News from the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana

Week Seven: Ten Reasons Visitors Do Not Return Autopsy of a Deceased Church by Thom S. Rainer We have come to the end of our Lenten studies. I have been interested to hear feedback from those of you who read along with me. In Autopsy of a Deceased Church, Thom S....

Week Six: In Love With the Church or With Jesus? Autopsy of a Deceased Church by Thom S. Rainer At the House of Bishops (HOB) meeting this year one of our speakers asked us if we thought the Church was in love with the Church or with Jesus. This question made me sit...

Week Five: Giving Its Love Away Autopsy of a Deceased Church by Thom S. Rainer Chapter 5 begins with: “When you conduct the autopsy of a church, you must follow the money. For where the money of the church goes, so goes its heart. I once heard of two churches that...

Week Four: Reaching Out to Neighbors Autopsy of a Deceased Church by Thom S. Rainer I heard the story of a curate who took bags of goodies, along with the church schedule during Advent, to the houses in the neighborhood surrounding her church. The neighborhood had...

Week Three: The Past is the Hero Autopsy of a Deceased Church by Thom S. Rainer Back in 1983 Rebecca and I were first-year newlyweds.  I was in my third year of seminary and we had gone home to visit our parents.  During our visit, my mother called me back to her...

Week Two: Chapters 3 and 4 of Autopsy of a Deceased Church by Thom S. Rainer Slow Erosion I often tell people who are thinking about remarrying that if they don’t work on what caused the divorce from their first spouse, they just might marry their old spouse with a...

Week One: Chapters 1 and 2 of Autopsy of a Deceased Church by Thom S. Rainer “Anxiousness about the future destroys the life of a congregation. Out of this anxiousness the pastor and people try to control events. This is a tremendous waste of energy, and drains the...