Top CareLeader posts of March 2017

5 mistakes to avoid when counseling the sexually abused

March's most read and shared CareLeader article. Use it to discover how well you've responded to those who've experienced sexual abuse. Written by Dr. Diane Langberg, this post will also help you become more sensitive to the needs of those who've been abused sexually.

Why do people cut themselves? And how to help them stop

If you've never had anyone reveal to you that he or she is practicing self-harm, sooner or later you likely will. Or, you'll hear about it from another member on your team or from your congregation. Dr. Kristin Kellen's post helps you understand some of the reasons why people harm themselves through cutting, bruising, and burning. And she provides questions you can use when talking with a person who discloses this struggle.

Providing care--without burning out

I find it helpful to hear how others manage their ministry responsibilities. And based on your response to this post by Wendy Herrberg and Susie Howard of The Creek Church in Indianapolis, IN, apparently you do, too. Read this post to learn the unique steps they've taken to provide sustainable care to their congregation.

In other CareLeader news

Feedback on "Is Preaching Overrated?" post

A few weeks ago we ran a post that highlighted overlooked and underused means God uses to change us. I titled the post Is Preaching Overrated? The title was intentionally provocative (though not provocative enough to make the top three posts of March).

But I want you to read Pastor Nathan Meador's thoughts on the post. I thought what he said was insightful. He wrote:


Part of the thought that preaching is overrated may be in the fact that in many traditions, preaching and teaching are commingled. When that happens, there is less time for personal discipleship, which is really what I think these men [in the video] are angling at.

Nathan is an LCMS (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod) pastor. You can read his full note here.

If you have other thoughts on overlooked means that God uses to help us change, send them my way. Our team will compile the most insightful and helpful ones and share them with everyone in a future post.

In this Together update

For those of you who missed last week's note, we changed the name of the new curriculum we're working on from Friend: Enjoying Exceptional Relationships to In This Together: Better Friendships, a Better Church.

You might say that change set us back a bit on logo design: as in, we're completely starting over. But we're making a lot of progress on the overall project. Here's a quick update:

In This Together video interviews

Starting in April, we'll begin shooting interviews for the project. First up? An interview with Pastor Jonathan Holmes. He's the author of the book The Company We Keep: In Search of Biblical Friendship. He'll be in our offices on April 11. Beyond that, here's our current interview schedule.


• April 19 Brad Hambrick
• May 1 Dr. Lee Spitzer
• May 4 Dr. Tim Muehlhoff

In addition to these four, we plan to interview another eight men and women for the project. We'll introduce you to all of them and share excerpts from their interviews over the next two months.

Preselling In This Together

Later this spring we'll begin preselling In This Together. We'll need 900 churches to partner with us by prepurchasing the curriculum, before we commit to fully producing the series. Why that approach?

It ensures that we create only the resources you want/need, and that helps us be better stewards of our resources.

And for those of you who can't see a compelling reason to buy early, wait till you see our prepurchase incentive.

More details to come!


Sam Hodges