God knows that I have been given the best mentors a wanna-be pastor like me could learn from. Last week, I had the opportunity to catch up with one of those great people. Our conversation circled around one particular question she had asked. The question was "How can we tell if the people we serve … Continue reading How Do We Know?

Church #14. Meet Mike Markwell. He is the Youth Ministry Coordinator at Shepherd of the Hill Lutheran Church. Located in Lockport, Illinois, this congregation worships 180-200 people on a given Sunday. Situated on a hill, this congregation is a product of two churches that merged in the 1960’s. For the past three years, Markwell, who … Continue reading Try Something New

The model of evangelism has shifted. Gone are the days when a missionary or preacher stands up and tells people what to think. No longer are we baptizing people by the thousands at a time. Nor can we depend on Billy Graham crusades to "save" the world. Nowadays, evangelism looks more like Acts 8 through … Continue reading 60 Seconds Storytelling

Church #13. Meet Aimee Frye Appell. She is the solo pastor at Peace Lutheran Church in Washington, Missouri. Peace is located about one hour west of St. Louis with an average worshiping attendance of 70 people. Peace was a mission start congregation in the 1980’s with Appell serving as their 3rd pastor. Like many congregations, … Continue reading Transformative Healing

Church #12. Meet Josh Ehrler. He is the solo pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Mount Morris, Illinois. Ehrler describes Trinity as a rural or small town congregation with an average worship attendance of 110. Trinity’s mission statement is “Believing in Christ, we are called to grow and sent to serve.” Five summers ago, Trinity … Continue reading Build One Thing

We have entered in our second Sunday out of the "4 Sundays of Service" - a cross + generational experiment at Good Shepherd. Building off the story of "The Road to Emmaus," our first Sunday focused on walking with people in faith we don't know. The service project was making sandwiches for a local food … Continue reading The Role (or is it Roll?) of a Pretzel

Church #11. Meet Bonnie Deroski. In the Lutheran world, Bonnie is what we call bi-vocational. She is employed fulltime as a talent agent and works part-time as the Director of Child and Family Life at Grace Christian Church in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. Deroski says, “My church has been moving towards a place where generations … Continue reading Think Process Not Programs

“It’s about seeing Jesus in each other!” said Diane Roth answering a question posed on Facebook. The question itself asked about the benefits a congregation might would gain if moved to a cross + generational education hour. Cross + generational, of course, means all ages (from 0 – 100) learning or worshiping, together. My current … Continue reading Better Together

Church #10. Meet Liz Beatty. She is the worship coordinator at East Brentwood Presbyterian Church (EBPC) in Brentwood, Tennessee. EBPC, with an average worship attendance of 80-100 on a given Sunday, is described as adaptable and relevant. Being in a growing suburb of Nashville, EBPC has been working on church growth. Of course, this is … Continue reading Church Growth? Start inside out.

It’s the Sunday after Easter in a few days. The tradition at my current congregation combines Salsa Sunday with 3rd Grade Bibles. To the outside eye, this may seem like an odd combination to have Salsa music lead worship as we celebrate the third graders receiving their Bibles. (Photo Credit: the visual faith project) The two things … Continue reading Salsa Sunday & 3rd Grade Bibles