Articles for tag: Church: Preacher and Congregation

January 28, 2017

Christian Standard

Beauty in the Battle

By Larry W. Timm When the sun rose on Thursday, October 29, 2015, my family hummed with anticipation over our quickly approaching family vacation to Florida. After the sun set that cold night, we were stunned and afraid and gathered together in a hospital room in Illinois. The terrifying journey from happiness to horror started that morning when my wife took our 14-year-old daughter, Jayne, to see a pediatrician. After struggling through a lingering cold, Jayne had noticed a lump on her neck; if she needed antibiotics, we wanted to get the prescription before beginning our trip. Her appointment led

January 14, 2016

Michael C. Mack

10 Things You Can Do for Your Senior Minister This Week

By Michael C. Mack 1. Pray for him daily. 2. Encourage him with notes, tweets, or in person (but not right before the service begins). 3. Help him focus on sermon prep by limiting interruptions during the week or giving him announcements shortly before he preaches. 4. Take on pastoral care responsibilities. A class or group should be the front line of pastoral care. 5. Be a minister. You are part of the priesthood of all believers, a minister of reconciliation, an important part of the body of Christ. 6. Treat him as a person and as an individual. Remember

November 11, 2015

Christian Standard

The Secret-Driven Life

By Jim Tune (This column was first posted November 5, 2014.) To be real is to risk. I know many preachers who feel a deep reluctance (often well-founded) to reveal who they really are to those they lead. Henri Nouwen suggests that pastors are the least confessing people in the church. The expectations demanded of pastors in our Western culture are often unattainable, unsustainable, and soul-withering. I admit that I have sometimes allowed my own fear of vulnerability to push me into hiding. The trouble with life in the shadows is the double life it promotes in the shadow dweller.

January 1, 2015

Christian Standard

Faithful and True

By Mark R. Laaser If you were Satan and wanted to bring down the church””all churches and all denominations””what would you do? Attack leadership, of course. Thanks to the Internet, Satan now has that technology, and he is using it. I call addiction to Internet pornography among pastors the tsunami that is threatening to engulf the church. I am an ordained pastor who struggled with sexual addiction, and by the grace of God, found freedom in March 1987 when I went to an inpatient treatment program. Thanks to the intervention of the Holy Spirit and the best clinical resources available at

November 3, 2014

Christian Standard

Are We Encouraging, or Discouraging Them?

By Larry Monroe How we respond to an applicant for our job can help or hinder his or her future in Christian service. Nowhere is this more important than with how we handle résumés and written job applications. It happens all too often””a résumé is sent in response to a posted position at a church or parachurch organization. The candidate eagerly awaits a reply, wondering what may lie in store for him in some exciting new ministry opportunity. The candidate waits, and waits, and waits. Soon he sends a follow-up note, and then he waits some more.  Too often no

April 25, 2014

Christian Standard

Ministry Confidential

By Eddie Lowen “Can I speak to you, confidentially?” A church leader is asked some form of this question at least several times a year. Normally it comes from within the church, but it can also be voiced by nonattendees. For relationally gifted leaders with a pastoral bent, requests for confidential conversations are more frequent. The most important response to a request for confidentiality is the initial one. Many church leaders feel an ethical or pastoral obligation to grant the request without qualification. With no clue about what will be reported or confessed, many church leaders indiscriminately reply by saying,

February 14, 2012

Pam Parmenter

extending grace

Our Journey with Grace

Pam Parmenter reflects on confession, hurt, forgiveness, and broken relationships, sharing how a painful season revealed the difficulty—and transforming power—of extending grace to one another.

February 13, 2012

Brad Neal

church restoration

What We Learned

Brad Neal reflects on lessons learned as church elders walked through ministry failure, repentance, forgiveness, and public restoration, discovering how accountability and grace can lead a congregation toward reconciliation.

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