Insights from in and around the association

      UBA Voices      

Liz Williams Liz Williams

Courageous Comfort: 3 Ways the Church Ministers in Grief

I am so glad my church did not shy away from us in our grief. Like the courageous firefighters who jumped into dangerous waters to search for my son, my church selflessly jumped into the whirling, battering waters of grief with us

Read More
Marie Burrus Marie Burrus

Ligamentos

Si la Biblia compara una iglesia local con un cuerpo hecho de personas, ¿Qué o quienes son las coyunturas en una congregación local?

Read More
Marie Burrus Marie Burrus

What's Your Narrative?

What is the overarching narrative that runs through your church or ministry right now? At the risk of being too simplistic, it is probably one of two extremes. One is a story of woe and discouragement. The other is curiosity and anticipation. The themes and stories that you emphasize in your communication will set the tone for your church or ministry.

Read More
Marie Burrus Marie Burrus

Consumer Christianity and Sunday Morning Products

This come-and-see model of ministry we’ve developed over the past 100 years has produced several generations of Christians who assume church is about them, for them, and because of them. So they shop around.

But what if we pastors are only sleeping in the bed we’ve made for ourselves? What if we have a consumer-driven Christian culture because we’ve been selling a product instead of embodying a mission?

Read More
Marie Burrus Marie Burrus

Una Iglesia Sobrenatural

Tenemos hermosos pensamientos sobre lo que es o podría ser la iglesia, pero a través de diferentes experiencias frustrantes, desarrollamos un concepto que se parece más a un club social, que a la asamblea sobrenatural de creyentes llenos del Espíritu Santo. El esfuerzo que tomaba aprender a montar la bicicleta llevó un niño a abandonarla. Lo que él nunca se dio cuenta es que el verdadero problema era que las llantas de la bicicleta perdieron el aire. Igualmente, no podemos ser iglesia sin el Espíritu Santo.

———

We have rich expectations of what the church is or could be, but through different frustrating experiences, we develop what looks more like a social club than a supernatural assembly of believers filled with the Holy Spirit. The frustrating amount of effort required may cause us to abandon our attempts. What we fail to realize, though, is that we can not be a church without the Holy Spirit.

Read More