Even though all is not well in the Catholic Church these days, we’ve been here before. One particularly low point came in the early 1200’s: Rome was addicted to intrigue, belabored by scandal, besieged by enemies, and plagued by intractable problems. Just about that time a young man, who desired greatly only to serve God, […]
Category: Communication
Don’t know exactly where I came across the expression, maybe I thought of it myself (unlikely, but possible). Anyway, I say it all the time, so much so that people around me have taken to saying it too. It goes like this: unexpressed gratitude is ingratitude. Ingratitude is a big problem because what we do […]
The English idiom, “don’t judge a book by its cover” is a kind of moral admonition advising us not to prejudge the worth or value of anything (or anyone) based on appearances alone. Nice idea…except everybody does it, we all do it. We’re constantly doing it. Especially when it comes to books. Anyway, the process […]
I have been reading Pastor Andy Stanley’s new book, out this week, “Deep & Wide.” He says it’s a book about “creating churches unchurched people love to attend.” My kind of book about my kind of church. The only time the word “church” is used in the four Gospels comes in the Gospel of Matthew. […]
This morning we had an all-call staff gathering to take a look at the new church year (2012-2013), which starts today. After Mass, we gathered for bagels and coffee and some great sharing all about the amazing time that is just ahead for us. Tom, my associate, gave an overview of what’s ahead for our […]
A couple of weeks ago I posted a blog about a friend of mine who felt like he was languishing in his parish: it was boring and bad and the pastor was sort of grumpy. He’s searched for another parish, but with no success. And then he ran across this incredibly vibrant and joyous church […]
On June 1st we posted a blog that generated more comments and questions than most. So much so, that I decided to return to the topic. The post looked at reasons churches don’t grow. There are reasons that churches don’t grow and it’s not just bad luck or bad karma or because of circumstances beyond […]
This past week I attended a church conference in North Carolina (with my associate Tom) keynoted by Pastor Perry Noble. Perry is pastor of one of the fastest growing churches in the country so obviously he knows something about church growth and health. Perry has some strong opinions about the problems which are inhibiting church […]
The Church is God’s work and God’s handiwork. As people who work in church we need to turn to him and depend upon him and let him shape our work. Often in churchworld dependence on God can become either an excuse for not working hard or an excuse for downplaying the importance of our efforts. […]
This is week two of our current message series, taking a look at the Mass. Today we’re looking at the Liturgy of the Word (liturgy means work). At Mass we read the Scripture, but not in a linear way from Genesis to Revelation. Instead it comes in cycles, that are repeated every three years. Interestingly, […]
