Books

I started writing books as an engineer. Those books had a very limited circulation and are not available to the general public. I found technical writing a great way to organize my thoughts. Later I discerned that writing great proposals, like writing good fiction, needs to lay out enough facts that readers can easily verify and then build a set of stairs from those facts that readers will willingly climb, neglecting when they have passed over a step made from the author’s imagination. In a proposal, a good author will show readers how the contractor has performed similar work to great success allowing the reader to stand on the top step where the contractor claims an ability to perform the proposed work better and less expensively than another contractor. In fiction, the author must keep readers thinking that a given technology or relationship could really exist, when it in fact exists only in the author’s imagination.

• Does Interim Ministry Help? July 30, 2012
  For years I trusted that Intentional Interim Ministry assisted congregations in finding their next pastor. I have even propagated that rumor. Rumor? Yes, rumor. A recent Alban Institute article confirmed the lack of substantiation of that popular assertion. If anything, requiring that congregations conduct a mission study between installed pastors robs them of the best method for …
• Healthy Transistions April 29, 2012
  Two years is too long for a congregation to be without stable leadership. Interim pastors help fill this gap, but there must be a better way. As a trained, experienced, and successful interim pastor I have helped congregations discern where God might lead them and pastoral leadership characteristics to support that future. But have come to …
• First Book Published! April 29, 2012
  Ashes to Ashley, is now available for preview and sale at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/156840
• How to Frame a Pastor: A Novel January 27, 2012
  Overview Pastor Ashley Greeley had longed to serve St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, a large urban congregation. But a body found in the women’s restroom during his interview and threats involving the flamboyant organist make Greeley anxious to leave. One antagonist frames Rev. Greeley while another eliminates problem people. Ashley and Joan long to consummate the relationship they had …
• Ashes to Ashley: A Novel January 27, 2012
  Overview One parishioner burns for their interim pastor. Another wants him burnt like their last pastor. As ashes from a church fire settle, the narrator believes he need only minister with this congregation while they grieve losing their former pastor in an “accidental” fire. Fearing rumors of arson will keep him in this rural American community beyond …