You’re in good company

I’m reading Larry Witham’s Who Shall Lead Them? The Future of Ministry in America.  Witham, former reporter and award-winning religion writer, “takes the pulse of both the Protestant and Catholic ministry in America and provides a mixed diagnosis of the calling’s health,” according to the book jacket.  It’s fascinating stuff, and here are some fast facts:

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Christian Bloggers Network

Mark Kelly and Rick Warren have pulled together a list of Christian bloggers and I’m on it!   As members of this new virtual community, we’re posting the entire list of bloggers on each of our blogs.  Here’s the list of folks you might want to know.  Warren’s group is coming out with some cool online [...]

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Intergenerational groups benefit small churches

I just got my March/April Outreach magazine today.  I have looked at some of the online version, but I missed the article, Shaping Generations by Alicia Kazsuk.  Trinity Lutheran Church in Pembroke Pines, Florida, has an IGSS — intergenerational group Sunday School, and Alicia writes about their experience and Pastor Keith Spencer’s comments.  This was [...]

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A couple of new categories

I’ve put up two new categories — “Sermon Illustrations” and “Missional Church.” I love good stories and that’s what “Sermon Illustrations” is — good stories you can use in sermons or your blogs, or wherever. Most of the stories are my experiences, if not I’ll let you know where they came from. I would appreciate [...]

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Home, Sweet Home

In early 1863, at the mid-point in the Civil War, the Union Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia were camped on opposite sides of the Rappahannock River, the dividing line between the north and the south.  One late afternoon, brigade bands from the Union army gathered down on the riverbank and [...]

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“Catch every ball!”

 On Monday night, Johnny Bench, Hall of Fame catcher for the Cincinnati Reds, spoke at the fundraising banquet for our Boys and Girls Clubs in the area.  About 400-people attended and it was a great evening that raised a lot of money for the Clubs in our community. 

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Counting people in church, or counting people being the church

The problem with the small church, as I have said before, is that it is small.  Pretty clever insight, but it’s true.  Our obsession with numbers in church life always puts the small church at the bottom of the heap.  Not counting is not the answer, because most of us have to report to our [...]

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Here’s what we’re doing

Several people have asked me to tell the story of our church.  I have changed the About Chuck Warnock page to a summary of what has happened here at Chatham Baptist Church in the 3 years I have been pastor.  I’ve included links to articles, photos, and other sites to give you resources for what [...]

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All my friends and their blogs

Well, I’m a week late, but here it is finally!  All my friends, or at least the ones who have commented on my blog and who have blogs/sites of their own.  Pretty amazing stuff you guys are doing and here’s to lots more from all of us in the small-church community. 

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Her music was in her heart

A couple of weeks ago, Otelia Watts died.  She was in her late 80s, and had played the piano and organ at our church for over 40-years.  But, Alzheimer’s had begun its slow march in Otelia’s life about 11-years ago, claiming her short-term memory, and much of her ability to understand life around her. 

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