I recently sat down with William Vanderbloemen of Vanderbloemen search group to talk about succession. William is who helped Mariners through the succession planning, which ultimately led to me coming to Mariners as senior pastor two years ago. I think the interview is important because I ask some common questions people have asked me since…
Church Leadership
How an Ice-Age Context Impacts One’s Approach to Leading
When the pandemic began, Andy Crouch, Kurt Keilhacker, and Dave Blanchard insightfully gave leaders categories for how they were viewing the pandemic — as a blizzard, winter, or the beginning of a little Ice-Age. The imagery is helpful. You hunker down and wait it out in a blizzard, expecting things to return to normal pretty…
WHAT!?! Instructions to Not Sing at Church?!
On Friday my phone started blowing up with text messages from friends, both in and outside of California, sending me links to articles where Governor Newsom, California’s governor, issued instructions banning singing and chanting in churches while continuing to limit attendance of indoor gatherings. The orders immediately resulted in divergent viewpoints, adding to the increasing…
5 Things I Am Preaching to Myself While Preaching to a Camera
Last week I shared six things I am greatly missing from teaching in old-school physical gatherings among people I love who are singing to God and ready to hear a message from His Word. When preaching to a camera, it can easily feel like I am preaching to God’s people without being among God’s people….
6 Things I Am Deeply Missing While Preaching to a Camera Each Week
A few weeks into this madness, the global pandemic that has resulted in the unprecedented move to not provide physical worship gatherings at our church, Kenton Beshore called to check on me. Kenton is my predecessor, our pastor emeritus, and he still serves as teaching pastor for us. “How in the world are you not…
Made Right by Christ, NOT by Your Church’s Re-opening Plans
What does drinking have to do with re-opening the church? Since this is already a divisive conversation, I will just go ahead and make it a bit more divisive with this real-life illustration. When I first became a pastor, it was common in some church ministry circles to hear conversations against the use (any use)…
When Are You Going to Re-open?
I am getting asked this question with increasing frequency, from people in our church, from ministry friends, and from other church leaders. I shared earlier in the week that there are differing viewpoints on when a church should re-open. Because our viewpoint (not just mine but thoughts we have worked through with our leadership team…
2 Reasons Re-Opening the Church Will Be More Challenging than Closing the Church
When organizations and governing officials provided guidelines for gatherings and later gave “stay at home orders,” the overwhelming majority of church leaders made the unprecedented decision to stop gathering physically. Leaders pressed pause on following the biblical mandate to “not neglect gathering together” in order to “submit to governing authorities” and “love our neighbor” (also…
What Have You Learned From “Online Church” That You Will Keep When Gatherings Resume?
The title of the post is one of the most insightful questions I have been asked by friends in ministry during this season. Several have texted or called and posed, “what are you learning in this season during your online gatherings that will continue when you gather again physically?” I have started asking other leaders…
How Are You Thinking About Re-opening Church?
One of the most common questions ministry leaders are asking one another in this crazy season is around “re-opening church gatherings.” While none of us can really answer with any certainty “when” we can re-open church gatherings, we can think about “how” we will re-open church gatherings. As leaders, we cannot know when things “will…