New England Perspectives
A regularly updated collection of articles written by New England leaders and thinkers. Looking for news articles? Click here.

Gaining Altitude: WMU Celebrates 135 Years of SBC Missions
According to an insect identification database, 647 types of bugs and insects are found in Alabama. Some downright scare me. I looked at images of each until I located the entry most resembling the flying insect I watched from a chair on my back deck. I believe it was a common whitetail skimmer dragonfly that captured my attention. I can’t be totally sure since there are 5,000 species of dragonflies. I’m comfortable with that guess since the common whitetail is prevalent in North America.

Balancing Your Local and International Missions Efforts
I was asked to consult with a historically strong congregation that once had a fully funded ministry and a full-time, salaried pastor. Their perpetually shrinking budget and unbalanced missions strategy required that a new pastor serve bivocationally, which proved to be a wake-up call for the church members. The church’s commitment to international missions came at the expense of its ministry to internationals now living in their own communities.