New England Perspectives
A regularly updated collection of articles written by New England leaders and thinkers. Looking for news articles? Click here.
Persevering as a Pastor
How do we persevere in pastoral ministry? Churches should want pastors who persevere till they go on to glory or retire – and even if retired, continue to serve in some capacity until they can no longer do so. As pastors, what can we do now to ensure we persevere to the end?
New England Churches at a Turning Point: Engaging the “Nones”
Across America, churches are struggling to engage younger generations. This trend is especially acute in New England, where less than 30% of adults under 30 now identify with a religion (Pew Research Center, 2015). As churches confront shrinking and aging congregations, they face a pivotal choice – reinvent ministry for the modern era, or risk fading relevance in one of America’s most proudly secular regions.
How Great Is That Darkness
Six hours ago I was squeezed into a small, white-washed stairway of stone. I think the headroom was less than five feet. My shoulders touched both side walls. And I was descending, round and round, inside a castle turret. The Bunratty Castle was last used in the late 1600’s by the O’Brien family in Ireland.
Grieving with Hope
Grief. I’m not sure that I ever really understood grief until the last few months. It is one of those emotions you can read about, study, or discuss, but can’t really understand until you personally experience it. After losing my wife to pancreatic cancer 7 months ago, I’m still coming to terms with what it means to grieve.
The Theology of Purple Dinosaurs
A pastor in Tennessee posted the following “proof” online that Barney the Purple Dinosaur is really the Antichrist. He explained that you first must start with the statement “cute purple dinosaur”. You then have to change every letter U in the phrase into the letter V, which is actually the proper Latin anyway. Then you have to take away all the letters in the sentence that are also Roman numerals. What you have left are the letters CVVLDIV. If you then convert those letters into Arabic numbers and subtract them from each other, you end up with the number 666, which is the sign of the Antichrist. There you have it, according to that pastor, positive proof that Barney the Purple Dinosaur is the Antichrist.
The Gift of Time
I have a big extended family. Both sets of grandparents had six kids, plus some adopted kids, and just about all of those kids had three or more kids, and so on. Family reunions were massive affairs. We are a family spread all over the globe (many are missionaries), and we are a family that likes to get together as frequently as possible.
Pastoring through an Election Year
This year no doubt will be filled with a perpetual barrage of politics. From Super Tuesday to November 5th, our church people will be bombarded with political ads, phone calls, news segments, and presidential debates. As pastors, how do we pastor through a year like this?
Wisdom Keeps Our Thinking Clear
A minister was using a flashlight as a visual aid to teach the children’s sermon one morning during church. He had filled the flashlight with little pieces of useless junk and of course the light would not turn on. As he took the junk out and inserted two batteries, he came to the climax of his story and declared “When we take the junk out of our lives and put Jesus in, then we become the Light of the World.” And with a grand flourish he flipped the button on the flashlight expecting it to come on. To his great shock, the light did not come on.
Christian Marriage in Today’s Culture
Living together outside of marriage is now accepted by most Protestants and Catholics. According to “Cohabitation Among Evangelicals: A New Norm?,” an April 2021 report by the Institute for Family Studies (IFS), most evangelicals under 45 have either cohabited, plan to do so in the future, or are open to the possibility.
2 Great Books to Start The New Year
January is a natural time to pause, reflect on life, and evaluate what is most important and what changes, if any, need to be made in one’s life. I’m grateful for the many books in the past that have helped me gain wisdom and insight, as well as take actionable steps to make changes in different areas of my life. Two books I found myself returning to re-read are The Power to Change by pastor Craig Groeschel and Win the Day by pastor Mark Batterson. I highly recommend them both!
Third Culture Kids: What It's Like to Grow Up in a Multicultural Home
Where are you from? For most people, this question is simple to answer, but not for someone who is a third-culture kid. Not everyone is born and raised in the same place. Some of us move between states and even countries at an early age, acquiring new habits from other cultures.
Ministering to Mental Illness
Mental health is a rising concern in the United States, and pastors are on the front lines of ministering to people with all kinds of mental illness. Most likely you have counseled and cared for people with anxiety, depression, bipolarity, or even schizophrenia and paranoia. Like most pastors, I took a few counseling classes in seminary but I am not a clinically-trained or licensed counselor. My advice comes from the place of a pastor trying his best by the grace of God to minister to my church and community.
Enchanted Forest
I’m pretty sure I could fill a book with all the ways parenting prepared me for the pastorate. I’m a PK (pastor’s kid), I had superb and exhaustive seminary training, and I got to sit in a front row seat to watch, from the inside, church done well and church done poorly. All of those were powerful training for me when I became a pastor for the first time at 41. Another piece of helpful pastoral training was experience in the trades as a business owner. But I believe all of these fall second to what I learned, and am still learning, from parenting my kids.
Igniting Church Renewal: Building Momentum for Vibrant Transformation
It is a New Year! Get ready to set sail on an exhilarating journey of church revitalization! Picture yourself at the starting line, eagerly anticipating the race horn that signals the commencement of a transformative sailing experience. The clock ticks down, and with less than ten minutes to go, a new wave of activity surrounds you. The race comes alive, their well-rehearsed movements filling the air with excitement.
How to Pray for Youth Ministry in 2024
While many ministries slow down after the holiday season, Youth Ministry in New England will ramp up with a busy January and February! We’re excited and expectant for what God has in store for teenagers and their leaders in New England. As partners in ministry, will you commit to praying for our two upcoming Youth events?
Leaving a Lasting Legacy: The Art of Writing Scripture by Hand
Earlier this year, I found myself delving into the rich history of the kings of Israel and Judah during a Bible study. It was during this exploration that I felt a compelling challenge: to embark on the profound journey of writing the Torah as a daily prayer practice. The experience spanned 187 days, filled 23 journals, and consumed 32 pens. Yet, it sparked a deeper contemplation about the legacy I was leaving for my children and grandchildren.
Stand Firm
I don’t know if you’ve heard the adage “don’t just stand there, do something,” but I’ve sometimes wondered if our culture could ever shed the prevalence of these words. I think there’s a consensus in our fast-paced world that says it’s almost always better to be “doing”—working, planning, moving forward (even if it’s in the wrong direction) as long as we’re doing something.
Faith (When It Doesn’t Make Sense)
At the end of the book of Jeremiah, we find a group of people looking for things to make sense. Jeremiah had spent his life warning the people that they must repent and turn back to the Lord, only to watch them continually despise God’s commands. True to His Word, God allows the land to be conquered and the people to be exiled.
Hard Sell
Remember the last time you bought something complicated for your kids promising “some assembly required”? And it doesn’t help that the instructions are often in some kind of botched translation into English. Often times, the pictures don’t even match the model you’re trying to assemble. I remember putting together an IKEA shelving unit, and not until I completed the whole project did I realize that one of the boards was in backwards. There’s only one way to make it look right again at that point—tear it all back apart and start from the beginning.
A Plan of Discipleship?
If you have been a pastor for some length of time, you have probably been asked “What is your plan of discipleship?” By this, many are likely thinking of some program or book that outlines specific steps through which to walk members. Or, they may have in mind a one-on-one mentorship where an older Christian meets with a younger one. While I am not against utilizing a program, this may miss the biblical picture of what making disciples is all about. To understand that, we need to look at the Great Commission.