I am currently on vacation (and trying not to work). To that end, please enjoy this blog from July 2011. The weekend is coming and that means I have to go to church again. I could go Sunday, but that is just prolonging the pain. I’ll go to the 5pm Saturday Mass and get it […]
Category: Making Church Matter
More than a month ago, I had a post about finding a title for our forthcoming book. We’d been working on it for a long time at that point. We’ve been discussing it and working on it ever since too. Today, I got a telephone call from my editor to report back on another meeting […]
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 […]
This week some of our staff got together to begin planning for a conference, which we will be hosting this fall. A “church” conference. Why a church conference? What is a church conference? Here’s the background. For a number of years we set aside a Saturday each fall for a retreat for our parish staff. […]
I had an interesting experience this week with my associate Tom. We went “church shopping.” Now, when people use that expression, they are usually referring to the exercise of trying one church after another looking for a good fit. It really doesn’t bother me that people do that, in fact I think people should probably […]
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 […]
A parishioner was telling me a story about her son. It goes like this: he moves to a different part of the country for college and stays there to take a job there after graduation. Shortly after moving there he begins looking for a parish to attend Mass and get involved. That in itself could […]
I will stand my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give. Then the Lord replied: Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits […]
It was fun and exciting to be able to share with everyone last weekend our big news about the book. If you missed it, see my last post, or catch the message on-line (just go to our web site, hit “messages” then “watch a message” and then watch the most recent message). Anyway, here’s some […]
About two years ago Tom Corcoran (my associate) and I began talking about a book, as in writing a book. Many of the pastors we admire and have learned from around the country have written books that have been extremely helpful to us. We began to feel God had placed it on our heart to […]
