(Image Credit: Created on WordArt.com by Growing Rural Ministries) https://youtu.be/zApXB06dA9I What is coaching? Val Hastings, Master Certified Coach and Founder and President of Coaching4Clergy and other coach training organizations, wrote, "As a coach, I help people get the results they want by bringing out the best in them. Coaching isn't about fixing people or solving … Continue reading What good is a ministry coach, anyway?

https://youtu.be/bxNM5OuGL_w You now have the option to read or watch/listen to my blog posts! The video includes a prayer for your ministries as well. Links referred to in the video are included in the text below. The history of our rural churches often plays a huge role in the identity of our church today. It … Continue reading Was your church a North or South Church, and how is that influencing your ministry today?

Bucklin Methodist Church: Easter 1918, Sunday School (212 record attendance) Our Conference has republished some articles which give us a glimpse into the ways Missouri Methodists led and served during the 1918 flu pandemic. In one of those articles I discovered something so exciting and inspiring for rural ministry! The very first article speaks of … Continue reading Rural Churches Leading the Way for City Churches in the Midst of Pandemic

Bee on a cherry blossom My inbox has been flooded the last week or so with articles and invitations to webinars about leading change in our churches and restarting with a fresh vision for ministry when this crisis is over. Honestly, it is all a bit overwhelming for this pastor. We are all doing new … Continue reading Finding Meaning and New Life Out of Crisis: How will this season transform our churches?

https://youtu.be/7x_Y186ydwU How often do you look around town and think, "Gee, I wish someone would clean that place up" or "It's a shame no one is using that space"? or "We really need more_____" (job opportunities, housing, access...). What if you brought some like-minded folks together to develop a plan to actually act on those … Continue reading To See Rural Ministries Thrive, We Need to Help Our Rural Communities Thrive

(Free image from Canva of four chickens and a rooster in front of hay) Happy National Day of Prayer! There are a lot of books on prayer. Most ministry leadership books include at least one chapter dedicated to the importance of prayer in ministry in a variety of prayer styles and processes. Its one of … Continue reading Do you pray with chickens?

(Free image from Depositphotos) This Sunday was originally scheduled to be our confirmation Sunday. Marceline, Mt. Zion, and Bucklin Methodist students were engaging in a church history and theology course and were preparing to confirm their faith in Jesus Christ. I look forward to completing that course with our students and celebrating their decisions as … Continue reading Hope for the Future of the Church in the Midst of the Struggle

I don't want to be just one more voice speaking her mind about current events, so I wasn't going to write a post about Covid-19. Well, that still isn't the subject of this post. Rather, I hope to point you and our congregations to the wisdom of God's word in the midst of a fearful … Continue reading Jesus Touched Lepers: Keeping Ministry on Track in the Midst of Fear

I shared my 2020 reading list at the end of December. My goal is to read one chapter each week in order to get through all these books by the end of the year. I've started with God's Country: Faith, Hope, and the Future of the Rural Church. I'm not going to walk you through … Continue reading 2020 Reading Reflections Part 1: Middle of SOMEWHERE

For me, it is usually patient obedience. I read an article a few months ago...maybe it was a blog post...that said, "everything worth doing has a hard part." I've also heard that most new year's resolutions have been given up even before this second month of the year! So, as you've begun to work toward … Continue reading What’s the hard part?