With Dr. Bruce Hartung This month’s column addresses a reader’s concern and a question after receiving a Nov. 16 letter from Concordia Plan Services (CPS) President James F. Sanft about the effects of the economic recession on the Concordia Retirement…

With Dr. Bruce Hartung Q: I am a retired pastor.  Some other retired pastors and I have been talking lately about the role a retired pastor takes in the congregation where he has current membership.  We came up with some…

With Dr. Bruce Hartung Following are reader responses (R) to previous columns about resolving “spiritual burnout” among church workers. R: “I have been closely following your recent columns.  I thought this observation could help.  We have a school and a…

With Dr. Bruce Hartung Previous columns that focused on our church workers’ “spiritual burnout” (as one reader termed it) and the desire to provide better resources and responses to burnout have brought about responses, primarily from congregation leaders, that offer…

With Dr. Bruce Hartung Q:  “Not that my faith is dead, but … I do not feel the same passion I once felt in my faith.”  A:  This is one sentence of a much larger communication from a writer I…

With Dr. Bruce Hartung Q: What were you doing in Cleveland, Ohio, May 19? A:  I confess that I made up this question, so that I may address in this column what I was doing in Cleveland that day.  Because…

With Dr. Bruce Hartung Q: Over the years of teaching [for several decades at the elementary level in the LCMS system], I have noticed that my own faith life is not what it was at one time. … I just…

With Dr. Bruce Hartung Q: Over the years of teaching [for several decades at the elementary level in the LCMS system], I have noticed that my own faith life is not what it was at one time. When I first…

With Dr. Bruce Hartung Q: I currently serve on our district’s ministerial health committee.  We are in the planning stages of trying to remind congregations to appreciate their church workers on a consistent basis.  [Because] many church workers become burned…

With Dr. Bruce Hartung In recent columns, I asked readers to share ways that congregations and schools have been responding to the economic recession, with special emphasis on staffing and compensation. I also responded to a concern that was raised…

With Dr. Bruce Hartung Q: Given the economy — [with] the mortgage crisis, [and the fact] that most pastors own their own homes — has the number of pastors accepting calls (having to move and having to sell their homes) declined?  Has…

With Dr. Bruce Hartung My mailbox is starting to fill with messages related to congregational and church-workers’ concerns about the effects of the current economic crisis on our churches, schools, and Recognized Service Organizations (particularly social service RSOs).  I anticipate…

With Dr. Bruce Hartung Q: I am serving as a pastor. An individual who has committed and been punished for sexual abuse is looking for a worshiping community [and has chosen the congregation I serve]. He understands the consequences of…

With Dr. Bruce Hartung Last month’s “Pressure Points” addressed a pastor’s questions concerning the presence of a repentant registered sex offender in his congregation.  He asked how to handle the anxiety connected with this situation, and how to help still…

With Dr. Bruce Hartung Every once in a while a column generates a bevy of Internet and telephone activity.  The last column (November 2008) was one of those columns.  Briefly summarized, the concern raised was the work-ethic of a particular…

With Dr. Bruce Hartung Several readers have recently pointed out to me the need for our professional church workers to examine their work ethic.  I have chosen a particularly poignant communication on this theme to share in this month’s column.…