Category Archives: Pastoral Ministry

Church Growth: the Organization

Church growth thinking is alive and well, and in the eyes of many, successful. And I suppose it is from a certain perspective. Here is Outreach Magazine’s list of the ten largest churches in the U.S. in 2014: If my calculator is right, these ten churches claim that nearly 244,000 people are affiliated with them. That’sContinue reading “Church Growth: the Organization”

Swimming against a Tide: Pastoral Ministry

Swimming against a Tide Ways I’ve changed in my evangelical faith Pastoral Ministry This week I want to push back against some articles written by others — not because I have a chip on my shoulder or animus toward any particular writers, but simply to try and express some of the ways I have changedContinue reading “Swimming against a Tide: Pastoral Ministry”

Wisdom Week: The Pastoral Wisdom of Small Talk

No one has imparted more wise insights to me about the pastoral life than Eugene Peterson. I’m sad I’ve never met him, even though when I lived in Maryland, his church was right down the road. How different my course might have been had I been introduced to him then! But then perhaps that wouldContinue reading “Wisdom Week: The Pastoral Wisdom of Small Talk”

Fr. Ernesto: Oikonomía, a better way to pastor

Note from CM: Today we welcome a longtime friend of Internet Monk, Father Ernesto, who shares with us how we might learn from ancient Orthodox tradition to help people with better pastoral care. Pastors, ministers, priests, and chaplains, I’d especially love to hear from you today, but I think it will also be important toContinue reading “Fr. Ernesto: Oikonomía, a better way to pastor”

Is Megachurch Culture Part of the Problem?

I really hope Tullian doesn’t do what Driscoll has done, and get back into ministerial work within the next month or two. He needs to stay home and mend relationships with his family and repair the damage done. He needs to mend relationships with those people who really looked up to him. I also think heContinue reading “Is Megachurch Culture Part of the Problem?”

What can you do with a General?

What can you do with a General When he stops being a General? • Irving Berlin The other day, my friend John Armstrong posted the following status on Facebook. This pastor’s story elicited a large number of comments, and rightly so. Though quite different in detail, his experience reminded me of my own journey ofContinue reading “What can you do with a General?”

A Wake Up Call for Shepherds

This is the season when we remember heaven’s wake up call to the shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. The divine alarm sounded a brilliant “Gloria!” and the angel enlivened them with “good news for all people.” The shepherds were awakened with the gospel of the newborn Savior. PopeContinue reading “A Wake Up Call for Shepherds”