Overseed
Conflict in Ministry Marriage: Challenging Your Husband with Respect
Letting a fallen sinner lead is always difficult – and sometimes no easier when he’s your husband AND the pastor of your church. It’s often confusing and frustrating for us, as pastors’ wives, to know how to support our husbands when we question a decision he has made. We sometimes struggle to know who is…
Read MoreA Pastor’s Relationship with his Wife: The Make-or-Break Relationship
In the introduction to his classic work A Handbook to Marriage, Theodore Bovet states, “Today for most people the man-woman relationship [of marriage] is decisive. It can lead to the discovery of self, neighbor and God, or it can lead to hopeless entanglement and inner ruin.” Strong words, indeed, but never more true than for…
Read MoreTransitions Are His Specialty
Terry Shanahan has navigated many transitions during his career and he quickly smiles when he recounts God’s faithfulness through them all. Terry was born in Michigan and raised in Florida. He then attended college in Colorado and New Hampshire which led to a career in sales management. In mid-life, he was called to full-time ministry…
Read MoreAsking Questions Before Accepting a Call: Look Before You Leap
As I coach pastors around New England, I hear many stories about their naiveté during the interview process and what they learned the hard way, only after accepting a call. I can relate because I myself accepted a call too quickly, to the church I served briefly in retirement. I failed to ask about unhealed…
Read MoreSpiritual Honesty Interview with Overseed President Jim Harrell
Jim talks about Church Revitalization in New England.
Read MoreTo Plant or To Replant, That Is the Question
Okay, I admit I am envious. I’m envious of the new house my friend recently built. I’m especially envious of the energy-efficient spray foam insulation, modern windows and doors, and fuel-miser heating system. As I lug firewood and watch my woodpile shrink through the long Maine winter, I often wish I could start over, building…
Read MorePreaching Through the Church Year – Jack Daniel
One Sunday during last year’s Christmas season, my wife and I worshipped at the church of a young, dynamic pastor whom I had been coaching. His message was biblical, practical, and well delivered, and the worship music was uplifting and skillfully led. Only one thing was missing: Christmas! No mention was made of Christmas anywhere…
Read MoreEXTEMPORANEOUS PREACHING: It’s Not Only What You Say, But Also How You Say It
One Sunday morning in my early days of pastoring, I stepped into the pulpit and opened my Bible to where I thought I had placed my sermon notes. To my horror, they were not there. In an instant, I remembered that I had left them on my office desk. A sense of panic swept over…
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