Barnabas File

If you are like me, you struggle with what is usually called “work/life balance.”     What I have tended to mean by this term is the process of effectively doing my work while taking care of the other important aspects of my life--family, friends, self-care.     Sometimes I have been more successful at this than at other times.   When I coach leaders, this is a topic that often comes to the surface.  Busy leaders want to be effectively engaged in their churches or organizations, but they also want to have a life!   I wrote a blog three years ago and commented on author  Bob Johansen’s term “work/life navigation.”  In that blog, I wrote and cited Johansen:    “Navigation” reminds us of whitewater rafting.  There are obstacles to be avoided but there are also currents that can help or hinder us in the process.  We have many choices, and they are always changing!  Johansen writes, “Work/life navi...

Early in the history of the Christian church, believers were divided into two groups--the clergy and the laity.     Clergy were those called to a full-time Christian vocation.     Laity were the men and women who pursued secular vocations and supported the ministry of the clergy. Of course, these categories were not always hard and fast.    The Baptist movement in frontier America prospered through people who pursued a secular job (like farming) during the week and preached on Sundays.   Denominations have spent significant energy in differentiating between clergy and laity, and investing significant resources in the training of the former.  With declining resources and membership, however, judicatories are adopting flexible models of ministry that take advantage of the gifts of both biprofessional and lay leaders.  This certainly makes sense as many lay church members have not only spiritual gifts to serve but educational and profe...

A friend in the real estate business says that there are three primary concerns about buying and selling:  location, location, and location.  Where the property is located, especially in relationship to lifestyle concerns, traffic, schools, and shopping, is vitally important.   The same thing can be said for our churches.  Let’s think about it in this way:  God has placed us in a particular geographic place for a reason.  The reason is to be an expression of God’s kingdom in that particular place.  Of course, the context in which the church ministers may change over time.  Neighbors come and go. The community changes.  Once when we used the terms “urban,” suburban,” “neighborhood,” “county seat,” or “open country,” we had a pretty good idea of the context.  This is no longer true.  A county seat church may find itself in the center of a growing satellite community on the edge of grow...

This is not a book you just read and put away.     Remove, Replace, and Restart: The Essential Maintenance Manual for Your Engine for Success   by Christian Greiser provides a model of development for people who find themselves at a professional turning point.     The author states, “This book is for leaders and managers who would approach a coaching session with questions and a search for clarity.”    Given our current culture, such a book is certainly needed.   We are indeed in the era of “the great re-evaluation.”  Many leaders, especially young and median adults, are taking a fresh look at their vocational situation.  A number of clergy find themselves in that situation as well.   For the author, “success” if more than climbing the organizational ladder.  Success means “taking active steps to avoid burnout and to maintain a balanced life.”  This goes beyond professional competency to embracing physi...

When I was in seminary, a chapel speaker said that someone asked him one time, “If you were not a Southern Baptist, what would you be?”     He said that his response was, “I would be ashamed.”   This is the context in which I was born and bred.  In 1998, I made the leap to what I believed was a more progressive Baptist tribe.  Between 2005 and 2008, I moved even further into positions where I could work with a more diverse family of believers.  Those experiences have been rich and rewarding.   There are many reasons for my decision (one that I did not make lightly).  One was the theological shift of the Southern Baptist Convention that sought to bring all of those in convention life—not only employees but churches—into lockstep.   Baptists have not traditionally been a creedal people, but groups of Baptists have historically adopted confessions of faith such as The Philadelphia Confession (1742) and The New Hampshire Confe...

In February 2023, the Association of Theological Schools reported that for the first time in its history, the Master of Arts degree enrollment of 27,790 students exceeded the Master of Divinity enrollment of 27,634 students.     The Master of Divinity has long been the degree that most mainline denominations require of their ministers and ministerial candidates.  Although the structure, delivery methods, and required hours have changed in recent years, this degree has offered training in the biblical, historical, theological, and ministry skills expected of full-time ministers.   Although theological schools have offered a number of Master’s degrees in the past (such as the Master of Religious Education, the Master of Church Music, or the Master of Theology), in recent years the number of professional programs such as the Master of Arts in Ministry or the Master of Arts in Youth Ministry have proliferated.  These degrees usually require fewer hours tha...