By Ron Edmondson (March 2015) at RE RonEdmondson; thoughts on leadership, church and culture Pastor, there are some things your church can’t do for you. They simply can’t. Please understand. I love the church. Greatly. I’m a local church guy. But, they simply can’t do these things for … [Read more...]
Reality Check: Your parish has a sinful leader
A pastor friend forwarded this to me at an opportune time: the day after I had responded to someone's challenge with acerbic sarcasm. It happened at a board meeting, and I knew I had gone too far the moment I loosed my tongue. It became more obvious when that board member left the meeting in … [Read more...]
Don’t preach “the devil’s homily”!
In every parish (even the dream ones), there are going to be people whom it is hard to love. Like flies that get into the car when you take your garbage to the dump, their words and actions will continue annoying you long after you've left their physical presence. Sometimes it can get so bad that … [Read more...]
Living in the Rectory – some pros and cons
As a new priest, the first piece of advice many experienced priests have given me is to buy my own house. We live in the rectory and, while it does bring challenges, we have found it to be rewarding for the parish, my family, and my ministry. From the stories I have gathered, it seems that when … [Read more...]
When Fire Strikes: some lessons learned
Two years ago, during the pre-dawn hours of the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, the parish of St. Michael in Woonsocket (UOC-USA) suffered from a terrible fire. It got up into the rafters and destroyed the roof. It was only due to the bravery and proficiency of the firefighters that it was kept … [Read more...]
Autopsy of a Burned-Out Pastor: 13 Lessons
Another short gem from Thom Rainer, this one based on his "autopsies" of pastors whose ministries - and persons - were rendered "mission incapable" by their inability to cope with the cumulative pressures of parish life. Please note that only two of the factors: serving dysfunctional parishes and … [Read more...]
The One-Term Curse (and how to avoid it)
In this essay, Thom Rainer describes a parish phenomenon that is all too common among pastors: the three year tenure. I grew up in a tradition - Methodism - that had institutionalized a four year rotational schedule for its ministers. While short tenures have some benefits, they do not allow for … [Read more...]
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