At Nativity we believe every member is called to ministry, both here at home and out in the world. We call ministry to the world Missions. We believe this is a charge to serve in our own community, elsewhere in our region, and even to the ends of the earth (You will be my witnesses […]
Every year, my friend Pastor Rick Warren leads a fantastic conference at Saddleback Church on building healthy, purpose-driven churches. I had the privilege of being a part of this year’s conference when Rick asked me to speak at the final session on “Leading Your Church Through Change.” Tom, my associate, and I first came to […]
I have become convinced that there is a class of people, at least in Catholic culture, who truly believe their spiritual gift is complaint, and that their contribution to the body of Christ is criticism. Self-proclaimed liturgists, theologians, and canon lawers who take it upon themselves to police the rest of us who are actually […]
If you’re visiting for the first time in a while, you may have noticed that the blog has undergone a transformation. Over the past few weeks we’ve done a complete overhaul of the site – both visibly and behind the scenes. Here are a few lessons we learned while updating the blog: 1. Make it […]
The events and activities on our calendar this spring have curtailed blogging. So I’ll take the opportunity with this post to update everyone on what has been going on here on our Ridgely Road campus and farther afield with REBUILT. Lent and Easter We had an effective and engaging Lenten message and small group series […]
Rebuilt is all about awakening the faithful, reaching the lost, and making church matter. The books led us to develop and host the Rebuilt Conference, a two day event of amazing music and messages inspiring and equipping a 1,000 church leaders from hundreds of different parishes. Last April we hosted our second Rebuilt Conference, the […]
God has prepared good works for us to do in advance, works that he is counting on us to do, that will remain undone if we fail to do them. And one of the principle places he wants us to serve in our church family: we call it ministry. In this Sunday’s Second Reading St. […]
Probably most churches experience a high tide of church attendance this time of year, with Lent and Easter. We definitely do. But this year we have taken advantage of this special season to really challenge parishioners to invest and invite their unchurched friends to join us. And it seems to be working, currently our weekend […]
We are in the third week of our Lenten message series asking the basic question “Why?” “Why am I doing this?” “What am I here for?” Sometimes it can happen at a party when we don’t know many people or feel out of place, especially if you are an introvert like me. Or we step […]
In many countries the period before Lent is called “Carnival,” originally a Latin phrase meaning literally “farewell to meat.” The phrase was a reference to the rather rigorous approach to the whole extended season of Lent observed by the faithful and the devout in many places. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and extends until the […]
