For church and worshiping community leaders, the Way of Spiritual Fortitude is apparently paved with good intentions, including intending to regularly practice self-care in the midst of long hours doing ministry that can be as demanding as it is draining.
The Rev. Susan Brouillette, a new leader in the 1001 worshiping community movement, hopes to create a community for those who are spiritual but not religious and want to make the world a better place.
Working with pastors of struggling churches, I’ve been increasingly asking them what they expected. How does it differ from what they’re facing? What’s clear is that many are disappointed with their churches for not meeting their expectations. Thus the question arises: Are our expectations realistic?
Rendall Memorial Presbyterian Church is a small-in-numbers yet large-in-mission, Christ-centered, aging, progressive congregation in central (Black) Harlem. Its mission is to serve those in the community through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Evangelism happens at Rendall as a “by-product” of intentional, gospel-focused ministry that is relational, personal, spiritual and missional.
Each year when members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announces its candidates for “Best Picture,” it is surprising how many of them deal with issues important to people of faith.
In 2014, the Rev. Michael Plank and his spouse, Lauren Grogan, opened a gym named Underwood Park CrossFit in Forth Albany, New York. Now more than 100 members pay a monthly fee to work out physically and spiritually there.
Each year the Academy for Motion Pictures and Sciences nominates five to ten films for the “Best Picture” category. I wish that it were a full ten this year, with the addition of Martin Scorcese’s haunting Silence rounding out the number.
Like other film critics, each year I compile a Top Ten Films list once the major films open at last in my city in “fly-over” Ohio. As in other years, my list differs greatly from others because the criteria are not primarily aesthetic, but spiritual and ethical.
