I believe there has been a good deal of misinformation floating around for years about the idea of ministering to donors. I am not arguing with the overall concept of caring for people – just with a couple of assumptions about what ministry is to donors. First it assumes donors (especially major ones) need a particular kind of attention due to their circumstances. Those donors are typically described as being isolated, lonely, spiritually dry, weighed down with family problems that include shaky marriages, troubled kids and misplaced priorities. There are more, but these seem to be the most common. I have heard these circumstances described in generous detail in fundraising…

In the last 10 years the term “exit strategy” has become common and typically means how a private equity investor or founding entrepreneur plans to sell their investment in a company they created. Ideally, they leave with a considerable profit, but everyone is told well in advance that one way or the other they will be leaving at a defined point. The advantages are obvious in that from the start all of the other investors and owners can prepare for their leaving. The transfer of risk and reward is orderly and well thought out. All the players are prepared for the change. As I’ve been driving on all sorts of…

Earlier this summer I was hurrying to a meeting with our Chief of police and was pulled over and given a ticket for going too fast through a reduced speed zone. Yes, I did think about mentioning why I was speeding but thought better of it. So I found myself this week in a defensive driving class making sure the citation didn’t affect my insurance or driving record. Even though there is the option of taking the class online, I am glad I chose the live version. Things have changed since the last time I did defensive driving. It is now done by an instructor who works for “Comedy Guys…

Part of the appeal of Rod Dreher’s book, The Benedict Option, is his invitation to a time before the modern world conspired to eliminate the continuity of more tight-knit communities with shared beliefs. Instead, what we have today is what Zygmunt Bauman calls “liquid modernity” to describe a way of life in which change is so rapid that no social institutions have time to solidify. The most successful people nowadays are flexible and rootless; they can live anywhere and believe anything. The ancient ways are irrelevant. I thought about that this week while preparing to teach on Psalm 78: “I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter…

I hear a growing amount of conversations about where people are in the various stages of their lives. It’s good to have a general framework – especially when wrestling with something that otherwise would be either a surprise or make you think you are alone. Some stages are predictable, natural and shared by many. Erik Erikson identified eight stages of life beginning with our earliest being whether or not to trust or mistrust and our last being the choice to develop wisdom. Shakespeare described the seven ages of man from childhood to mere oblivion. I especially like a sampling of “Dominant Questions in the Decades of Our Lives” by Gordon MacDonald:…

One of the more useful powers granted to foundations is that of convening. It’s not forcing people to show up or collaborate but inviting people to a useful exchange of ideas and stories, such as the conversation we are hosting tomorrow with Michael Wear, author of Reclaiming Hope. Preparing to talk with Michael started me thinking about who I would like to invite to future conversations to share of the stories and experiences that have shaped us. If you examine the trunk of a tree when it has been cut down, it is the rings that tell the story of its life – the years of growth and struggle. The times…