“Heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, gender neutral, marriage, divorce, polygamy, SCOTUS, equal rights, discrimination…” There’s a lot of noise out there surrounding the subject of sex. But what if all of these topics were only one part of a much...
One of our Good Shepherd staffers found this doodling on his young daughter's bedroom desk: And then a fellow UMC clergy sent me a note that concluded with this sentence: Thanks for being a . . . disciple who invites all people into a living relationship with...
On Sunday, we issued a challenge to the people of Good Shepherd in the wake of last week's historic flooding in South Carolina: Let's set the World Methodist Flood Bucket Record. We don't know what that record is, mind you, but knowing how the people of this church...
Here I am with Rashida Gittens, who shared the platform with me yesterday at Good Shepherd. We shared the time and space because the "Elephant Naming" service in the Mad People Disease series was all about domestic violence. Something Rashida knows about...
You won't believe what our lobby looks like. You almost won't believe how gorgeous the Worship Center is. You will be delighted to believe in what we're going to do as a community for our neighbors in the Columbia, South Carolina area. You will moved to believe in the...
Since its inception in the early 1990s, Good Shepherd has sought to make church convenient for worshippers. It's why we have casual dress. Why we have music that is radio-friendly. Why we provide children's programming at all the hours we have worship services. Why...
Many churches make a critical mistake in ministry when they confuse activity for effectiveness. In this line of thinking, the busier a church is, the more it is doing for God. So the goal becomes to fill up the calendar and clutter up the bulletin with as many events,...
I grew up eating cereal every day of my life. You know the morning comfort -- easy prep, just you and your bowl, and then if no one is looking that secret delight of slurping the last bit of milk without the interference of the spoon. That was me. But no more. For...
It was 1995 at Good Shepherd yesterday. As our Worship Center undergoes some technology upgrades in preparation for the Zoar launch, we had no technology. So we wheeled in an overhead projector, used transparencies, and sung the new/old "classics" like Lord I Lift...
Moms and dads, remember these days? Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Same thing every single time. You'll be amazed at how all that relates to Mad People Disease. Sunday. 8:30. 10. 11:30.