How Do You Know When It's Time to Go?

by Cindy Halvorson with Susan Miller

Part 1: Internal Factors

Part 2: External Factors

Episode 86: “Daring to Think Forward in a Time of Accelerating Change” featuring Dwight Friesen

How can churches get ahead of the curve by learning to anticipate change rather than always responding to change after the fact? Dwight Friesen shares ways to cultivate the imagination and skill set needed to think forward.

A Church for Starving Artists blogger Jan Edmiston considers, Is Empathizing the Same as Coddling? (Your Answer Impacts Who We Are s the Church).

Rev. Lee Ann Pomrenke offers reopening and revamping insight and tips - both personal and congregational - in A Hard Factory Reset: Big Life Changes Made During the Pandemic.

In Coming to Peace, Rev. Dr. Cameron Trimble shares a list of requirements for the process of moving through conflict in ourselves, our families, and groups; developed by Buddhist spiritual teacher Isa Gucciardi's and based on Indigenous practices of honest dialogue and self-reflection. 

Jessica Guleth wonders, "What does it look like for the voices of our youth to be invited in, heard and included in the ways we do for adults? What needs adjusting in our minds and hearts to see and hear them as members?" in The Future of the Church Is Young.

Episode 84: “Cultivating and Nurturing the Pastoral Imagination” featuring Eileen Campbell-Reed

What is pastoral imagination? And how can it be nurtured by clergy and laity? We speak with Eileen Campbell-Reed about how clergy can cultivate and nurture pastoral imagination in order to address conflict, experience joy, and develop a deep, wise knowing.

Rev. Dr. Michael Piazza reflects on The Deepening Divide and how it harms us all - and offers some gentle correctives.

Eileen Campbell-Reed explains the importance of Cultivating Good Questions

~ing Podcast Episode 40: Pastoring during the Pandemic

Five pastors who have ministered during the pandemic sit down to discuss leading, growing, and being as people of God navigating a global pandemic together.

• Rev. Greg Milinovich is Senior Pastor at St. Paul's United Methodist Church in State College, PA
• Justin Fung is Pastor of Leadership and Spiritual Formation at Christ City Church in Washington, DC
• Jen Gruendler is Youth and Young Adult Minister at Zumbro Lutheran in Rochester, MN
• Rev. John Harwood is Priest in Charge at St. Mark's Episcopal in Lewistown, PA
• Rev. Matthew Yoder is Pastor of Grace Mennonite Church in Pandora, OH

Acknowledging the Toll of the Pandemic on Ministry Leaders by Mike Bonem

Now Is the Time for Risk-taking Leadership by Bill Wilson

During the pandemic, many leaders were concerned primarily with avoiding risk. Bill Wilson says we are now entering a time in the life of the American church that cries out for creative risk taking that puts aside personal preferences for the sake of the gospel.

The Role of Religion in Healing the National Divide

by Dr. Rick Herrick on May 25, 2021

Springtide Research Institute is a wealth of research-based information for boundaries and best practices for youth and young adult ministries. The New Normal: 8 Ways to Care for Gen Z in a Post-Pandemic World is but one example.

Let people know who you are, engage in civic discourse, and identify as networked within your community: get inspired by leaders from Alexandria, MN here.

Confronting 3 Crises: Pandemic, Racial Reckoning, and Political Violence

Richard Rohr asks leaders to become - or make room for - Becoming Wise Fools.

Brian McLaren's, The Five Electorates in 2020 is essential reading for understanding the "other"; see also Recognizing Our Biases.

6 Ways Leaders Can Renew Their Hope and Strength by Tom Berlin