When to Intrude, When to Defer
The relationships between staff (paid) elders and lay (unpaid) elders can create their fair share of dilemmas. When should lay elders defer to staff elders? When should they intrude and call a staff elder’s decision or practice into question?
Consider these three scenarios:
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How “Belonging before Believing” Redefines the Church
One of the great insights of the modern world is that John Donne was right and Simon Garfunkel was wrong: I am not a rock; I am not an island.
From who I think I am to what I believe about life and the universe, my beliefs are socially constructed. That doesn’t mean I don’t make independent decisions. It simply means that the social context in which I live largely determines the range of options I can choose from.
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Dear Associate Pastor, Sincerely, a Former Associate Pastor
So you’ve been called by a congregation to serve as an associate pastor. Now what?
Chances are the church has attached a tagline to your title: associate pastor for _________. This allows everyone to know the scope of your responsibility.
Yet at least as important as what follows the word “pastor” in your title is the word that comes before it: associate.
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Leave Your Church Well: An Interview with Michael Lawrence
In light of his recent transition from one church to another, 9Marks asked Michael Lawrence how to candidate, interview, and say goodbye wisely.
9Marks: After eight years as associate pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church [CHBC] here in Washington, DC, you’re about to take up a pastorate at Hinson Baptist Church in Portland, Oregon. Talk us through how you went from point A to point B.
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Using Small Groups to Cultivate Fellowship
A lot of churches these days are building their ministries through small groups. How do we employ small groups at our church in Washington, DC?
OUR VISION FOR SMALL GROUPS
We view small groups as a means of allowing the congregation to shepherd and disciple each other, within the bounds of pastoral oversight (Eph. 4:f11-13). They facilitate relationships for mutual edification.
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Good Friday Meditation: A Fitting Crown
They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. Matthew 27:28-29
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Leaving Home, Returning Home
One of the greatest stories ever told is the story of a man trying to go home again. He’d been off fighting in the greatest war of his age, but now his biggest challenge lay ahead of him: getting home. His name was Ulysses, and his story is told in Homer’s great work, The Odyssey.
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Book Review: Family Driven Faith, by Voddie Baucham
Reviewed by Michael Lawrence
I'm a product of Sunday school. Growing up in three different Southern Baptist churches in South Carolina, the pastors changed, but the "Sunday School Board" quarterly lessons remained the same. At the time, I was bored. It wasn't until I had a profound and personal reformation freshman year of college that I discovered I knew the Bible, inside and out.
Reviewed only
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Why Every Pastor-in-Training Should Read Ed's Book: An Interview with Michael Lawrence
9Marks: Is it true? Does Capitol Hill Baptist Church require every pastoral intern to write a paper on Ed Welch's book When People are Big and God is Small before they arrive for the internship? What's the assignment?
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