Methodist Foundation of Ohio
Category: Church Leadership
Getting Back to Normal-ish
A funny thing happened to me last week. I went to a meeting. I didn’t log into a meeting. I went there. I put on long pants (not my favorite part), drove to the church, small talked then got to…
Read MoreElectronic Giving, Now More Than Ever
In the last week the churches of the East Ohio Annual Conference have scrambled to figure out how to live stream their worship services. Some have full-blown Sunday morning productions, others are pastors in front of their cell phones offering…
Read MoreA Book You Really Must Read
I recently read a book that should be required reading for any good Methonerd like myself. Reverend Will Cantrell has written Unafraid and Unashamed: Facing the Future of United Methodism. It’s a really, really good book discussing the human sexuality…
Read MoreMy Favorite Wednesday
I often begin my sermon for stewardship Sunday by saying that it’s my favorite day of the church year, the day that the congregation decides what kind of church it chooses to be next year: a church of scarcity or…
Read MoreA call to conversation
Photo Credit: Sue Zakovec, East Ohio Annual Conference In yesterday’s post I lamented the protests I had seen the day before. They were, I wrote, unnecessary because General Conference bends over backward to make sure everyone has a chance to…
Read MoreThe Trust Clause, part II
I had dinner last night with some other members of the East Ohio delegation after we all had a busy and at times frantic day in committees trying to get through our legislation. They had heard the news about the…
Read MoreAbout perceptions
In a marketing email I received last week, I read the following: Two people pass a beggar on the street. One sees a lazy bum and feels indignant. The other sees a victim of circumstance and feels compassion. Same beggar, same…
Read MoreRethinking our purpose
The Board of Directors at the Foundation has spent the last year in a strategic planning process. We are a much different organization than when I got here seven years ago and we were trying to get a handle on…
Read MoreAccountability in the Missions Field
I had a wonderful conversation with an equally wonderful woman a couple of weeks ago. She has done a great deal of mission work in the last several decades, some here in the U.S. and much of it internationally. The…
Read MoreRethinking the Committee’s Place
Last night I met with a local church’s Finance Committee. They spent a few minutes going over the financials, discussing the pluses and the minuses. They they got to me to talk stewardship. Here’s the problem. It was the Finance…
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