Reexamining the Pastoral Shortage Problem
W. Jackson Watts In recent years Free Will Baptist leaders on the state and national levels have highlighted the need for more pastors. Their urgency is understandable. According to one article by Executive Secretary Eddie Moody, 124 Free Will Baptist churches presently need pastors. [1] That number is…
Some Thoughts on What Unchurched People Want in a Church
Matt Pinson Ultimately the question of what unchurched people want in a church is very unimportant compared to what the Bible says people need in a church. But over twenty-five years ago, some church growth experts started telling pastors that the main impediment to their growth was their…
Multi-Site Church Polity: Congregational or Episcopal?
Matthew Pinson Recently my pastor and colleague at Welch College, Jesse Owens, texted me a tweet by the eminent Australian evangelical scholar Michael Bird, who tweeted the following about multi-site churches: “Thesis: Multi-site churches are not congregational, they are episcopally governed, the senior minister is a de facto…
Pastoral Theology and Change: Part 3
by Jackson Watts Change is inherent to the nature of salvation; repentance itself implies real spiritual change. So it should be no surprise that the congregational life of saved persons also must undergo certain changes in its ministry sometimes in order to better foster growth, discipleship, worship, or…
Deus in Machina: Reading (and Studying) the Old, Old Story on your Tablet
(Part 1 of 2) by Kevin Hester As a non-digital native, whenever I think of Scripture I envision my first “real” Bible. It was a red-letter, leather-bound, Old Scofield Reference Bible. I still have it and I still use it from time to time though its condition is…