The Advocate reached out to leaders across the church inviting them to share with us, and with our readers, important lessons about faith formation. This week, we present the second blog in this series. “There’s no way I could pay you back, but my plan is to show you...
I didn’t grow up going to church. My mom is Jewish. And to my dad, Christmas and Easter were enough. So, it took a while longer than the kids I would eventually join in youth group for me to understand what faith was, exactly. When I started going to church with a...
“We’re doing a Story Journey tomorrow to go along with our church’s yard, garden and bake sale. We’re featuring Laura Alary’s book, What Grew in Larry’s Garden. We’re so excited.” My good friend, Laura Duggin, minister...
by Sharon Warkentin Short The need to make sense of our lives seems to be a fundamental human drive. We all do it by interpreting our individual experiences in light of some larger controlling story. The “small stories” of our everyday lives take on whatever meaning...
Vacation Bible School, those words can bring excitement, anxiety, stress and worry as churches look for ways to share the stories of faith with our children. Last year, an idea was born when Eastminster Presbyterian of Simpsonville, SC, Fountain Inn Presbyterian of...
By: Josh Richard I have had a dim view of church mission trips for much of my life. At best, they felt exploitative and self-righteous. At worst, they were damaging to vulnerable populations and an opportunity for a new Facebook profile photo. Anecdotally, that view...
By: Carol Wehrheim “I was driving on a very, very, snowy, icy, visibility-zero highway.” With these words, the congregation quieted waited for the next line. A congregational member was telling the story, the testimony, of another member, anonymous to the teller and...
By: Tanner Pickett So you’ve got an amazing ministry going and you’d like to get people involved. What if there were a way for hundreds, even thousands of people to witness and even participate in that ministry? Well, luckily for you, there is. Social media has worked...
By: Jill Duffield Early into my tenure as the pastor of a small church in rural North Carolina, when I was anxious about preaching every week and unsure God would indeed supply the words through the Word from Sunday to Sunday, I received a gift. I received a divine...
