An estimated $16 billion dollars was embezzled worldwide by those in charge of churches and religious organizations in the year 2000. That’s according to Janet Jamieson, a member of the accounting faculty at the University of Dubuque and an expert on finances in local United Methodist churches. She’s also married to Phil Jamieson, an elder […]

Remember how nothing happened at General Conference?  Turns out, they made a change to the process for those seeking ordination.  They will need to present, “a project that demonstrates fruitfulness in carrying out the church’s mission.” We’ve talked fruitfulness before.  You will recall that a fruitful program not only has critical mass of people participating […]

Photographer Richard Rinaldi has an interesting niche.  His portraits are not of brides or high school seniors or business execs needing a new mug shot.  His portraits are of strangers. A recent feature on CBS Sunday Morning shows him on the streets of New York recruiting people who have never met and posing them as an […]

Did you notice that this year at Annual Conference we lost 37-4?  No, that’s not the score of the competition between the Bishop’s Cabinet and the Youth.  That was the retirement/ordination score.  We retired 37 elders this summer and ordained just 4 new ones who were under age 35.  To be fair, we also ordained […]

Here is my report from Annual Conference this morning, including links to the two videos. All week we have heard from church people.  As a change of pace, I’d like to open my presentation with the perspective of a volunteer firefighter. Justin, the video if you would http://www.ted.com/talks/mark_bezos_a_life_lesson_from_a_volunteer_firefighter.html Get in the game.  Save the shoes. […]

  Everyone talks about leaving a better planet for the children.  Why nobody tries to leave better children to the planet? That’s one of my favorite quotes, and as a parent of two above average teenagers, it is one that I have taken to heart for the last 16 years. We do an awful lot […]

Gordon Gee, the bowtie wearing President of The Ohio State University, has announced his pending retirement. Too bad. Don’t get me wrong, Dr. Gee has a brutal schedule and if he’d rather spend his days playing golf and sipping a lemonade in a rocking chair on his front porch, I don’t blame him.  But this […]

In the wake of a disaster, there is the instant reaction to want to help and as we watched the video footage from Moore, Oklahoma this week, many of felt the need to do something. This is wonderful, very American and very Christian thing to do. But it’s important to remember what is helpful and […]

I just finished doing two Consecration Sunday programs. I finished the first one and they reported an average increase of 25% in their pledges. I figured there was no way I could ever beat that. But the next week the second church reported an average increase of 26% in the pledges received. So what’s the […]

This past weekend I had the chance to preview Committed to Christ: Six Steps to a Generous Life. The short version: I like it. The program is written by Rev. Bob Crossman, a United Methodist pastor from Arkansas and a member of the staff at Horizons Stewardship, Clif Christopher’s consulting company. What I like about […]