Dear Partner in Preaching, Have you ever noticed that Palm Sunday isn’t really Palm Sunday anymore? I’m familiar with the variety of liturgical rationales for the change to “Passion Sunday,” not least of which is the practical recognition that if our folks don’t come to Holy Week services they go from glory (triumphal entry) to glory (resurrection). But even with that awareness, I still mourn the loss of what was one of my favorite days of the church year growing up. Processing in with palms, singing “Crown Him with Many Crowns,” hearing the story of Jesus entering the city on a donkey (or colt, or donkey andcolt in...

This will sound like a rather odd recommendation, but here it is. I find Simon Sinek, author of Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, a little full of himself. I’d heard the advice to start with questions of purpose and passion years ago, well before he wrote his book, so the idea that he invented or came up with all this is, well, a bit much. And his work with brain science feels at the same time both oversimplified and overstated. Finally, while he may be a perfectly lovely human being, he comes across as a bit self-important. Having said all that, I’d still encourage you to watch his TED Talk, based on his...