Barnabas File

In the recent publication of my article entitled “Day Camper or Pilgrim?”, my friend who was doing the layout chose to illustrate the piece with a Pilgrim hat.   You know, one of those conical hats with the wide brims that our kids wear in Thanksgiving pageants as an ode to the Plymouth colonists. Well, there are Pilgrims and then there are pilgrims. The earliest use of the term refers to one who is on a religious journey to a holy place. The practice is common in many world religions, especially in Islam where every devout Muslim desires to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once.  The word has also been used to refer to our time here on earth.  The idea is that we are just sojourners here on the way to something better. Of course, the historical Pilgrims or Pilgrim Fathers, the ones with the hats, were religious dissenters who founded the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in 1620. They are often called Puritans because of their desire fo...

The first real “job” for which I was paid was as a math tutor.     Considering that I failed Calculus in college, this is rather ironic.   I was a junior in high school and my math teacher recommended me as a tutor for an eighth grader.    The parents paid me ten dollars a session. As I began working with this young man, I realized pretty quickly that he already knew what he was supposed to do.  He understood the calculations and was probably a better math student than I was!  The key was focus.  He needed someone who would just sit with him, respond to his work, and provide encouragement.  I did not need to be an expert; I just needed to be there. I find myself in the same situation very often as a leadership coach.  As I talk with a client, I discover that not only does the person have the best knowledge of the situation we are discussing, but he or she has some ideas about how to address it in a pos...

When we went to vote early recently, two of our grandchildren were with us.   This brought to mind the times when I was a child and went with my Dad to the voting place in our neighborhood.   He would pick me up at school and we would go directly to the polling place so he could cast his ballot (my Mom always voted earlier in the day). My parents’ example has stayed with me.  This is one of the most important ways that we exercise our citizenship. Even if I estimate that my candidate has little chance of winning, I know it is important to express my point of view.   We are a week away from mid-term elections.  Early voting has been going on in many places for a couple of weeks. I encourage you to cast your vote for the candidates of your choice.  I am not arguing that you vote for a particular candidate or party, but I do suggest that you ask yourself these questions about each candidate as you decide. First, would yo...

While attending the ordination service for a friend recently, I appreciated that the person bringing the challenge to the candidate provided a strong emphasis on the role of a clergyperson to call and equip leaders for the church.     Although not always emphasized, this is one of the most significant tasks of a leader.   Ephesians 4:11-13 offers a model for equipping and empowering believers: “ So Christ himself gave   the apostles,   the prophets,   the evangelists,   the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ   may be built up   until we all reach unity   in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God   and become mature,   attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Some believers are set aside to equip God’s people for the “works of service” so that everyone can find his or her place in the Body of Christ and grow in Christlikeness....

In retirement, I do part-time work for two organizations.     One is located near Columbia, South Carolina, and one in Shawnee Mission, Kansas.    One is about an 8-hour drive from my home in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the other about 10 hours driving time. I identify with the growing number of people who work remotely from their organizations. In a recent blog , Paul White shared these statistics:  In 1995 only 9% percent of American workers telecommuted, but in 2015 off-site workers increased to 37%. In 2016, 43% of American workers reported they spend at least part of their week working remotely. It has been estimated that 50% of the U.S. workforce has job responsibilities that are compatible with working off-site at least occasionally and between 80% and 90% of the U.S. workforce reports it  would like to  work remotely at least part-time. White’s blog deals with showing appreciation for employees, both those who work at the compan...

Life Coaching or Personal Development Coaching can take many forms.     I recently was involved in a conversation with a colleague about coaching seminary students around their financial habits.     One of the things we discussed was whether a person needs to be a financial expert to coach someone about finances.     We agreed that helping a person to break old habits or, perhaps more proactively, develop new habits or behaviors was the key to financial coaching rather than financial expertise.     Developing new habits is not easy. Some suggest that, on the average, it takes more than two months before a new behavior becomes automatic — 66 days to be exact . More realistically, how long it takes a new habit to form can vary widely depending on the behavior, the person, and the circumstances. In a study by researcher Phillippa Lally, a key finding was that it took anywhere from 18 days to 254 days for people to form a new habit. This is...

