BUILDING CONNECTIONS AMONG THE CLERGY All General Presbyters/Presbytery Executives know the challenge. First, we live in an age of institutional…

ADMIT IT, WE ARE A MIXTURE OF STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES WE KNOW IT’S TRUE We know that we are not…

IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that two major contributors to improved health are being social and doing nice…

CREATIVE FINANCE Back after WWII, when there was a freeze on salaries, companies had to get creative in how they…

YOUR FINANCIAL HEALTH   It is important to occasionally take time to have a checkup. Of course the annual physical…

SOMETIMES LESS IS MORE SEVEN WORD REFLECTION Sometimes less is more and fewer words dig deeper. A presbytery can encourage…

SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO LAUGH   A FUN EXPERIMENT WITH COLLEAGUES Try this experiment. Choose a couple of colleagues and…

MAJORITY RULES This is an adaption of a community building game adapted to a church community. The set up for…

Church Conflict – You Be the Judge Despite Jesus prayer that we may be one so that the world would believe…

HOW TO TRUST WHEN YOU CAN’T VERIFY Ronald Reagan famously coined the phrase that you should trust and verify. Whether…

BIBLICAL JOURNEY OF TRUST A major theme running throughout the biblical story is the theme of trust. Trust involves risk.…

AN AGE OF DISTRUST   Polls have shown the unlikeability factor for both of our major candidates for the presidency.…

U U U Imagine yourself being part of a nationwide creative conversation about a significant issue facing the church. Picture…

In the final chapter of Clergy Tails—Tales, www.smccutchan.com, the author offers some reflections on ministry and the nature of church in…

A DIALOGUE BETWEEN GOD AND ANY HUMAN THAT GOD MIGHT CALL.   Leader: You are called to serve God. People:…

DO YOU LIVE IN AN ANXIOUS SOCIETY? (I am continuing to draw upon Brene’ Brown’s work on vulnerability and applying…

CLERGY DON’T HAVE IT ALL TOGETHER Clergy, like all humans, come to their work with all the wounds, hungers, insecurities,…

IMAGE OF AN UNHEALTHY CHURCH We live in an anxious age and the church is tempted to reflect that anxiety…

  JESUS’ CRITERIA When you consider the twelve disciples, you have to wonder what criteria Jesus was using when he…

NOT THINKING LIKE HUMANS I think it was Loren Eiseley who said if humans had designed the universe, they would…