Today I will be part of a team of United Methodist clergy interviewing candidates from the Charlotte area who are in the very early stages of the ordination process. And, in case you don't know, the ordination process in the UMC is lengthy.  And maze-like.  And a...

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Every pastor has felt it, faced it, even succumbed to it:  discouragement. When thoughts go through your mind:  Why aren't I better?  Why isn't this working?  Is the God I claim to serve even real?  I've had it, my colleagues have...

[vc_row][vc_column width="1/1"][vc_column_text] It's a Methodist Discovery Place, an Art Gallery, a Road Trip, and a Peaceful Retreat all rolled up into one. What is it? It's the Beyond Experience At Zoar Road.... As we prepare to launch a Sunday morning worship...

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Last Saturday, my friends at Seedbed published an article I wrote on how it is that Good Shepherd has become a full-color church under the pastoral leadership of a, well, not full-color guy.  Here it is: I am a 53-year-old white male...

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A colleague of mine at Good Shepherd recently summarized a ministry dilemma in two words:  presence vs. process. My friend correctly observed that I place an extraordinarily high value on the ministry of presence -- that I personally...

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]You've probably had this experience: you're driving down the road and a song comes on either the radio or you iPod and you realize, "Oh, I haven't heard that song in forever and I forgot how much I like it."   It's a song you...

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]If you come to this space regularly, you'll notice that www.talbotdavis.blogspot.com has become www.talbotdavis.com and the design of the page has been considerably modernized. Why? Well, I'd had the previous design uninterrupted...

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Date:  May, 1976 Place: Fiji Islands Player:  Me Age: 14 Racket:  Spalding La Vitesse Court Surface: Grass Footwork:  Absent How in the world did I get to Fiji and on a grass tennis court? Well, in January of 1976, when I was in...

If you've read this space before, you know that I have made confessions like:I'm better at leading the congregation than I am at leading the staff; orI'm a disciplined person but not a very disciplined leader; orI'm better at dealing with one or with 2,000 than I am...

So on a day in which I feel some blog-indecision, here are five possible subjects I could then do a Top Five post on.Here goes:1.  Top Five Upcoming Events For Beyond.  Tempting . . . but I don't want this space to read too much like a church e-newsletter. That's why...