relationships

3 Ways to Get to Know Your Congregation…

/ pastorfeltz / 4 Comments

the_best_hello_my_name_is_sticker_ever_by_baconoffury-d4svmp6

For many United Methodist pastors, you’ve just survived your first Sunday at your new church, and are still swimming in boxes as you unpack. Now, you have months and months of getting to know the new congregation you have been appointed to care for. Even if you’re not United Methodist, the process of getting to know a new congregation is daunting.

I want to offer a few insights I’ve learned through getting to know two different congregations. Here are three things for getting to know your congregation better: Continue reading →

Mentor For Life: A Book Review

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So, I’ve been reading a lot this year. I have a goal of averaging one book per week. But I had a stark realization in the last couple of weeks. The reading has been helpful, but only to me. The books haven’t really begun impacting my congregation or you readers at all.

So, here is a quick overview of the things I took away from ‘Mentor For Life’ by Natasha Sistrunk Robinson. Please note, these are my interpretations and impressions, and so they are subject to my biases.mentor-for-life-book-cover.jpg Continue reading →

Perfectly imperfect for each other…

/ pastorfeltz / 2 Comments

For those of us on the single side of married, marriage is kind of a weirdly pieced together picture. Each segment of the picture is kind of hidden, and looks like a blank slate. It’s tempting to look at marriage and fill in those blank segments with all kinds of different things. You get it in mind how much time you’ll spend together, what your spouse will do for you, what the kids will be like, and everything else. Each piece is, in many ways, it’s own ideal picture that come together to make your perfect marriage.

There’s just one problem.

No marriage is perfect.

Perfect Continue reading →

Why I would stop being a Christian…

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I remember being asked what I would do if ‘they found the body of Christ’. Like, the physical body of Christ. Would I switch faiths? Have no faith? And so on. Truthfully, it’s going to be hard to convince me you found THE body of Christ, so this is largely a hypothetical exercise. But it is a worth while exercise.

What is the greatest challenge to your faith? What would be the greatest challenge to your belief in God? If you were to ever stop being a Christian, what would cause it?

Continue reading →