The Presbyterian Outlook

News and Articles from the The Presbyterian Outlook

Top Search/Contact Area

Transition and grief

by Leave a Comment

We are living in a time of constant transition in the church. I see this at the denominational level and the local level. For better or worse, we are having to reimagine what it means to be the church. Yet even Calvin nodded to a church that would be forever reforming. There is something about church that is forever in motion: always growing, stretching, changing. It was never meant to be stationary. All this sounds lovely doesn’t it? However, when we are living in this fluidity, there are huge challenges. Growing pains are real and we are so often forced to face these challenges without our consent. We rarely say, “OK — let’s move the church into this challenging time so we can bear new fruit.” Transition comes at us most often with an element of surprise. Surprise! You need all new plumbing. Surprise! Your long-time pastor is retiring. Surprise! You must make steeper budget cuts than you anticipated. On rare occasions, we are prepared for these surprises or we … [Read more...]

Tagged With: transitional ministry

A dream for the church: Let go and serve

by Leave a Comment

We asked our bloggers to share their biggest dreams for the church. Here's what they imagine. Dreaming big has always come easily to me. As I think about my big dreams for the church, two come to mind. The first is to let go of the past. In so many ways our grasping at the past holds us back from living into the future. We remember how great it was fondly, but forget those times were imperfect. We lose sight of how amazing it is going to be when we let go, and really let God lead us into the future. Now, I don’t mean just throwing away our past. We can honor it and celebrate the good times! More often than not, our relationship with the past is trying to get back to it. We cannot go back to our past, to the glory days when more people came to church. I believe there is a future where more people will be in worship, but it will look entirely different than it did when attendance peaked for us as a denomination or individual congregations. It is good to be deeply rooted, but if we … [Read more...]

Tagged With: church dreams

Ministry hack: The visit edition

by Leave a Comment

This week we asked the Outlook bloggers to share a “ministry hack” they’ve learned.  Here’s what they shared. Pop your collar.  When I was working in a rural context people didn’t always believe that I am a pastor. Sometimes it was because I looked too young, but often it was because I am female. So, when I go on a visit to the intensive care unit I wear my collar. Visitors are limited in the ICU, and no one questions who I am, why I am there, my gender or my age when I wear the collar. The name game. I make it a point to learn people’s given names because it is tough to find Scooter Smith unless you are in a small-town hospital. It helps if I know Scooter’s given name is William. I learn these names by praying my way through the church directory, which in my case has given names and nicknames. I also keep a directory in my car, my home, my bag and at the office. This way I can doublecheck names before I go in to the hospital or find an address for a home visit. I’ll just … [Read more...]

Tagged With: ministry hacks

A love letter to the Presbyterian Church

by Leave a Comment

This month, we invited our bloggers to write a "love letter" to the church.  Here are their letters. Dear church, I love you because you have empowered me to lead. You did not squelch my voice when I finally spoke up and said I felt called to ministry. You helped me answer the call to serve your people, even when I was frustratingly stubborn. You have opened a world of opportunities I would have never known outside your beloved community. I am grateful that this has been my experience because I know it has not been the experience of some of my sisters (and brothers). I pray that soon we will empower all the voices of our people and learn to really hear them. I love you church because even amidst your human imperfection you are trying to love all the people of God. For many it seems like that loves starts in our polity when we make official statements on the full inclusion of all people or when we walk the streets of St. Louis to bring about bail reform. Yet, I know your … [Read more...]

Tagged With: love letter to the church

Disagreement vs. conflict

by Leave a Comment

We asked our bloggers to share what they have learned about managing conflict in ministry. Here are their reflections.   In current times, it seems that the smallest of disagreements can lead to huge divisions in our lives, in our families and in our churches. I have been blessed in that I haven’t had to work through any major conflicts in my ministry thus far. I have had to lead through minor conflicts in a variety of contexts, which are challenges in themselves. I’ve noticed that conflict is always tied up with two powerful emotions: fear and hurt. Fear and hurt can lead us to a profound sense of sadness, which in turn can manifest itself as anger. When we are angry, we are much more likely to engage in behaviors that turn from disagreement to conflict. Emotions can make even the most rational, loving, level-headed person say something hurtful. I hope that we rarely (if ever) choose our words with the intention of hurting another human being. Yet all of us unintentionally … [Read more...]

Tagged With: conflict

My hope for the PC(USA) in 2019

by Leave a Comment

Given the chance, I jump at the opportunity to tell people why I love the Presbyterian Church. I can go on and on about polity, theology, critical Bible study and so much more. During a recent family gathering, I found myself explaining some of the major theological differences between Protestants and Catholics. For as much as I love the way our process works with shared leadership in our committees, time for everyone to share their voice and formal votes to agree upon things, it sometimes holds us back from really doing the work of Jesus in the world. We can (dare I say it?) be so decent and in order we forget what following Jesus is all about. In 2019 my hope for the church is that we would learn to love more fully without getting caught up in our own process. While it rightfully takes years of process to change our constitution, it should not take us a series of meetings to respond to people in crisis. Yet even loving people seems to have been hijacked by politics in our … [Read more...]

Tagged With: New year

CONTACT US: