Ode to Youth Pastors

Guest BloggerGeneral

Originally posted on  http://www.markbatterson.com/, Thursday, November 17th 2011. Mark serves as lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington D.C. and is also member of the strategic faculty at Anderson University in South Carolina. Here’s my ode to youth pastors! And this isn’t really a tribute from a pastor. It’s a tribute from a dad.  I didn’t fully appreciate the role you play in … Read More

Cowboys & Aliens: Coming to a Church Near You

Ryan NealLeadership, Ryan Neal

[gravatar email=”rneal@andersonuniversity.edu” size=”100″ title=”Ryan Neal” alt=”Ryan Neal” class=”user-picture” align=”right”]I am surrounded by cowboys. So are you. I see aliens. So can you. Well, I can’t guarantee that cowboys and aliens are in your midst, but I’d say the odds are pretty high. More specifically, I predict you have both cowboys and aliens involved in your ministry, at every level. Let … Read More

Meet My Friends, the Puritans

Bryan CribbBryan Cribb, Ministry Tools

Middle school was a crisis time for me. Bespeckled with Coke-bottle frames and sporting braces and a bowl-haircut, I was the poster-child for the socially awkward. What I longed for as a shy, self-conscious seventh grader was the proverbial “friend who sticks closer than a brother”—an encourager and advocate, someone who could speak comfort and counsel to my preteen circumstances … Read More

The Pastor’s Best Tool: The Church

Ryan NealMinistry Tools, Ryan Neal

What does every pastor need? Surely dozens of answers might be offered. A nice facility? Or, perhaps, a growing community surrounding the church that would provide a field ripe for harvest might head the list. I suppose every pastor might desire an expanding budget to allow for additional staff or upgraded technology. Each of these is legitimate. But I think … Read More