Barnabas File

The system really did work well.   The approach used by denominations in the mid-20 th century facilitated growth, ministry, attendance, and contributions.   The vertically and horizontally integrated model assured that all of the denomination’s far-flung ministries would be promoted in Sunday school and disciple development literature, there would be common standards for all types of church programming, and   all cooperating churches would be on the same page when it came to denominational life (at least in theory).   Then it fell apart. Why did it collapse in on itself?  A complete answer would require an extensive sociological study, but the truth is that the culture changed on both sides of the coin.  Churches were no longer willing to accept a “one size fits all” approach.  Judicatories increasingly saw their role as quality control, not only in programming but in doctrinal belief as well.  The cooperative effort was always a house of...

Islamic Center of Murfreesboro No matter where you live, you have probably heard about the controversy about the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro .   Certain dissatisfied citizens continue to protest the county’s granting a building permit to the new mosque although it has now been occupied over a year and several courts have ruled against the plaintiffs, who now want to take their case to U. S. Supreme Court. On the larger stage, many Christian leaders in our country are considering ways to ministry in what may be the most religiously diverse nation in the world.  Christians are increasingly called to exercise our pastoral practices in a context that requires understanding of faith traditions other than our own. Three years ago, with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation, the Association of Theological Schools provided grants to 18 theological schools to help prepare their graduates to serve faithfully in a multi-faith environment. The projects funded by the Ch...

Mentor was the friend to whom Ulysses entrusted his son, Telemachus, when he went off to the Trojan War.   We use the term “mentor” now for any trusted advisor, especially an older person who trains and guides a younger person.   The person guided by the mentor is often called a mentee or sometimes an apprentice but I think protégé is a better term. I have benefitted from a number of mentors in my life.  Most of these were on an informal basis; others were supervisors who guided my work.  On a couple of occasions, I purposely sought out a person to be my mentor in a particular area of expertise.  They agreed to share information, suggestions, and life experiences with me. Benjamin Franklin is reported to have said, “There are two ways to acquire wisdom: you can either buy it or borrow it.  By buying it, you pay full price in terms of time and cost to learn the lessons you need to learn. By borrowing it, you go to those men and women who have alre...

Several years, I made the decision to put more of my digital life online. A primary reason was to be able to access material from different devices and not be dependent on one machine that might crash without warning!  This began with using a web-based e-mail program, Gmail.  As I changed over to a new iPad Air tablet this weekend, I was reminded how much of my personal and work life I have put online.  I regularly use social media like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn both to keep in touch with friends and to share my work with Pinnacle Leadership Associates and Central Baptist Theological Seminary.  I was a late adopter on Twitter but I have found it to be a great way to share ideas and resources with others. There are a number of online tools that have made my life easier:  Google calendar,  Google Maps, Slideshark, SlideShare, Moodle, Dropbox, Evernote, Doodle, MindMeister, YouTube, Vimeo,  and SurveyMonkey.  These sites ...

For the last several years, I have found myself interacting with both the theological students and theological educators.  Although I am a seminary graduate and have been involved in higher education ministry for a major part of my life, this is not something for which I was been intentionally trained.   Even so, I have found myself deeply immersed in theological education and dealing with some of the challenges it must address today. Much has been written about what is needed to train a new cadre of ministers—both young adults and mid-career people--but I might as well add my own two cents worth.   I do this not as an expert in the field but as a minister who loves the church and has been encouraging and equipping its potential leaders for most of my life.  It seems that there are four major components that are necessary to form men and women to serve the church today. First, seminary students need to be guided in spiritual formation .  The...

David Lean’s 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia was both visually engaging and emotionally compelling as it told the story of T. E. Lawrence, the young British military officer who played a pivotal role in the Middle East during World War I.  In the book Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of theModern Middle East , author Scott Anderson both demythologizes Lawrence and attempts to place his actions within the larger context of history. In order to do this, Anderson weaves Lawrence’s story with those of three spies from the era--German Curt Prüfer, American – and Standard Oil employee – William Yale, and Zionist Aaron Aaronsohn.  Each sought not only to further the goals of their countries but their own ambitions as well.  The result is complex, interesting, and informative, and helps us to understand how we ended up with the Middle Eastern quagmire of today. In many ways, this wartime period was a much simpler time when men in their twent...

In a Doctor of Ministry seminar recently, I addressed one particular topic for the first time—coaching across cultures.  With the increasing interest in multi-culturalism, cross-cultural communication, and globalization, professional life coaches are asking if their processes translate well into other cultures.  One reason that I raised the issue was that the majority of the class members were Korean-speaking listening through simultaneous translation! Our culture molds us in significant but often subtle ways.  As we coach people from another culture or teach coaching principles to individuals from a non-Western cultural background, we must be sensitive to varying concepts such as time, authority, and communication styles.  In his book Coaching Across Cultures:  New Tools for Leveraging National, Corporate & Professional Differences , Philippe Rosinski identifies a number of cultural orientations that must be considered in a coaching relationship...

Our church participated in the Martha Stearns   Marshall   Month of Preaching this morning with Dayna Thompson Schoonmaker as our preacher.  She brought a thoughtful and challenging message on Luke 7:11-17. Dayna is the wife of our pastor, Noel, but is also a graduate of Wake Forest Divinity School who knows how to handle herself in the pulpit.  Her presence and preparation came across strongly in the message. Dayna is not the first woman to preach in our pulpit this year, but I am always happy when we have a woman preacher.  Hearing the Word from a woman’s perspective is always a bit different and, since over half of congregation is female, long overdue. At the same time, having women preach is a testimony to our children and youth, both male and female, that God’s call is not limited.  Women serve in our church as deacons, committee chairs, Sunday school director, and a number of other positions. Some of the roles filled by women are rather t...

This week I put on my adjunct faculty hat to teach a Doctor of Ministry seminar for Central Baptist Theological Seminary, so I have thinking about the entire process of learning.  In a recent blog , Maryellen Weimer wrote about four student misconceptions about learning and prompted me to reflect on the learning process as I observe and experience it. The first misconception that Weimer suggests is that learning is fast.  In order to understand a subject, a student must have a good foundation and a perceptual framework.  This does not happen overnight.  A good student spends time developing the tools, perception, and information that will allow real learning.  (See more about “discipline” below.) Second, knowledge is composed of isolated facts.  We do not live our lives in silos.  Although academia would have us think that disciplines can be neatly divided into recognizable categories, life is messy, interconnected, and surprising.  ...