Revitalizing Your Ministry: How the Wheel of Life Can Help Preachers Thrive in Their Work (A Guest Post)
If you were thriving in your preaching life, how would you know? I define thriving as feeling a sense of vitality, confidence and peace despite whatever might be swirling around me. And that means bringing life into balance so that ministry does not swallow up the other meaningful and necessary elements of a vibrant existence. The Wheel of Life helps us quickly diagnose where life may be out of balance so we can make conscious choices to shift our attention and energy for a thriving ministry AND preacher.
The Power of Reflection: How Preachers can use 2022 as a Springboard for Growth and Joy in 2023
2022 is over, but the year behind us offers rich insights to nourish the year ahead. In today’s blog, we offer a simple, 3-question examen you can conduct for the three components of your preaching life—process, craft, and spirituality—and invite you to make use of those insights for a more effective and joyful ministry in the year ahead.
At-Home Christmas Retreat for Preachers (2022)
Merry (Early!) Christmas! After tending to everyone else's spiritual and celebratory needs, it will finally be your turn! Inside is your free, downloadable, at-home Christmas Retreat to rest, reflect, and renew your spirit.
2022 Annual Christmas Gift List for Preachers
This year’s suggested gift list is an eclectic mix your loved ones will be delighted to give you to help you relax, grow, and tend to your spirit in the coming year.
Adaptive Leadership for Preachers (Part 4): 10 Steps to Lead Creatively, Effectively, and Pastorally (A Guest Post)
To preach is to lead. Preachers lead by proclaiming how, where, when, and why the gospel influences and guides our hearts, decisions, and actions, individually and corporately. The need for preachers to lead their congregations through change is always difficult, but perhaps it has never been more difficult than it is now. Today’s guest post by Backstory Preaching Mentor and Leadership Coach, the Rev’d Dale Matherly, offers ten steps we can apply to lead faithfully, authentically, and skillfully.
How do you avoid the pitfalls of assumptions in a new call? Good questions.
We've probably all stepped on a congregational preaching "no-no" without realizing it. We thought we were just doing our jobs and didn't realize we didn't know what we didn't know until we fielded angry reactions to our sermon. A little knowledge can go a long way, and today's blog offers questions every preacher can ask to unearth the unspoken expectations of a congregation, particularly when discerning a new call.
Pentecost Quotations for Preaching and Reflection
I don't think I'm alone in struggling to find words to preach about the elusive yet ever-present Holy Spirit. The Spirit receives a fraction of the mentions in Scripture that “God” and “Jesus/Christ” receive. With Christians' most revered day about the Spirit coming up on the Feast of Pentecost, I thought it would help to add a few more mentions about the Spirit to our personal preaching libraries. I collected quotes from theologians, poets, and preachers to give us more words to work from. Their wise and insightful ideas will spark your imagination, help you see the Spirit in a new light, and offer new directions for your sermons.
5 Tools Making Preaching & Life Easier, More Inspired, and More Fulfilling (A Resource Round-Up)
I’ve noticed a number of improvements in my preaching and general life lately, so I’m sharing the tools that have been most influential in this shift. Perhaps one or more would be of use to you, too.
Quotations for Preaching and Reflection: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter (2022)
I love gathering quotations for preachers’ reflections and preaching. So many of them call me up short, take my breath away, and offer new insights. This collection of quotes for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday does just that, opening my imagination and heart to help me grow as a follower of Jesus and as a preacher, in addition to providing loads of ideas for sermons that touch our listeners. I hope these do the same for you.
Stop and Smell the Ink: How Creative Play Makes You a Better Preacher
If you've only ever started your sermon prep with gritted teeth, we have an invitation for you. It's time to try a new way: begin with play.
How? We'll get to that.
But first, let's convince your logical left brain why letting your right brain have a turn at the wheel might get you to your destination more effectively.