Your Church Can Grow

The Discipline of prayer can be elusive. At times in my ministry I have been able to follow the discipline of a ‘daily office’ during which I read scripture, journal and pray. These times have always been fruitful filling my soul with satisfaction, peace and providing an anchor for my life and ministry. At other times I find myself undisciplined—times in which I neither follow a daily office nor engage in satisfying prayer. I know now that it is not coincidental that the fallow times do not produce fruit and in fact, have been times characterized by making poor choices, even finding myself adrift in my life and ministry.

The Good News is that each new day brings a new opportunity to set things right—to follow my better inclinations to engage somehow in a meaningful prayer practice. The tension for me comes at the realization that for my prayer life to be genuine, it must come from the heart. How can the practice of prayer be embraced with joy rather than burdened with obligation?

Already the second quarter of 2008 begins. Easter has come and gone. Spring is in the air and summertime beckons. Summer is often a good time to reflect on ministry by attending a special training event. The School of Congregational Development has proven over the years to be inspiring. There are inspiring plenaries by noted Pastors and Bishops and over 13 ministry tracks offering approaches to congregational development in focused areas. I invite you to go to the website by clicking on the link here and seeing what the SCD has to offer. Choose to go to Grand Rapids, Michigan or Orlando, Florida. I will be attending the SCD in Orlando. Let me know if you choose to go. We like to gather people from the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference while there to share about our experiences.