I doubt that I’m the only one who experiences writer’s block. I am grateful that it comes only rarely into my work. Another prevalent occurrence for me is to get an idea or a single word stuck in my head that renders writing about anything else virtually impossible. Well, the word inhabiting my brain as … Read more

The more I pray for, study, and seek renewal for the church, the more I realize that personal renewal is a necessary part of what happens corporately. I am not completely sure if it is a precedent condition, a coincident condition, or a result of the other. I am pretty sure there is reason to ask a “Chicken and Egg; which came first?” type of question about many of the past times of renewal. In thinking about Thanksgiving holiday observances, I was drawn along a path that is relevant to personal renewal. It started with wondering why we needed a holiday to remind us… Read More

September, for many of our churches, is a month of ministry startups for the school year. Some of our congregations close for part of the summer. Many of our youth and children’s programs stop during July and August. Probably most of our committees and groups also take a break. So there is the challenge of … Read more

Every General Assembly I have attended has revealed a unique personality. Although complex to describe, it is much like a very interesting friend, with many nuances and subtleties. Each also has a dominant emotion. I am not sure if it becomes better known via the various issues or if it is simply developed and enhanced. … Read more

Turning others loose to lead. My wife Ruth and I recently spent three weeks in Ecuador as guests of my sister who had been there several times before and was there ahead of us for this visit. We spent most of our time in Cuenca, a colonial city and UNESCO Heritage Site. It is also … Read more

Sharing our faith to help others remember God's grace. One of the benefits of technology is that you can easily search for words in the Bible. In preparing for a recent sermon, I searched for the word "remember". It appears hundreds of times. In studying the various occurrences, I began to see a deep connection … Read more

Helping Christmas visitors connect the dots. My two rural churches will open their doors to a good number of visitors this Christmas Eve, if history is any predictor of the future. As our context becomes more and more secular and un-churched, there is a growing challenge for us to convey more than a partial story … Read more

Renewal can be found in unity. In the mid-70s, I spent a year working in a TD Bank in one of the Lake Ontario towns east of Toronto. The Toronto Dominion Bank was the coming together of the Bank of Toronto and the Dominion Bank some 20 years earlier. I shouldn't have been surprised that … Read more

Last month I attempted to make the case for how important it is for our ministers to be part of intimate spiritual communities with their peers. I also shared the priority and focus we at the Renewal Fellowship are prepared to put on encouraging and aiding as many ministers as we can to find or … Read more

As I write this, the March issue of the Record has been available for only a couple of weeks. In that time I have had more feedback about my article, Minding the Minister, than I have received for all the things I have ever written for public consumption combined. I hit on something significant: many ministers in our denomination are burning out. This is a problem worthy of our attention. What is needed is focus and strategy. After consultation with our national board over the past year … Read More