Author: Michael White

Lots of things get said in a Sunday morning worship service. Welcomes are given. Songs are sung. Sermons are preached. Announcements are made. But there is one unexpected encouragement that, week after week, we aim to communicate to those who join our weekly corporate worship gatherings: that our church is a safe place. What we… Continue reading Welcome – This is a Safe Place For You

Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 2 Timothy 4:2 I was a topical preacher once. I lasted four weeks. My foray into topical preaching was well intentioned. I was transitioning into the role of lead pastor from an associate one at the same… Continue reading I Failed As a Topical Preacher

Like many in my generation, I grew up watching the Wizard of Oz. I can recall a stretch of years where the movie would come on annually on a Saturday morning—and in an era without streaming on demand, this was something my sisters and I looked forward to. I loved the movie, but one character… Continue reading Fighting Cowardice in Pastoral Ministry

In a letter contrasting the differing priorities of the heavenly communion of saints and the earthly, C. S. Lewis observes, “Joy is the serious business of Heaven.”[1] While on earth the culture at large pauses to pursue joy only on weekends and sporadic vacations, in Heaven its pursuit is a daily preoccupation. “In his presence… Continue reading Pursuing Joy in Pastoral Ministry

Nineteenth-century Baptist theologian John L. Dagg famously put it this way: “When discipline leaves the church, Christ goes with it.” Though foreign to many modern churches—and antithetical to the church growth and seeker-sensitive fads of the last 40 years—in the 19th century discipline was widely practiced among Baptist congregations. In pre-Civil War Georgia, Baptist churches… Continue reading Four Motivations for Practicing Restorative Church Discipline

In a previous post I suggested five reasons for adopting a creedal confession as an element of corporate worship. But for typical no-creed-but-the-Bible congregations (my own background!) even this minor liturgical form can be confusing and unwelcome. Leading change is its own challenge, and especially so when the change resembles what for many are negative… Continue reading Five Tips for Incorporating Creeds into Corporate Worship

In the spirit of new beginnings associated with the new year, I’ve recently led our church to begin occasionally confessing a creed as part of our weekly worship gatherings. Though I was raised in the sort of Baptist churches that scorned such practices as belonging to Roman Catholics (or Episcopalians or Lutherans or Presbyterians or… Continue reading Five reasons to confess a creed in corporate worship

In a previous post I highlighted four ways that churches—whether old school or new school—amuse themselves to death. Without recapitulating the details, I argued that churches of all stripes can unwittingly create cultures of entertainment that feature ear-tickling sermons, celebrity holy man pastors, performance-oriented music, and attractional programming that caters to market demands. These cultures,… Continue reading Four Antidotes for a Church Amusement Culture

On average, 98 churches in the United States die and close their doors each week.[1] The reasons for the decline are many, but among them I merely want to spotlight one: amusement. Neil Postman, the late cultural critic and media theorist, famously warned that the American culture was most threatened not by tyranny and pain,… Continue reading Four Ways Churches Amuse themselves to Death