L Cole Harper

I spend my time making disciples of young people.

Tag: discipline

  • High Pastor Turnover Breaks Down Trust and Hurts the Church

    Frequent leadership turnover exhausts congregations and makes them wary to trust the next pastor. Some churchgoers suspect it will won’t be long before he leaves just like the previous ones. That’s one of the reasons a church should rely on a plurality of elders and never be overly dependent on a single pastor. God calls… Read more

  • Out-of-Touch Oversight: Who Holds the Pastor Accountable?

    The current institutional oversight in many denominations is too far removed from the goings-on in local congregations to provide proper accountability to the churches. I recently learned that, in the United Methodist denomination, the people to whom the pastor is accountable are the district superintendent and the bishop above him. There is a Staff/Pastor-Parish Relations… Read more

  • Church Discipline: The Solution to Church Hurt

    As I’ve read and reread the New Testament, I am increasingly struck by the glaring lack of discipline today as compared to the early church. I cannot recall a sermon or teaching in my entire Christian life on the Matthew 18 process of confronting a believer who has sinned against you. In case you haven’t… Read more