AKA Dr. Raymond A. Blacketer. Reformation scholar, sometime professor, native Californian, lover of the Reformed confessions, brought into the Christian Reformed Church through evangelism. Formerly pastor of Neerlandia CRC in Northern Alberta, Canada, and First Cutlerville CRC, Byron Center. Currently working as a theological editor and translator.
Church History; Reformed Theology; Reformed Confessions; Spiritual Formation; Pastoral Ministry
It's time for that uncomfortable conversation again: my compensation. I will be pointing to this question, “Is the level of financial support for the minister appropriate and sufficient?"
Back in 2000, my wife Sandy and I moved from Michigan to Canada to pastor Neerlandia CRC. Now we have accepted a call back in west Michigan, and I can see the headaches and hassles on the horizon. Any advice or resources on the following issues would be most welcome!
I would like to see more of the "series for the season" features follow the lectionary.
Check out this article in Christianity Today about churches dealing with sex offenders attending church.
I would love to see these files re-posted. This issue is as relevant today as ever. I just met with a group of church planters at a recent conference, and they are resonating with Jamie Smith's...
Thank you very much for this information! I have signed up and started the process for our congregation.
And Google docs are from the devil! :)
(At least when you try to use them...
Todd, it is definitely a thing. I finally remembered where it comes from. The letter of call.
"We also promise and oblige ourselves to review with you annually in the light of the synodical...
My meeting went quite well, by the way. The expectations in my post reflect what I have often felt, but I was heard and understood in this meeting, and while some measures were below what I...
That's a good question and an interesting topic. I find that most of the time, a sermon title is something I have to "come up with so that the church secretary has something to type in the...
Thank you, George; I'm working on it.
Thank you, Larry, for this important article.
Job's three friends?
Very good post. Mother Theresa had a similar experience; and many pastors probably suffer in secret. And I think of our colleague who suffered from severe depression and disappeared a year and a...
Thank you Sheri for these practical helps. They are exceptionally helpful. Administration is a spiritual gift (cf. the interesting Greek word "cybernesis," I Cor. 12:28) that often goes overlooked...