The Rural Think Tank
…It's Different Out Here.
Church life, health, leadership, and ministry in rural and small congregations.
Are You the Quarterback or the Coach? Most pastors see themselves as the quarterback. They call the plays. They execute the strategy. They are the ones who do the ministry. But what if the pastor’s primary role is not to be the quarterback? What if it is to be the coach? The Difference A quarterback …
This is an unscheduled Bonus episode this week that is a little longer form than the typical episode. This is because it is packed with two topics that deeply affect rural ministry – Demographics and the “Rural Brain Drain”. I also throw out a “What If” scenario for rural communities to combat the talent drain …
How Technology Has Made the World Smaller Technology has made the world smaller, making it easier to get the message of Christ across the world in ways that we never would have imagined twenty — or even ten — years ago. A church that meets in a building with forty seats on Sunday can reach …
In the latest episode of the Rural Think Tank Podcast, I discuss the history and purpose of the Rural Think Tank. Sources MinistryPlace.net Rural Think Tank
When the Gospel Crosses Cultures You never know when God is going to drop something into your lap. Years ago, I had the opportunity to speak through a translator to a group of Bhutanese refugees in Rochester, New York. My wife and I were on a trip doing groundwork for an upcoming missions team. I …
The Value of Learning from Someone Who Has Been There I will be the first to tell you that I am not an expert in ministry. I do things, and try to figure out what can work, mostly by finding out what does not from trying it. Get a mentor in ministry. If you are …
It’s Friday by SM Lockridge – It’s Friday….Jesus is praying Peter’s a sleeping Judas is betraying But Sunday’s comin’ It’s Friday….Jesus is praying Peter’s a sleeping Judas is betraying But Sunday’s comin’ It’s Friday ….Pilate’s struggling The council is conspiring The crowd is vilifying They don’t even know That Sunday’s comin’ It’s Friday….The disciples are …
This post was originally published on my other blog, MinistryPlace.net “Why do we do this ministry every year?” “Well…kinda because we’ve always been the ones to do It?….” We have all had that conversation in our churches. There seems to be that one ministry in every church that is a sacred cow that happens every year only because it …
The Bible was written in farm country We live in a world where context is vital to our understanding. One of the reasons our society struggles with parts of the Bible is that it is set in an agrarian context. Jesus and Paul used that backdrop and crafted wonderful illustrations. Lets look at a few …
This post was originally published on MinistryPlace.net. When the snow piles up, community shows up Last weekend brought a snowstorm like I have never seen before. We had temps of -12 and spent approximately two days straight with subzero temps, plus a foot of snow blowing around in 30 mile-per-hour gusts. Our church had a …