Many Christians, if they think about vocation at all, think of calling in terms of young adults. Our churches, schools and campus ministries must embrace a lifelong understanding of vocation and equip their members to engage in the practices of discernment, the professor of practical theology writes in a new book.
The author's prayer beads are crafted out of blue stone beads from New Hampshire, a Russian bead from a friend and beads from one of her mother’s old necklaces. Photo by Jessamyn Rubio
Praying with beads provides a steady discipline -- a shape and a frequency for a life of prayer -- and a tangible tool that fixes our attention in a world of so many distractions, writes a managing director of Leadership Education at Duke Divinity.
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A pastor re-envisions his primary vocation not as a preacher, teacher, healer or administrator but as a host, a “convener.” It wasn’t what seminary prepared him for, but it’s a high and holy calling.
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Jesus Christ the Liberator confronts violence, and following Christ means we must go and do likewise, writes the director of Duke Youth Academy.
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Christians are called to be busy -- but not in the way that busy Christian leaders might want to believe. The Christian way to be busy is not busyness but business, says the psychiatrist and theologian.
The Rev. Patrice L. Fowler-Searcy answers the phone in her office at East Liberty Presbyterian Church. Photo by Alexander Catedral
A pastor who has served church and community for more than 20 years in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood shares what she has learned about sustaining a ministry of community development.
Billy Graham preaches at his crusade in New York in 2005. Bigstock / Anthony Correia
The great evangelist’s ministry was marked by personal humility -- but that never meant disparaging his accomplishments.
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There is a distinction between the role you occupy and the person you are, writes a managing director at Leadership Education at Duke Divinity.
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Don’t make it complicated; prayer is just talking to God, says a UMC pastor and author of a new book about prayer.
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Donald Trump may be a different kind of leader, perhaps even a threat to our democracy, but that doesn’t change the nature of the pastoral vocation, says an Iowa pastor. The pastor is the keeper of a space where we stand on a firm foundation.