At this point I have 12 full time and 7 part time pastoral ministry staff. I suppose, for a Catholic church, we have a mid to large size staff. For Evangelical churches our size we have an incredibly small staff. All of our part time positions could easily be full time ones, and some of [...]

This weekend we celebrate the Ascension; it used to be celebrated on a Thursday, but that was changed to make things easier.  The Bible tells us that 40 days after Easter, after Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, he returned to his heavenly father. He does that for a simple, clear reason, which he explains to [...]

To my loyal blog readers, here’s my promise to you: you will always get the inside scoop, and you’ll get it first. And just to prove it to you, keep reading. Yesterday, May 1, Tom Corcoran (my associate) and I delivered to our publisher the complete manuscript for our next book, Tools for Rebuilding, to [...]

Not so long ago our staff was small enough that everyone reported to me.  As we’ve grown we recognized the need to change that: Now, out of a staff of twenty something (full and part time positions), only a handful of people report to me directly. I have come to call them the “Strategic Oval” [...]

The explosions of the past week in Boston raise many questions. We cannot help but look at an act of violence that was not random but a very calculated and ask, “Why?” Why would someone or some people do such a thing? Who are they? When will they be caught? While hopefully the person or [...]

Our current message series is all about 180 degree turn-a-rounds in life. Sometimes a 180° turnaround can mean a change in our thinking. We are thinking one way: maybe about a problem or a person.  We think about them in a certain way and then something happens, something changes and we do a 180. We change [...]

Part of our Lenten journey this year included some clear challenges. One in particular, that will probably be remembered in Nativity lore, concerned mission and ministry. I made the comment: “You need to get up out of the pew and serve, or you need to get up out of the pew and give us your [...]

Since 2005 we have taken our celebration of Christmas to the Maryland State Fairgrounds, which happen to be here in Timonium. Last year we moved our Easter celebrations there too. We started out in a facility called the “Exhibition Hall” with about 1500 seats.  Last year we moved to another building called the “Cow Palace” [...]

This past week, my oldest son Max brought up Holy Week and the reading of the Lord’s Passion. He then said to me, “I’ll try not to cry this year.”  At first, I was taken aback by his spiritual and emotional maturity. I don’t think I ever tuned in that deeply at his age to [...]

I’m a church person. I’ve gone to church my whole life. I can tell you exactly the one Sunday I missed since my parents started bringing me to church in first grade. I was sick (although it was a self-inflicted illness). And even as I write this it still bothers me that I missed even [...]