This week I was part of a group reviewing Bible study lessons for a special emphasis in our congregation.  The participants were of different ages, and the classes they teach represent several different stages of life--young, median, and senior adults. As we reflected on the scriptures, reviewed goals, and discussed teaching approaches, I was reminded of several things. First, how we respond to scripture is necessarily conditioned by our stage of life.  Even those passages that we have read repeatedly expose new insights as we experience life.  A passage that might have been a challenge for personal growth when I was a college student now calls me to invest in the lives of others. Blessing, tragedy, love, loss--these change the lens through which we read the Bible. Second, when we are teaching a particular age group, especially one that is different from our own, we must not assume that we know their mindset.  As we plan our lesso...

Jim Hudan and Rich Berens have provided a helpful book for organizations based on the best recent research on organizational development.  They challenge those leaders who think everything is working smoothly when there is much that can be done to improve the functionality and health of their organizations. The writers identify five leadership “blind spots”: Purpose matters, but it doesn’t drive our numbers. We have a compelling story to tell that our people care about. Rational and logical presentations engage the hearts and minds of our people. People will not do the right thing unless you tell them what to do and hold them accountable to do it. My people feel safe telling me what they think and feel. These common misconceptions hinder both organizational health and productivity.  The common factor in all of the blind spots has to do with the people--the employees--who actually accomplish the work.  Hudan and Berens chall...

Although the term “strategic planning” is still a key emphasis for most businesses and organizations, I have found more churches embracing the idea of “visioning” -- defining a path forward but one that is responsive to the role of the Spirt in its execution. Several things are necessary for a successful visioning process.  Let me identify four essentials. First, spiritual and relational preparation.  If we are doing God’s work, a good beginning point is calling people closer to God. Through prayer, Bible study, and sharing, the disciples in a congregation come to understand that God speaks in many ways, including the experience and learning of fellow parishioners.  Forty Days of Prayer:  Preparing Ourselves for God’s Calling by Mark Tidsworth is a good resource for this preparation. Second, assemble a team. The pastor and the ministerial staff should not do this by themselves.  The vision is not handed down from “...

In a recent Fast Company article , Stephanie Vozza suggested ways that a person in a job interview should answer the question, “What are your strengths?”     The answers she provided are good and apply also to those who plan to practice ministry in the 21 st  century. First, “I am a good problem solver.”  The church today has plenty of problems, although I would prefer to call them challenges.  Most churches have limited resources and unlimited opportunities.  Despite diminishing numbers, aging congregants, and declining financial resources, most churches are located right in the middle of multiple ministry opportunities. Leaders are needed who can identify those opportunities, bring both parishioners and community members together to address them, and leverage the resources available to pursue a path forward.  This means that ministry leaders need skills in asset-based community development, appreciative inquiry, human-c...

Since many people are still not familiar with the coaching process, I usually begin the first session with a client giving a quick overview including the fact that the process is client-centered, conversations are confidential, and coaching is not counseling.    Therapy or counseling is very important and sometimes a person is not only being coaching around growth issues but he or she may also be seeing a counselor for deeper personal concerns. The diagram from a coaching organization gives some clarity about the differences between coaching (or “life coaching”) and counseling (or “therapy”) as well as areas of commonality. Here is what coaches do: Coaches do not represent themselves as therapists.  Their work with the client is future oriented and does not deal with issues such as grief, anger, and loss.   Coaches not only seek but need the client’s cooperation in order for the coaching relationship to be productive for the client....

In his book, The Eagle has Landed , Jeffery K. Smith writes: “Robert Hutchings Goddard, born on October 5, 1882, is widely regarded as America’s first true rocket scientist.   A native of Massachusetts, Goddard was educated at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and later taught physics at Clark University. “The New Englander’s passion for rocketry began during his childhood and eventually became his life’s work.  At the age of 27, Goddard published A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes , which hypothesized that a rocket launched from Earth could reach the Moon.  Like many visionaries, the young rocketeer encountered numerous skeptics.  In January of 1920, the New York Times harshly criticized Goddard’s theory that rockets could be utilized for space exploration: ‘He seems only to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.’  Forty-nine years later, as Apollo 11 raced to the Moon, the famed newspaper published a ...