Living Life In God's Light

Category: Church Life

  • Meetings, Meetings, Meetings…

    —

    by

    Linda Shirey
    in ,

    Someone shared this video with me and it rang true for so many a strategic meetings I’ve been a part of. This could also be applied in a church context, where meetings can go for hours. It begins with ‘we need to find a pastor’ and ends with plans for outreach, inevitably involving the overcommitAted…

  • When Churches Go Mega!

    —

    by

    Linda Shirey
    in

    As a Brit Lit fan (English literature), I’m a fan of small things with growth potential. Not big behemoths that try to take over. That’s my impression of mega churches. (It’s the same impression of mega corporations, and mega movements.) Eventually, running to keep up with the hugeness distracts and detracts from the mission, and…

  • Careful, Lasting Growth

    —

    by

    Linda Shirey
    in ,

    “As go the leaders, so goes the church.” (or organization in general) I’ve been thinking about the podcast ‘The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill’ in relation to the book I’ve written (Wolves Among Us). But I’ve also picked up a book about spiritual health (The Elimination of Hurry) and found a crossover quote: “in…

  • Recruitment!

    —

    by

    Linda Shirey
    in ,

    Nikole Rhodes, a Senior HR Professional, published a rather telling post on LinkedIn about the state of the current job search experience. Yet, people had conflicting reactions to this recruitment story. 1. Inconsistency Spotters: Either they took direct or indirect issue with the ‘almost 3 months’ assertion (some said ‘four months’) 2. Affirmers and Commiserators:…

  • Church Hurt and Forgiveness

    —

    by

    Linda Shirey
    in

    I’m currently researching this topic: The biggest desire of people hurt by churches. This article by Crossroads Church (“How I Got Over My Church Hurt {Without Losing My Faith}”) addressed the pitfalls and the solutions with equal care. Q: Are there feelings?A: Yes, and they have to be processed. Q: When healing from trauma, does…

  • (Mal)Functioning Church Life

    —

    by

    Linda Shirey
    in

    I’m on a research binge of material on malfunctioning church life and came upon this podcast “When Churches Get Doctrine Right and Everything Else Wrong” by Crossway. Years ago, I heard a good summary by a theologically astute pastor: “Orthodoxy should lead to orthopraxy.” In other words, your doctrine should inform your life. Otherwise, it’s…

  • The Whistleblower List

    —

    by

    Linda Shirey
    in ,

    Stefanie Costi posted a fairly good list of 14 things she wished she knew before speaking out about workplace bullying. I’m writing a book on bullying in the church (Wolves Among Us), and some of those points are really how it feels to be a whistleblower. The bummer is that these points can also be…