Tag: Formation

  • Renegades of Funk (Monday Mixtape)

    Now renegades are the people with their own philosophies They change the course of history Everyday people like you and me We’re the renegades we’re the people With our own philosophies We change the course of history Everyday people like you and me As I said in my homily yesterday, the stuff that got Jesus…

  • The Future of Seminary: Fix Dioceses

    [Over on Patheos, they are doing a great series on the future of Seminary education.  I haven’t read it all, and nobody asked me for advice, but I thought I’d throw in at least a couple of cents.  Kurt Willems nails the economic burden and Tony Jones makes a compelling case for the very tools of…

  • 7 Keys to engaging young adults in church

    Walking through the doors and into the nave, I make pretty snap judgments. [The nave is what some denominations refer to as the sanctuary or worship space] “Oh, they hide the font in the back corner.” “They built a new altar so they could worship the high altar like an idol.” “Choir pews between the…

  • Engaging Everyone in Church

    Our primary operating assumptions need to be: Church is the people not the building. Every part of the church (the people) is essential. Every person has gifts. In baptism, we are all equal. Our expression of church should match our operating assumptions. My series on engaging everyone in church argues that every single one of…

  • 9 Keys to engaging youth in church

    9 Keys to engaging youth in church

      [This post inspired my ebook, A Church for All. I encourage you to check out the information page to find out more!] When I started this series of posts on engaging different age groups in church (so far children and pre-teens), I deliberately chose the word church, rather than ministry. Engaging people in ministry isn’t…

  • 8 Keys to engaging pre-teens in church

    8 Keys to engaging pre-teens in church

    I wrote a while ago about engaging children in church.  Now I’m tackling that in-between age: the pre-teen. First off, I don’t intend to give a firm age range for this group.  I think you know it when you see it.  Your 9 year-old might be more teen-like than your 11 year-old. Parents of pre-teens struggle with…