Essential Work/ers
Every year the Transitions small group ends with an evening mini-retreat. After a shared meal, we meet in the sanctuary for a ritual of passage that marks the end/fading/composting of a life stage for each participant, and the beginning/emerging/growing of the next. Every thirty years or so we get a…
Decade/s Review
These last two weeks I’ve been part of gatherings looking back on the life of two congregations over the past decade/s. The first was our annual CMC office staff retreat. Gwen, Mark, Mim, and I have been working together for ten years, but with Gwen’s upcoming retirement, this was her…
Frame-storming
Earlier this year the Harvard Business Review published an essay arguing that companies are too quick to problem-solve. A better approach, the authors suggest, is to step back and first look at the problem from various angles. Doing so can lead to a better set of questions, or a redefinition of the…
A Mentor Mindset
I recently picked up a copy of David Yeager’s book, 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People after reading a review that piqued my interest. The sub-sub-title of the book is “A Groundbreaking Approach to Leading the Next Generation–And Making Your Own Life Easier.” I’m fairly skeptical of…
Ways To Read
Ways to read the Bible, that is. Now that we’re several weeks into the Narrative Lectionary, again working our way through the story of Scripture, I’m mindful of the many ways to read this astounding and confounding collection of writings we call the Bible. Here are two, ever-present for me:…
