Wednesday, April 17, 2019 | Message from Bishop Thompson
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....
Wednesday, April 10, 2019 | Message from Bishop Thompson
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...
Wednesday, April 3, 2019 | Message from Bishop Thompson
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...
Wednesday, March 27, 2019 | Message from Bishop Thompson
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...
Wednesday, March 20, 2019 | Message from Bishop Thompson
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...
Wednesday, March 13, 2019 | Message from Bishop Thompson
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...
Wednesday, March 6, 2019 | Message from Bishop Thompson
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...
Thursday, October 4, 2018 | Message from Bishop Thompson
I get looped in from time to time on topics that seem over the top. For example, I was copied on a long string of emails regarding the placement of the flag in the nave of a church. The writers of these emails had various stances on the flag, whether it should be in...
Wednesday, August 22, 2018 | Diocesan News, Message from Bishop Thompson
August 20, 2018 Dear Clergy and Wardens of the Diocese of Louisiana, It is my honor and privilege as your Bishop, to give you notice of the 181st Convention of the Diocese of Louisiana on October 26 & 27, 2018. Convention will be hosted by and held at St....
Monday, August 13, 2018 | Message from Bishop Thompson
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, By now the word is out on General Convention. The 79th gathering of The Episcopal Church in Austin has been over for a month and let me tell you, it was a successful convention. I want to highlight a couple of items that set the...
Wednesday, May 16, 2018 | Message from Bishop Thompson
Read Acts 16:16-21:26 here How about the story in chapter 16? Paul and Silas were irritated with a woman who had a spirit of divination. She called attention to Paul and Silas in ways that were not appropriate. Irritated, Paul called in the name of Jesus Christ,...
Wednesday, May 9, 2018 | Message from Bishop Thompson
Read Acts 13:13-16:15 here In this week’s readings we primarily focus on the apostle Paul gaining recognition for having a powerful testimony. Did you notice that Paul is retelling the story that the disciples told in the beginning of the Book of Acts? The message...
Wednesday, May 2, 2018 | Message from Bishop Thompson
Read Acts 10:17-13:12 here Of the many stories in this week’s readings, I want to focus on one in chapter 11. The believers in Judea heard that the Gentiles accepted the word of God and the believers were furious with Peter for teaching the Gentiles about Jesus....
Wednesday, April 25, 2018 | Message from Bishop Thompson
Read Acts 7:1-10:16 here This week’s study begins with the calling of others to serve people while the apostles taught. One person that stood out for me was Stephen. In this week’s writings, Stephen got in a debate with some of the religious leaders. Stephen was...
Wednesday, April 18, 2018 | Message from Bishop Thompson
Read Acts 4:23-6:15 here Two scenarios stand out to me in this week’s scripture reading. The first is how the Holy Spirit acted throughout the new community of believers. The people shared everything because they believed in the mission to care for one another. They...
