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…
Pastoral Theology & Change
by Jackson Watts One of the most frustrating aspects of Christian leadership—and pastoral ministry in particular—is the challenge of leading congregations through change. By change we mean either the 1) introduction of something new to the church’s life, 2) reformation of an existing aspect of a church’s ministry,…
Pastoral Care & Priorities
by W. Jackson Watts One of the most important aspects of pastoral ministry is understanding how one’s “pulpit ministry” is connected to their “pew ministry.” By pulpit ministry, I mean the regular, weekly preaching and teaching of God’s Word. In what I’m calling “pew ministry,” I’m referring to…