The Ministers' Meeting

-
Threee preachers, attending their monthly minister's meeting, began to share what was happening in their congregations.

"Things are starting to look up for us," said the Baptist preacher, "we gained three new families last month."

"We did better than that!" said the Methodist, "I think revival may be coming! We gained six new families last month!"

"Well, we did even better than that!" exclaimed the Presbyterian, "Revival has come! We got rid of our nine biggest troublemakers!"

Comments

  1. Anonymous11:49 AM

    I know this is a light-hearted joke, but it stabbed at my heart. Unfortunately, many churches want to 'get rid of anyone' who disagrees with the leaders of the church. Perhaps, it is the leaders who need 'to be gotten rid of'. Do you know how much it hurts to be told, 'this is not the church for you'?

    Joking aside, I hope the new church will find what a blessing these new families can be.

    ReplyDelete
  2. nathan richardson10:14 AM

    I look at this from a different light then anonymous. Mike Yaconelli wrote in Messy Spirituality that he grew the church from 80 to 30. The attitude of the heart can greatly effect the growth in the church. While we want life change from everyone and dont want to see anyone become disenchanted with the church. Sometimes the best thing that can happen for the church is for people to leave, from a pastor's perspective.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous8:46 AM

    I somewhat agree with Nathan. Sometimes the best thing that can happen for a church to grow is for the pastor and long-time leaders to leave.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous1:06 AM

    Call me Anonymous 2.
    To Anonymous,
    While I agree that a church cannot grow without a good leader, sometimes the issue is the congregation just as much. I am from a small country church that has had 5 different pastors in a ten year span. A couple of these pastors have had great ministries in other locations, but my church has steadly declined. I do not believe the fault lies totally with the leaders.

    I think what Mr. Richardson is trying to say, sometimes growth comes from cutting out the dead branches so the rest of the plant can get the nutrition it needs.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If This Is Not A Place. . .

-
If this is not a place where tears are understood, Then where shall I go to cry? And if this is not a place where my spirit can take wings, Then where shall I go to fly? I don't need another place for trying to impress you With just how good and virtuous I am. I don't need another place for always being on top of things; Everybody knows that it's a sham. I don't need another place for always wearing smiles, Even when it's not the way I feel. I don't need another place to mouth the same old platitudes; Everybody knows that it's not real. So if this is not a place where my questions can be asked, Then where shall I go to seek? And if this is not a place where my heart cry can be heard, Where, tell me where, shall I go to speak? So if this is not a place where tears are understood, Where shall I go, where shall I go to fly? -- Ken Medema
Read more

My Updated Ordination Succession

-
 I made an error when I listed my ordination succession a few weeks ago.  I was ordained by Earle Wilson and he was ordained by William Neff. I had thought that Neff was ordained by early Pilgrim leader, Seth Rees, but upon further investigation, he was actually ordained by Winfred Cox.  Thus, my ordination line takes a fortunate turn. It was a struggle reconciling Rees anyway.  I had taken a leap saying that he was ordained by the Nazarenes -- when, in fact, he was originally "recorded" (not ordained) by the Quakers, and the Nazarenes claim they never ordained him.  I find that hard to believe -- especially when, according to historian, Kostlevy, he participated in ordinations for the Metropolitan Church Association, a forerunner of the Pilgrim Holiness Church. Anyhow -- deepest apologies for leading anyone astray and here is the updated ordination succession for Earle Wilson and anyone ordained by him (including former Wesleyan GS, JoAnne Lyon). I was ordained by Earle Wils
Read more