By Tom Bandy Every congregation has free access to MissionInsite. The amount of data may seem overwhelming, and research tools may seem challenging, but with regular practice it soon becomes easy for any staff, board, or committee to gather information pertinent to their area of ministry. Opportunity Scan is a tool that helps you focus …
I was scrolling through Facebook the other day and a meme jumped off the screen at me. It posed the following question: “What does the Church need to unlearn?” I shared this in one of my clergy colleague Facebook groups and here are some of the responses: Wow…I’m sure this list could go on and …
We are excited to have the Rev. Dr. Tom Bandy share monthly with us on how we can best use MissionInsite to support outreach and evangelism and the development of new faith expressions in local churches. This is his first post on how we can use MissionInsite when planning for September ministry events. Many of …
Read more “Making Good Use of PeoplePlot: Start-up Events for September”
As the song lyrics remind us, it’s “summertime and the livin is easy.” There is something about the rhythm of summer; schools are on break, for some work schedules are slower and people pile onto planes, trains and automobiles (and don’t forget cruise ships) to venture to familiar and new destinations throughout the summer months. …
One of my least favorite classes in elementary school was Physical Education, particularly during the sessions dealing with team sports. While I LOVED playing organized sports, mostly football, it was during the P.E. sessions that we would pick teams. I was not the most athletic child, and I have vivid memories of standing there, hoping …
Read more “Who Will Do This With Me? The Importance of Building a Team”
A few years before Covid-19 stopped the world, a preacher named Lon Solomon did a sermon series called “So What?” Now, I don’t know much about his ministry or about his theological and political leanings, but I thought his question and how he presented the series by answering questions of faith were powerful. So what? …
Read more “Launch Out Into the Deep: Preaching During a Pandemic”
The mainline church is in decline!! Perhaps I am stating the obvious. Those of us in the “church world” know this all too well and the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t helped. Yet, let me be clear, COVID-19 did not cause the challenges and decline we are facing. I believe the pandemic merely revealed and in some …
When I moved back to Maryland after living in South Carolina, I moved to a predominately white suburb. I landed there because I stayed in hotel near the city the prior Thanksgiving, and my GPS directed me through the town and by a new development. When I saw it, I purposed to live there when …