Seven years ago I, along with most of the country, watched the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and wanted to help.  With the benefit of a connectional denomination, we quickly found how we could help, Antioch UMC in Laurel, Mississippi was coordinating clean up in their rural area about an hour north of the coast.  I was blessed […]

You see those ice machines everywhere, big white freezers sitting in front of gas stations, convenience stores, sometimes it’s just them, plugged into an outlet on a utility pole.  But there’s a funny thing about this industry. No one needs ice. Think about it, you may think you need to add ice to your cooler […]

Remember, the deadline to register for the Clif Christopher wokshop is just two weeks away.  Get more information here:  http://eoumfblog.wordpress.com/2012/07/16/843/. Cost is just $25 per person and includes lunch.

I’ve heard it a billion times in local churches:  everyone wants to give to a capital campaign or to a special project and no one wants to give to the operating campaign. In that boat?  Then cancel the operating campaign and replace it with a capital campaign. There you go, problem solved. Well, except for […]

When I read the USA Today article I was hoping I had time-traveled back deep into the previous century.  A few weeks ago a Southern Baptist Church in Mississippi refused to allow an African American couple to be married in its sanctuary because of their race.  The bride had been attending the church for a year, the […]

Imagine it’s early December and the avalanche of end of the year fund raising letters arrives in the mail.  For some unknown reason you decide to actually open one of them.  The letter reads: “Use the enclosed envelope to send us your contribution.  Remember to put a stamp on it before you send it.” And […]

I had an interesting conversation with a great young pastor a couple of weeks ago.  In his second Sunday at his new church they did their monthly special offering.  A special container was passed through the congregation with no announcement about what was happening, why the offering was being taken or how it would be […]

When I head into a church for a stewardship consultation, I used to think I could predict the situation.  Afterall, a church in an affluent neighborhood was going to have plenty of money, right?  A church with old Chevy pickup trucks in the parking lot was going to be dirt poor. Not even close to […]

When I was a student at Mount Union (back when it was a college, not a university) every fall a ginormous pumpkin would appear in the cafeteria.  Dr. Paul Froman grew it on his farm, and I always wanted to see it delivered.  This pumpkin would fill the back of a pickup truck and, I’m […]

The town of Viganella, Italy had a problem.  Located in a valley in the Alps, it had 86 days in the winter when it was in the shadow of the mountains.  The sun never, ever shined on this town between November 11 and February 2. By 2006 the town had enough and decided to erect […]