A few months ago, I stood in a room of 30 or so young United Church of Christ clergy. I was there to lead a presentation about call agreements, that document in our church tradition that in other places is better known as a contract: the terms to which minister and ministry setting agree atContinue reading “Yes, Your Church Needs a Pastoral Relations Committee”
Monthly Archives: January 2022
Competition vs. Co-Creation
In his Fearless Strategies newsletter, career coach Lucian James tells a story of when he was in a sparring session with a fellow martial artist. He describes his own reticence to go too hard during the session for fear of hurting his partner, and his opponent picked up on this. Shortly after, James received aContinue reading “Competition vs. Co-Creation”
This Ecclesiastical Argument Could Have Been an Email
I wonder what exactly Christians believe they’re accomplishing when they argue about liturgical doctrine during a pandemic. In early 2020, many of the church practices that we knew and loved couldn’t be done in the same way—not safely, anyway. I was pastoring a church at the time, and we, like most others, moved to anContinue reading “This Ecclesiastical Argument Could Have Been an Email”
Jeffrey A. Nelson 