“For a while when our book Rebuilt came out, I was like a proud first time parent, who just couldn’t stop talking about it and how well it was doing. Then some of my staff had a little intervention and told me to knock it off, and I have (mostly). Nevertheless dear blog readers, it […]
Category: Making Church Matter
“Pope Francis’ blockbuster interview this week pointedly rejects a Church of “small-minded rules.” He said we cannot make the Universal Church a “nest for our own mediocrity.” He said a great many other things as well, including the comment that much of the Church’s civic discourse has become “obsessed” with homosexuality and gay marriage. And […]
Let’s face it, Catholics are largely ignorant of the Bible. It’s a sad fact, but a true one. It’s not their fault though. It’s the fault of parish priests and church leaders reaching back generations. It’s the fault of the whole Counter-Reformation approach to Scripture that has characterized the Catholic Church for hundreds of years. […]
“I suppose the title of my friend Patrick Lencioni’s book (see above) came to mind because I just spent the better part of today in a meeting. It was a staff meeting, with our senior team, to discuss a reorganization of our team and some of our meetings. Now I will be the first to […]
“The year we first went to the Maryland State Fair for Christmas Eve we were motivated as much by the parking lot as we were by the additional seats we could provide. To introduce the congregation to the idea of moving our Christmas celebration we filmed a video in which two of our high school […]
” When I came to you brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God… I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the […]
“Recently I was in Chicago with my associate Tom, for discussions related to our book. Chicago is a great city and I wish I had more time to spend there, seeing some of the sights: We were only there for less than 24 hours. We stayed at a hotel that was located near where our […]
“As all my blog regulars already know, and guests and visitors need to know, we’re hosting a conference. It’s on Friday, November 8, here at Nativity and it’s called “Matter 13.” This is our third such conference, and we are anticipating our biggest ever. Matter is an event for pastors, parish leaders, staff and volunteer […]
“As part of our book roll out we have been traveling to interesting places and meeting even more interesting people. So I spent part of the week with my associate Tom, in the San Francisco Bay Area, at the invitation of author Patrick Lencioni. Patrick is the founder and president of The Table Group, a […]
“Our weekend messages, which are presented in series, are put together in a collaborative process, on an ongoing basis. We have a team, we call it the “message oval” (me, my associate Tom, and Chris, our Youth Minister). We talk about possible series and topics all the time, everyday, and from time to time read […]
