David W. Manner's Blog: Worship Evaluation

Older generations are probably not as averse to changes in the practices of their church as much as they are to feeling marginalized through those changes. It seems to them that their opinions are no longer needed, and their convictions are discounted as antiquated.

I can imagine that some view those changes that are made without ever considering them as something that separates what was from what will be. So, it appears to them that the price they paid through years of blood, sweat, tears, and...

In informal golf, a Mulligan is an extra shot or do-over after a wayward or errant shot. It is a second chance at a better outcome that then doesn’t count against your final score.

As ministry novices or aging veterans, we’ve all looked back at certain decisions, sermons, services, events, relationships, or maybe even entire seasons of ministry with a deep longing for a second chance to do things differently.

The reality is that it’s impossible for us to go back and make corrections to most of ...

What is compelling you to do ministry vocationally, bivocationally, or covocationally? Are you ministering because you love to prepare and present; because it is a great way to supplement your income and provide for your family; because of the notoriety of being on the platform; because you have a ministry degree; or because you don’t really know how to do anything else? If these are reasons why you are in ministry, then it’s possible your compulsion might be out of convenience instead of calli...

12 Ways Pastors Help Their Kids Hate Church…Always ask how something might impact your ministry before asking how it might impact your family.Move to a new church every couple of years.Consider unscheduled phone calls or visits from church members as divine interruptions, but unscheduled phone calls or visits from your children as disrespectful intrusions.Never remove your pastor hat to wear your parent hat.Attend out of town conferences at prime locations but never have enough ti...

Cheap Church Attendance asks,

“What if I don’t know or even like the songs?”
“What if the pastor doesn’t preach my politics?”
“What if I’m expected to do something, give something, or lead something?”
“What if I’m not recognized or acknowledged?”
“What if I am recognized or acknowledged?”
“What if the music is too loud, lights too low, or temperature too high?”
“What’s in it for me?”

Costly Church Attendance asks,

“What’s in it of me?”

We seem to have forgotten or maybe ignored over the last c...

Dear Non-Singing Pastor,

We depend on you as a primary worship leader for our congregation. We agree that your leadership centers more on worship through the Word and Table than through the music. And we also understand and affirm that worship can’t be contained in one expression such as music.

But it is evident from Scripture that singing is a significant response to God’s revelation (Ps 63:5; Eph 5:19: Col 3:15-17). When writing about the future of Jerusalem, the minor prophet Zephaniah wrote...

Many pastors would agree that the last three years of ministry have been the hardest of their entire ministry career. Oh, it wasn’t the unprecedented hassle of having to do church online or balancing a hybrid of online and in-person ministry that made these years the most difficult. In fact, most of our pastors stepped up to and handled those logistical and technological crises like the pros they are.

Instead, what made this season of ministry the most challenging for them was trying to figure ...

My grandparents farmed in Tennessee for sixty years. Even after retirement they continued to live the farming meal schedule of a huge breakfast way before daylight, a smaller lunch, and then a large dinner. My grandmother was a great cook, especially for breakfast. So, even when we intended to enjoy restful vacation visits, we arose early each morning to eat breakfast too because we didn’t want to miss it and it was always worth it. 

Breakfast included country ham (salt-cured), scrambled eggs, ...

Death Zone is a mountaineering reference to the altitude above a certain point where the oxygen level is no longer high enough to sustain human life. It has been generally recognized as any altitude above 8,000 meters or 26,000 feet.

Spending time in an oxygen-deprived atmosphere can cause climbers to make irrational decisions due to the deterioration of their physical and mental capacities. An extended stay in the death zone without the proper safeguards will ultimately lead to a loss of consc...

Most of us don’t begin a new ministry position believing we’ll only stay for a few years. We have noble intentions to plant our lives for the long haul. But then Covid hits and we get beaten up from one side or the other and sometimes both sides at the same time. Or, we get bored, our leadership gets stale, our congregation gets restless, and we get busy looking for another place of ministry.

Forced termination reminds us that the choice to stay is not always ours to make. In fact, several year...