This is an interesting time for our growing missions/service program. On Wednesday, Brain Crook (our new Mission Director) and I meet with the Director of Catholic Charities for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Bill McCarthy. Bill is also a Nativity parishoner. We shared with him the conviction we have formed about mission/service, namely that we […]
The other day I got hit over the head. Here’s what happened. I was sitting in my living room and part of the ceiling fell down. I wasn’t hurt, and it wasn’t really a surprise. A leaky roof had been repaired a while back, but the damage to the ceiling had gone unaddressed. I just […]
Some more thoughts on our congregation and the positive signs of health and strength and maturity that I am witnessing. Here are five more: #6 Service This spring more people than ever stepped forward to get involved in “First Serve” (our program for people who want to get into a ministry). We have a strong […]
Communication | Discipleship | Evangelization | Leadership | Making Church Matter | Stewardship | Team Building
I was thinking today about how healthy and mature our congregation is becoming. I know, I know, that sounds self-congratulatory and prideful. But I think on Father’s Day its OK to be a little proud of the family. No kidding, this is the most mature and healthy Church community I have ever been part of […]
Today we come to the end of our current message series, which is also the final series of our 2009-2010 season. It was a great year of learning and growth for me and hopefully for the church as well. Drive was the perfect kick off to the year, because it provided a clear, simple […]
Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here. Jesus replied: “You give them something to eat.” Luke 9.12-13 Luke’s 9th chapter describes an amazing scene, […]
Sorry, I am a little late with this week’s post.Memorial Day weekend is definitely the start of the summer season. Last summer we decided that we wanted to continue doing message series through the season, rather than concede the whole summer. But, we needed a plan that provided me with some weekends off, for vacation […]
This past week our staff went to the beach (Avalon) for our annual planning retreat. We made great progress in defining some of what next year (September 2010-May 2011) is going to look like: message series, children’s and student programs, major events, etc. We also discussed new structures for our work together. Until recently we […]
This week I was in Atlanta for a conference at North Point Church , led by Pastor Andy Stanley. I traveled with a few of our staff, including Lisa Scata our Children’s Director, and Brian Crook our Weekend Director, who had never been there before.We have never made a secret of our eagerness to learn from […]
This is the last week for our current series, Dangerous Church, looking at the Acts of the Apostles. And this is one more installment looking at some of the leadership lessons the Acts of the Apostles has to teach us. When last we left the story, Paul is preaching in a city called Antioch and things […]
