It's the three most dreaded words in my household: Back to School. My Facebook page has been bombarded since the first of August with first day photos of my friend's kids (Super cute!). From now through Labor Day, schools across the country will open their doors. Churches love this time of year when families are … Continue reading Packing Blessings into the Backpacks.

10 days. 3 Storytelling Workshops: Church Retreat, Narrative Lectionary Work Days at Luther Seminary and Cross+Gen Ministry Tour with Faith Ink.  And 1 Rethinking Church Conference. I met people from Maryland, South Carolina, Vermont, and California. I presented in front of 100 people over three different events, and met at least another 50 more. I talked … Continue reading The Church is Not Dying

Church #20. Meet Vanessa Bradby. She is the Children, Youth and Family Director at Olivet Congregation Church UCC  in St. Paul, MN. The fun thing about this post is that I was invited to join in their R&R retreat as a guest storyteller. What is a R&R retreat? It's a combination of a staycation that meets … Continue reading Staycation Storytelling

Church #19. Meet Lisa Kipp. She is an associate pastor at Zumbro Lutheran Church with specific responsibilities in missions and community outreach. Zumbro is in Rochester, Minnesota with an average worshiping attendance of 650 people a week. Five years ago, Kipp and the missions team wanted to address ways to eliminate hunger in their neighborhoods. … Continue reading What Collaborative Ministry Can Do

Church #18. Meet Brian Hughes. He is the solo pastor at St John Lutheran Church in Columbia, Maryland. With an average worshiping attendance of 300 people on a given Sunday, St. John empowers their congregants to reach out. Hughes’ community asks two questions: “What is God saying to me?” and “What am I going to … Continue reading New Patterns for Ministry

Each summer, I like to challenge myself. I've done a variety of things from fundraisers to triathlons. But this year, I did something different. While it seems like evil is in my face 24/ 7, I am on the hunt to find kindness in complete strangers. My tool to engage strangers was a simple homemade … Continue reading The #BeKindHearted Sermon

Church #17. Meet Linda Bailey. She is the Family Missionary at KidStreet PlayCenter, a ministry of Trinity Lutheran Church located in Lisle, Illinois. Trinity is a multi-site church that has an average worship attendance of 1000 people on a given Sunday. They describe themselves as “one church with many locations.” Trinity’s second site is referred to … Continue reading Kid’s Indoor Playground Meets Church

Last Sunday was Bandshell Sunday at Lake Harriet in Minneapolis for my congregation. It's an outdoor worship service with a reading, sermon and a storytime for kids. But something weird happened. After I preached my sermon, some people clapped. My first thought was to shy away. Clapping in church as kid was strictly forbidden. The … Continue reading Choose Love, Please

Church #16. Meet Corey Lange. He is the solo pastor at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Arenzville, Illinois. With an averaging worship attendance of 50-60 people on a given Sunday, St. Peter’s is in the middle of the farm country. “It’s a rural context where the farming community is shrinking!” says Lange. Young people are … Continue reading Church Farm: God First Then Neighbor

Next week is Vacation Bible School at Lutheran Church the Good Shepherd. Over the past 10 years, VBS has shared God's love with kids through launching pandas, deep sea adventures and now Maker Fun Factory. But what do you do to keep things fresh and kids coming back year after year? Here is what I … Continue reading This is How We VBS