Why Church? The Secret of Life

Why Church? God’s Groups – What Is The Secret Of Life? Love is the secret of life. Not the physical jump into bed at the first opportunity kind of love shown in movies and TV shows. Not the love of … Continue reading →

A Former Fathers Day Aventure

The father-son major league baseball outing, almost as much a part of American myth as George Washington cutting down his father’s cherry tree. I can not tell a lie. This father-son baseball outing thing is way over advertised. Keep your … Continue reading →

Successful Ministry Is Team Ministry

Successful ministry is team ministry.  Small church pastors especially are always tempted to go it alone.  Team building takes extra energy both for learning skills required for team leadership and for developing and resourcing other leaders in congregation. But I … Continue reading →

Annual Conference Or A Year Of Netflix? We are now about a week away from the first all-video Annual Conference and guess what, a video conference cost about as much as an in-person conference for delegate and non-delegate registrations. Thankfully, … Continue reading →

Living In The Age Of Faith, Myth and Lies We live in an age of “fact, myth, and lies”. Much of the angst we face in everyday living comes from trying to discern which is which. My own method born … Continue reading →

Brethren Patriotism

American patriotism and the Church of the Brethren aren’t two subjects which are usually linked together. After all, we schedule our Annual Conference on the Fourth of July. Remember when Richard Nixon was president, he included our denomination in one … Continue reading →

The God Of Gift Love

I became acquainted with John Claypool through his book “The Preaching Event,” while attending Bethany Theological Seminary in 1984. “The Preaching Event,” was actually a collection of lectures of preaching which he delivered at the Lyman Beecher Lectures at Yale … Continue reading →

Successful Ministry Is Team Ministry

Successful ministry is team ministry.  Small church pastors especially are always tempted to go it alone.  Team building takes extra energy both for learning skills required for team leadership and for developing and resourcing other leaders in congregation. But I … Continue reading →

Church of the Brethren Leaders’ Newsletter 2

This is the second issue of the Church of the Brethren Leaders Newsletter. My name is Monty Keeling, I was an ordained minister in the COB 34 years. Some of you might know my father Calvin Keeling who was also … Continue reading →

April’s Moderator’s Town Hall: Today’s Headlines, Yesterday’s Wisdom

I’ve been a Paul Mundey fan for a long time. When Paul was elected moderator several years ago I thought he would do a good job. He hasn’t proved me wrong. While I was in seminary 36 years ago Paul … Continue reading →

Church In The “Whatever Era.”

“Whatever,” is one of my son’s favorite fall-back responses to observations by his old man he either doesn’t agree with or downright dislikes. “Whatever” is a good description of this era of multiple major societal problems and changes we live … Continue reading →

Churches Please Don’t Begin In Person Worship Yet

Greetings Fellow Dunkers The president of the United States has no authority over state governors about what organizations and businesses, including churches, can stay open or closed. How useful a congregation is depends not on any secular authority but on … Continue reading →

Why Church? No One Should Be Alone

Why Church: God’s Groups – No One Should Be Alone No one should be alone, but many are. Without God’s presence in our lives we walk alone no matter how many friends, no matter if we are married or single, … Continue reading →

Why Church? Because God Works In Groups!

Greetings fellow Dunkers. This is the second in a series of blogs about the importance of church as a group in people’s lives. As always you are welcome to use it in your own ministry as may prove helpful. This … Continue reading →

Why Church – The Group Is The Thing

Why Church? Because throughout our history humanity’s advancement has depended on our excellence in group organization. Groups are the vehicles by which we have traveled to dominance on planet earth. When I was pastor of the now defunct Rocky Ford … Continue reading →

Forbearing

“For bearing (carrying) actively,” admittedly a disjointed definition of the word forbearance. Although we don’t hear the word often these days “forbearance” has a central place in the Dunker tradition of Christian living. Forbearance does not mean agreeing with anything … Continue reading →

Church The Connection Place

Church is the connection place. You probably have heard that before but it’s no less true now. In fact, connecting is pretty much the reason that Christian congregations exist. The church should be a place where people learn and practice … Continue reading →

Leading Change In The Church

The following is a book report on John P. Kotter’s business classic Leading Change. In addition to Kotter’s information I have added notes about my own personal experience in turning congregations towards growth as well as provided some excerpts from … Continue reading →

Our Church Needs To Focus On Relating To Eacth Other

First, let me remind you of my offering that the best vital and compelling vision for firing up we Dunkers should be focused on our congregations being places that teach and practice how to live in good personal relationships with … Continue reading →

How About A Vital Vision For Fullfilling Interpersonal Relationships?

Now that we Church of the Brethren Dunkers are on a quest for a compelling vision that will bring new life into our denomination I want to do what I can to help the process along. For those who may … Continue reading →