Racial and ethnic inequality is well documented in many aspects of daily life in the United States, such as in educational and employment opportunities, home ownership, and access to credit.[1] Despite all the evidence of racial inequality in a variety of arenas of public life, much less research has been done on whether there are…
Can bivocational ministry be a strategic choice and not just a reluctant concession to financial constraints? In this episode of Leading Ideas Talks from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary, Ben Connelly shares how bivocational ministry can enhance collaboration, deepen engagement with the mission field, and even promote the personal spiritual…
By G. Jeffrey MacDonald From the outside, First Parish Church (United Church of Christ) in Newbury, Massachusetts, appeared to be chugging along reasonably well after 377 years of ministry. A small group of faithful souls still gathered every Sunday morning. A preschool met in the downstairs hall on weekdays. More than 40 area residents tended…
It should come as no surprise that over the past few decades Christian congregations have been shrinking in terms of their average weekly worship attendance. This is certainly true for congregations in the United Methodist Church. The median worship attendance of UMC congregations declined from 53 worshipers in 2000 to just 38 worshipers in 2019.…
How has the pandemic shaped the vitality and resiliency of congregations? Did it really prompt large numbers of pastors to leave ministry? In this episode of Leading Ideas Talks from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary, Scott Thumma shares insights from ongoing research on the pandemic’s impact on congregational life and…
Are you a pastor serving more than one church? Or a leader in a congregation that’s part of a multi-church ministry? In this Leading Ideas Talks podcast episode from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership, small church vitality expert Dr. Lew Parks explores perspectives and practices that can help ministry flourish even in a church…
By Lewis A. Parks It’s important to remember that in some denominations, the normative expectation of a local church to have a resident pastor is relatively recent. Until the middle of the last century, for example, the whole mindset in the Methodist tradition was that clergy were not overly identified with any one congregation and everybody…
This article shares highlights from an in-depth interview with Scott Thumma, available in Leading Ideas from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary. How has the pandemic shaped the vitality and resiliency of congregations? Did it really prompt large numbers of pastors to leave ministry? Doug Powe, director of the Lewis…
Over the past several decades, the average weekly worship attendance of Christian congregations has been decreasing. In 1998, the median number of regular participants of Christian congregations in the United States was 80 people[1], and by 2018-19 this had dropped to 70 participants for the average congregation[2]. Smaller congregations usually have fewer financial resources and…
By Steven C. Van Ostran It has been my experience that bivocational ministers see themselves and are looked upon by others as second-class ministers — ministers who are not on the same level with those who serve full time. It has also been my experience that some of the finest, most godly, and long-tenured pastors…