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The Importance of Having Someone in Your Corner
Ministry is full of challenges. When I began my first full-time pastorate, I pictured the church as an engine: if cared for properly, it would run smoothly with few obstacles. Relationships would be warm, discipleship would flourish, and the right actions would produce the right results. Unfortunately, my church never received that memo. Thankfully, a…
Read MoreThe Cancer of Disunity
Disunity behaves like cancer, not like the flu. You don’t wait it out. Left alone, it doesn’t plateau — it metastasizes, moving from two people into small groups, into staff, into the congregation, until people who can’t tell you the original offense are still carrying the tumor. Unfortunately, most churches treat conflict like something to…
Read MoreWalking the Road Together: A Year With An Overseed Spouse Cohort
My Overseed story is one of a simple monthly gathering that quietly grew into a community of friendships. Each month, a small group of pastors’ wives met at a church in downtown Boston—sometimes four of us, sometimes seven—coming from different congregations, neighborhoods, and ministry contexts across the city. Over time, the rhythm of being together…
Read MoreWhen God’s Will Becomes A Weapon
A close friend is walking through one of the hardest seasons of his life. I prayed for him faithfully, consistently, specifically and things didn’t get better. In fact, by most measures, they got worse. If I am honest, there are moments when a quiet, corrosive thought creeps in: Is God listening? Maybe God has moved…
Read MoreLeading With Expectation vs. Expectancy
I’ve sat across the table from enough pastors to recognize the weight that quietly builds up over years of ministry. It rarely announces itself. It shows up in the tightness of your jaw during a leadership meeting, in the restlessness that follows a Sunday where things didn’t go as planned, in the slow erosion of…
Read MoreWe’re Fighting – It Must Be Holy Week
She found the note on the counter Wednesday morning — a sticky note from her husband that simply said, “Miss you.” By then, he had already left for church. She didn’t even hear him leave. She stood there for a moment, note in hand, realizing there were things she had meant to ask him, things…
Read MoreGive the Work Time to Mature
I’ve served as Senior Pastor at Candia Congregational Church since July 2017. Founded over 250 years ago, the church had spent the past four decades with renewed focus on loving God and people as Jesus commanded. When I arrived, the church had several thriving ministries, but as the big events grew, we started asking: “Are…
Read MoreUntil …
Are you in a season of ministry that seems to be going backwards? People seem excited about everything but spiritual things. Complaints and conflicts have become the norm. The vision that seems so clear feels like it’s withering in a wilderness of indifference. I have been there, and I suspect many of you reading this…
Read MoreMeet Overseed Field Director Steve Treash
Jim Harrell, Jack Daniel, and Steve Treash joined a Zoom call to discuss the exciting things happening at Overseed, including Steve, former pastor of Black Rock Church in Connecticut, joining the Overseed team as a Field Director. Steve shared some profound thoughts about the important work of Overseed and the valuable lessons he’s learned over…
Read MorePastor as Network, Not Nodes
A few years ago, I moved into a new city to begin a role as pastor. Early on I received an email to join a cohort from an organization I had never heard of before, Overseed. I was new to New England and new to the role of senior pastor, so I was glad to…
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