...
BOB SITZE has filled the many years of his lifework in diverse settings around the United States. His calling has included careers as a teacher/principal, church musician, writer/author, denominational executive staff member and meat worker. Bob lives in Wheaton, IL.