Dear Partner in Preaching, Can I give you some advice? Clear some time on your calendar next week for additional pastoral conversations with people. Because this Gospel reading, with its tussle over authority and deceptively tame parable, has the potential to really stir things up in the life and identity of your people. On one important level, the topic at hand is authority, as the religious authorities challenge Jesus’ right to teach and preach, particularly in the Temple, and Jesus in turn reverses their challenge and ensnares them in their own trap. And certainly you could preach a whole sermon on the dramatic exchange here, how it...

Well, the Scots have spoken. While the campaign for Scottish independence received 1,617,989 votes in yesterday’s referendum, those wishing to stay part of the United Kingdom accounted for 2,001,926 votes, a 55%-45% victory. If you’re like me, in recent weeks you’ve likely learned a lot about Scotland, the UK, Great Britain, and much more that we never got to in our social studies classes. But if you haven’t had a chance to keep abreast, it’s not to late. I’ve put below two videos by CGP Grey, a wonderful animator and teacher (I don’t know if he’s actually a teacher by profession, but his videos are reliably educational and...

I’ve noticed in recent years an interesting and subtle change in the way many preachers talk about their sermons. Traditionally, we preachers would talk about “delivering a sermon,” which led in turn to a whole area of focus for preachers on “sermon delivery.” More recently, I hear preachers talking about “sharing” their sermons or, just as frequently and another recent change, sharing their “messages.” I think there are several possible reasons for this shift. One may be the cultural influence of evangelical and emergent preachers where “message” has often been preferred to “sermon” from the desire to find...

When I first created the weekly “Dear Working Preacher” letter at workingpreacher.org, I realized almost immediately that there was something I could do for preachers each week that was as important as it was easy: say thank you. All I wanted to do in that last sentence or two was to offer simple recognition of the hard work and dedication that preachers bring to their calling and to let them know that someone noticed…and appreciated it. Interesting, of all the comments and emails I’ve received over the years about the value of that letter, the one thing folks commented on more than anything else were those closing words of...

This is the first in a series of posts on common leadership pitfalls. When I think about the best leaders I’ve known and seen and when I think about occasions my time – whether in a primary leadership role or not – has been best used or wasted, several themes come into focus. In this first post, I will take up one of the most common leadership pitfalls: confusing good process with actual productivity. I intentionally modify “process” with the adjective “good” because I want to be clear that a) I think attention to process is very important and b) this isn’t a complaint about busyness for busyness sake. Attending with care to...