This summer I completed my 11th year at East Chestnut Street Mennonite Church. I’ve been here long enough now that the anniversary comes and goes without fanfare. In fact, I rarely think about it myself. That feels good. No jailhouse calendars for me …

A crisis is a terrible thing to waste. In a down economy, this is the point: During what is now being called the Great Recession, congregations must take the opportunity to make changes more radical than would be possible during good times …

My father used to tell me there are no free lunches. Whenever something appeared too good to be true, he said, it probably was.