I recently served as a worker in a local election — a new experience for me, and one I hope to repeat. My main take-away, detailed in Part 1, was how much it taught me about my community. But IRead more…
Serving in an Election: Part 1 – Community Learnings
Serving as education? That’s not how we usually think of serving. But an education is just what I received recently, when I served as an election volunteer. What I learned from the experience had nothing to do with politics; norRead more…
What is a Discipling Relationship and Why You Might Actually Want One
Who has been a mentor to you? Is there a teacher who made a major impact on you? Do you try to model your life after a certain family member or friend? If you are a person of faith, whoRead more…
The State of Church Volunteerism
Presidents annually give a State of the Union address, and effective leaders regularly share their view of the past and vision of the future. Perhaps similarly, my step into retirement has prompted reflection on the state of church volunteerism –Read more…
More Serving? or Better Serving?
When we talk about serving, it’s almost always about “more” serving — its quantity. As volunteers retire, leaders need to replace them with more volunteers. When new ministry opportunities arise, leaders need more volunteers to make them happen. People inRead more…
Spiritual Gifts? People Eager for More
Younger respondents have bigger and more emphatic responses to . . . gifting. “Gifted for More” is a new resource on spiritual gifts with convincing evidence that the time is right for churches to help people identify, develop and shareRead more…
You Can Be/Grow a Volunteer Champion
Imagine a world in which every Christian church, no matter its size or budget, had an acknowledged volunteer champion in their midst, a leader who helped people use their God-given gifts in their Lord’s service within and beyond the church;Read more…
Church Volunteerism in a Changed World
Twenty-one months after the covid pandemic first threw us for a loop, we’re still in upheaval. Vaccines are prevalent, but many still suffer and many more are fearful. When it comes to church volunteerism, ‘normal’ is a distant memory andRead more…
If Every Church had a Volunteer Champion…
Odds are good your church does not have a staff person who focuses on healthy volunteerism. Few churches do, and the numbers are decreasing. But I’m willing to bet your church does have a person or two or ten whoRead more…
Where in the World is The Equipper?
Susan, a colleague from 10+ years ago, emailed me earlier this year and noted, “I see your website hasn’t been updated in a while. I hope all is well with you.” All is well with me, Susan, but you’re right.Read more…
Review: Every Good Endeavor
Pretty much the highest praise I can give a book is that it is both deeply thoughtful and highly readable. Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work by Tim Keller (2012) earns that praise. Deep and thorough, itRead more…
Were We Ready? Covid’s Impact on Church Volunteerism
Were we ready? Of course not. We had no time. In early January 2020, most of us hadn’t heard of covid. Less than 3 months later, it had disrupted our lives and our churches. But we adapted. By Easter, mostRead more…
Could Less be More?
Is your church staff shrinking? Mine is. Long term trends in school enrollment, followed by covid’s financial impact, forced our church leaders to implement two reductions in force in 2020, including a 50% reduction in my hours. It’s not justRead more…
A New Normal
Here in Illinois, the coronavirus has me in my eighth week of working from home and we’re all in our seventh week of sheltering-in-place orders. We’re worshipping at home via screens and all the familiar church activities are cancelled. We’reRead more…
Serving God and Others Through Entrepreneurship
I generally think of entrepreneurs as people aiming to make a living. But this post is by a man who is an entrepreneur in order to serve his city and his Lord . . . and to change the culture.Read more…