by Tracee Swank | Jun 23, 2026 | Discipleship, Mission, Movement, Tracee J. Swank
Walks and conversations are the heart of knowing your community. The data is the frame around them. In ministry, we often want to know all about the demographics and statistics and rely on those to shape ministry. Public data will never tell you why the young mother...
by Tracee Swank | Jun 22, 2026 | Challenges, Mission, Prayer, Tracee J. Swank
Scripture “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” (Genesis 1:2 NIV) Three words describe the very first canvas: formless, empty, dark. Most leaders would call that a crisis....
by Tracee Swank | Jun 18, 2026 | Discipleship, Leadership, Mission, Tracee J. Swank
Your next pastor is probably already sitting in your sanctuary. She is 47, teaches a Bible study on Wednesdays, has raised her children, and has been quietly wondering for two years whether the nudge she keeps feeling is a calling or just restlessness. Or he is 22,...
by Tracee Swank | Jun 16, 2026 | Mission, Movement, Outreach, Tracee J. Swank
Most pastors know a lot about their community that turns out, on closer examination, to be assumptions. We assume what the young families in the neighborhood are struggling with. We assume what the older residents are worried about. We assume why the new folks moved...
by Tracee Swank | Jun 15, 2026 | Challenges, Mission, Prayer, Tracee J. Swank
Scripture “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV) Jeremiah wrote these words in the rubble of Jerusalem. Everything he had trusted was...
by Tracee Swank | Jun 11, 2026 | Leadership, Mission, Movement, Tracee J. Swank
Ask an older pastor how they learned to do the job, and you will usually hear a name before you hear a degree. It will be the senior pastor who let them tag along on hospital visits at 23. The elder who taught them how to read a budget. The mentor who took a phone...
