Adam J. Copeland
Does the manger matter?
The Bible gets four shots to tell Jesus’ birth — well, four gospel writers plus Paul and the other epistle writers, so at least four.
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The community Thanksgiving service
Our local ministerial association met recently to flesh out
the details of the annual community Thanksgiving service. The meeting is always
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Where are the church social media policies?
The church is not known for responding quickly to cultural
change. But really: almost seven years after Facebook launched, with thousands
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Pastors and the word "my"
Recently a fellow pastor closed a conversation by saying,
"I'll get my secretary to send you that document from my Christian Education
committee."
Should I call you "Reverend"?
"Should I call you 'Reverend'?" someone asked me recently. I
paused for a moment, thinking a million thoughts at once. I'm not much of a fan
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A pastor's hours
When I make a new non-churchy friend, he or she often asks
what exactly I do with my time as a pastor outside Sunday morning.
Blogging: Subculture or mainstream?
Yes,
blogging about blogging can be the ultimate navel-gazing, but hear me out; I
mean to intrigue.
Our so-called conversation about the Juan Williams firing
Some of the best coverage of the firing of National Public Radio news analyst Juan Williams has been NPR's own. But the broader conversation has quickly become a chorus of ridiculousness.
Should churches be more like Starbucks?
My local Starbucks—and
probably yours too—has a large sign on each door that proclaims, "Take comfort
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An antibullying app
Could an iPhone app help address teen bullying? Could a
website connect abused children to help? MTV and its A Thin Line campaign think so.
(Retro)sexism in the church
I
learned a new word recently and then encountered it three times that day.
"Retrosexism" hasn't made it into the Oxford English Dictionary yet, but a
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How do you make Sundays go smoothly?
A
couple weeks ago, Sunday morning didn't quite go as planned.
The delicious taste of rural ministry
The
farm-to-fork movement is uber-hip. But this post is about something even more
local: tasty backyard garden-grown food in season. It's one of the perks of
rural ministry.
More than a movie about Facebook
Rarely do I see a film when
it first comes out, but I'm very glad I chose to see The Social Network on its box-office-dominating opening weekend. It was
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Facebook rules for pastors
Pastoral
ministry is a public calling, and in our social-media age this calling extends
to online identities and relationships. Since
becoming a pastor, I've adopted some different Facebook practices.
Following the Eddie Long story
As yet another megachurch pastor grabs national headlines for alleged sexual indiscretions, I’m tempted to skip the story entirely....
This is an "urgent message"?
Last week, the Catholic
Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis endorsed the Republican candidate for
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A social media blackout
Last week, students at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology
in Pennsylvania gave up instant messaging, Facebook and Twitter—not by
choice but by Provost Eric Darr’s order.
God bless America's pastime
"Please stand and take off your hats for the singing of 'God
Bless America.'" That's how the announcer introduced the seventh inning stretch
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