As church governance geeks, the staff here at Anglican Watch love to read really banal stuff. That includes minutes, reports, studies — all the stuff that people in the church say they read, but usually just skim. And in digging through the mountains of paper coming out of the Diocese of Virginia annual convention, much of it meaningless and all Read More
If we’re honest with ourselves, conflict is inevitable in all areas of life, and church is no exception. But my experience is that churches are particularly bad at conflict. Perhaps it’s because we hope that church will somehow be immune from strife. Or maybe we feel that we need to be all “churchy nice.” Possibly it’s that churchgoers Read More
Reprinted with permission. Stephen Parsons, a retired Anglican priest, publishes Survivingchurch.org, a blog dedicated to church abuse of every sort. After church on Sunday I took part in two conversations over coffee which indirectly touched on the church abuse issue. Neither mentioned in any way spiritual/sexual abuse, but each of them reminded me how much and for how Read More
I’ll be the first to admit: I’ve often been no fan of interim ministries. Why? Because these interregnums are too often periods of turmoil and confusion, in which churches and their members are left to flounder, while giving and membership collapse. But when understood and done correctly, interim ministry is a vital step towards congregational health. Part of Read More