Ron Vanderwell
Some people try to tell you what to do. Others help you see things more clearly. Ron Vanderwell has always been the second kind of person. Some of his best fruit has grown on other peoples’ trees.
Ron has served as a senior pastor, church planter, and Specialized Transition Pastor in the Christian Reformed Church. For decades Ron has helped others follow Jesus more closely through his preaching, leadership, coaching, and consulting. You can read more of his perspectives at substack.com/@ronvanderwell
For reasons he still doesn’t fully understand, Ron once ran up the second largest down escalator in the world to see if it could be done.
It took a long time.
Posted in: Ten Years from Now
Thanks, Kristen. Yes, it's something that we all need to do together.
Posted in: Ten Years from Now
Keith, I totally affirm the value of a congregation working through some important directional questions before welcoming a next pastor. As a trained Specialized Transition Minister I've worked hard helping different churches prepare for important transitions.
However, I wrote this article against the backdrop of a specific congregation that God seems to have paired me up with. I first connected with them as they were concluding their search and call process. During my time with them I've been able to help both the church and their young pastor prepare for a more intentional start together. And so the perspective reflected in the column.
Posted in: Because Jesus Didn't Die to Start a Country Club
Agreed. It's easy to forget when the pressure is on to run all our programs.
Posted in: Because Jesus Didn't Die to Start a Country Club
Thanks, Kristen.
Good point about the "exclusive" thing--it amazes me how easily we as the followers of Christ can come off quite differently than He ever came off to people. He got in a lot of trouble for befriending the wrong kind of people. We can accidentally end up resisting the very people He seemed to seek out.
Posted in: Because Jesus Didn't Die to Start a Country Club
Thanks, Kristen.
Posted in: Congregational Feedback: Surveys vs. Listening Circles
One of the best (and most difficult) parts of "being church" is that we need to do it together. It's a team sport. At many points he most important thing is not being right, but helping each other be better. This article presents some helpful strategies for setting up productive church conversations.
Posted in: "Censorship" on The Network
Wow...just scrolled through all of the comments here.
My mom was right--being a family is hard...but it's important.
Let's remember that.