It’s Friday, September 11. This is Friday Good Stuff: Things that inspired, motivated, challenged, taught or amused me on Substack this week + what’s new at Free Range Priest.
☕️ It’s the 25th anniversary of 9/11.
I was 34 years old, and I had just left New York City three weeks before. I think of it as the day I lost my innocence. And also the day I understood fully how love is the most important power there is. How when the world feels like it’s ending, it’s the only thing that matters.
There’s still Good Stuff, of course.
The articles that moved me this week all seemed to be love’s transforming power.
This week’s theme: Love never ends
☕️ Jake Owensby is unsparing in his description of the human condition. And persistent in exploring how our lives are shaped by grace. ‘Forgiveness Can Take a Lifetime’ is no exception.
☕️ ‘Why Are You Nicer at Church?’ Arianne Rice describes a pivotal moment in her family life and ministry with amazing courage and vulnerability.
☕️ Emily Dunevant shares the grief and the joy of parenting and letting go in ‘Airport Tears’.
☕️ ‘Start Together, Finish Together’. Sean Dietrich runs a challenging marathon in memory of his father, and their complicated relationship.
I could not resist two articles on church re-imagination…
☕️ I like to call today’s church environment ‘post-denominational’. Those in our pews are increasingly unaware of - or don’t care that much - about what kind of Christian they are. George Bullard makes this point very clearly in ‘The Next Wave of Non-Denominational Congregations is Hiding in Plain Sight’.
☕️ I read ‘Innovation isn’t the Solution for Church Health’ by Chad Brooks, thinking I would disagree. But I love what he says about the return to transcendence and mystery as the center of our life as church. We can’t change the church - we can only follow where God leads.
This week at Free Range Priest:
Real talk about how it’s so hard to change as an institution.
☕️ ‘Congregations, it’s time to spend your money’. Taking a financial risk on a bold new church venture changes the odds from a 100% chance of dying to a non-zero chance of thriving. That doesn’t make it easier for lots of churches.
☕️ Loren Richmond Jr.’s blog for Substack Seminary - ‘What is your organization actually designed to produce?’ - explores the gap between what we want church to be and what it often is: institutional maintenance.
☕️ At the Trexo gym, we’re focusing on the Jesus Prayer - and how small, repetitive practices help shape our souls - and bring us closer to God.
☕️ Six-word mission statements are fun and informative ways to get at the heart of what your ministry is and why it matters. It’s also not so easy to do! It’s one of the fundamentals of Cage Free Ministry. I’d love to know yours! If you’re a subscriber (free or paid!), share yours with me here and I’ll send you some feedback:
What have I missed?
I can’t always read 400+ newsletters.
And there’s lots of great Substackers I haven’t met yet - especially those who are just starting, and who may not have that many followers yet.
PLEASE share the Good Stuff you’ve read this week in the comments below.
And PLEASE restack this post so others can see - and subscribe to - this Good Stuff.
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