You’re a changemaker. You might not be living it out fully, but it’s in you. But you don’t need to believe me. Just try living as if you were. Pretend. Play at it. I bet you will surprise yourself. Of course, the rest of us knew all along.
At the beginning of the year, I choose a word…
At the beginning of the year, I choose a word that I will hold onto, that guides my intention for the year.
I Hate This
You’re not alone. You know that, right? You know that you are part of a fierce tribe of women and men who will never give up, never back down and never give in.
Are We Who We Claim To Be? A Journal Entry From the Border
People often say to me, “Anna, when did you become such an activist?” My answer is simple: the day that I started holding the stories of others and allowing those stories to shatter my heart.
3 Lessons This Church is Learning About Growth
Like many mainline churches, they have struggled to maintain their budget and membership over the years. They have had their fair share of conflict, people moving, the neighborhood transitioning. Right now they are in a season of growth and working with the Center for Progressive Renewal to design their strategic plan.
We Could All Use A Little Daylight
I want to know the people in our neighborhood. I want them to help design what happens at our church. I want the people in our neighborhood to connect what happens at our church with meeting or fulfilling a need in their lives. I want to model commitment in such a way that our ministry impact becomes synonymous with our ministry success and everyone who benefits is committed to our shared identity and sustaining our future, together.
Congregational Change Meets Geese & Dirt – Part One
Change is hard; brutal even. When done well, people are going to leave. When done poorly, people are going to leave. People ARE going to leave. But here’s the thing: people are going to leave if you don’t change. No one wants to eat stale bread. No one wants to be a part of something that feels so stagnant that movement isn’t just uncommon, but nonexistent.
Sorry…You Can’t Have It All
Pastoral ministry is particularly grueling for those of us driven by a sense of moral obligation serve (and save?) our congregations and communities. We feel a new pressure now that our national politics are in such chaos and turmoil. To top it off, we are dealing with aging buildings, committee structures that rarely work anymore and financial strain that can keep us up at night. So, here is the thing: you can keep trying to survive by DOING ALL THE THINGS. Or you can stop.
Dig Deep and Keep Moving
But I am clear on this. Here is what we can’t do: We can’t give up. We can’t lose hope. In this moment, of all moments, we don’t get to walk away.
An Emergent Strategy for our Movements
We were never promised an easy ride. We were never promised to be saved from suffering, strife and struggle. We were promised that we would never be alone in it.