Tag Archives: Small church

I Can See You

Posted on February 17, 2022 by smaxreisert

A very good friend of mine writes fairly regularly for a major newspaper. In a recent column, she included a brief reference to a trip to a museum and made note of an exhibit that she saw with her wife. … Continue reading →

Posted in Misc | Tagged | Leave a comment

What Does the Future Hold?

Posted on November 13, 2020 by smaxreisert

Before the pandemic hit, the governing board of Old South Church had begun the slow, unwelcome business of exploring Old South’s future.  With two buildings, and a shrinking congregation, we had important questions and issues to discuss.  The questions and … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Can This Old Dog Learn New Tricks?

Posted on March 18, 2020 by smaxreisert

Ministry in the Age of COVID-19 My twenty-year-old son blames his twenty-three-year-old sister for everything that is happening in the world, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.  For Christmas, Margaret gave her brother a t-shirt from Venice, Italy (where … Continue reading →

Posted in My Life as Pastor | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Old South the Musical or Old South the Opera?

Posted on May 4, 2019 by smaxreisert

Are we comedy or tragedy? One of the most important Sundays on the church calendar for me is the Sunday after Easter. That’s when I get the best sense of the state of the church I’ve served for almost fifteen … Continue reading →

Posted in Holy-Days, Worship | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

I Can’t Throw and Catch at the Same Time

Posted on September 30, 2017 by smaxreisert

When the New England Patriots lost Super Bowl 46 to the New York Giants in 2012, Gisele Bundchen, supermodel and wife of the Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, angrily assessed the reason for the loss: “My husband cannot [expletive] throw the … Continue reading →

Posted in My Life as Pastor | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Small Church, Big Sanctuary

Posted on October 13, 2016 by smaxreisert

While Old South is certainly one of those churches that wonders quite a lot about what the future will hold—with our small numbers, our difficulties in maintaining and paying for staff, worries about the demands of our physical plant, etc.—Old … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings | Tagged , , | Leave a comment