parish life

I have heard it said the monks of Mt. Athos, whose daily existence and lives are surrounded by the waters of the mighty Mediterranean Sea,...

Questions for a Prospective Rector Candidate to Ask the Search Committee The calling of a new rector is a discernment process for both the candidate...

By Chip Prehn "Many hands make light work.” I reflected on this maxim last weekend when I discovered fire-ant mounds all over my yard. This...

By Jonathan Turtle As we begin, Lord willing, to emerge from the fog of this pandemic, it may be worth examining and re-considering our relationship...

By Victor Lee Austin I am the author of Friendship: The Heart of Being Human, which aims to do a lot of things, one of which...

A return to the parish model would involve training seminarians and young clergy to create core groups of lay people who live into their baptismal promises, having the courage to be missionaries in the territorial parish, caring for the sick, relieving poverty, providing young people with tools to live for Jesus in a secular world.

The irony for the officiant is that the only way to promote harmony among the various voices at prayer is to focus on their own. The role of the officiant is to pray through the chaos so the chaos can eventually find order through the prayers. The officiant must be attentive to all who are praying, but not at the expense of their own prayers.

Clergy who are thriving in ministry tend to be intentional about health, maintain good boundaries, and stay focused on God’s mission rather than dwell on their members’ criticisms. They also pause to celebrate.

What do you do about outreach when you are in a small church with limited resources? Outreach is often an unmined treasure for the smaller church.

Sarah Hinlicky Wilson: “Unsuspecting soil onto which seeds were flung, I moved to another country to start working in ecumenism.”