Posts

Vicki Gatchell Feb 21, 2024

Disciplemaking in America’s Rural Churches

If you are a rural church pastor, you may be wonder, “Can my church successfully grow generations of disciplemakers?”  The question is understandable. Often, disciplemaking strategies are geared toward churches in urban settings where diversity and population density are significant factors in planning. While conversations regarding the urban church are vital, the rural church faces its own unique challenges (and some advantages) in making disciples.  The term “rural church” does not simply apply to properties hewn from the edges of Midwest corn fields. It refers to churches situated in any community with fewer than 2,500 persons. One in seven Americans…

Vicki Gatchell Oct 11, 2015

In Light of Eternity- Reposted from Fruitfulsteps, April 30, 2012

APRIL 30, 2012 BY VICKIGATCHELL In Light of Eternity Photo courtesy of Tami Werling Years ago I attended a summer training program with a Christian ministry called The Navigators.  It was a 4 week venture where a small group of collegiates, together with a few staff, met to work, to play, and to study the scriptures.  It was a time of intense growth, and the lessons I learned then have served me well. In this world you will have trouble… Life is hard sometimes, isn’t it?  Often it even seems that we finish one problem, only to begin work on the next, or, just as often,…

Vicki Gatchell Oct 10, 2015

It’s all in the Gaze

Have you ever noticed what a difference it can make to change your gaze? Last Saturday I had a terrible afternoon.  It shouldn’t have been that way since I had free time and I was with my family.  The thing is, we were watching our Ohio State Buckeyes and they were playing poorly, just as they have every Saturday for a month.  Never mind that they are reigning national champions and currently ranked first in the country, the fact that the Buckeyes were playing terribly was blowing my entire day. Somehow the Buckeyes pulled off the victory that day, and I pulled…

Vicki Gatchell Oct 10, 2015

Rest in Thee

It’s Friday night and I am finishing a week of posts about how we can only find lasting fulfillment in Christ.  It seems fitting that I end with one of  my favorite quotes from early church father St. Augustine of Hippo.  Augustine lived in the third century after Jesus, and was a theologian and philosopher.  I like the fact that he was a deep thinker and he wrote many profound things about relating to God.  Here is my favorite: Sometimes translated, “Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.” I love this quote, and…

Vicki Gatchell Oct 9, 2015

Dry Wells

There’s a waterway in the woods at our farm that fills with several inches of water every spring during the rains.  Scientists call it a vernal pond because it only lasts a few weeks in spring,  just about as long as it takes for tadpoles to grow into frogs.  For several weeks each year, the music of the pond comes to life at dusk and reverberates into the night with a chorus of spring peepers and bullfrogs we can hear from a quarter mile away. And then they fall silent. By fall, the pond is just a dried-up ditch filled with old, dead wood. Nothing grows there,…

Vicki Gatchell Oct 8, 2015

It’s not what you know, but who you know

It’s not what you know, but Who you know I’ve done more reading in the last two years than I’ve done in the past 25 years put together.  At least it seems that way.  I’ve never been an avid reader, never gotten hooked on romance or adventure novels, and always found my relaxation in active things such as hiking or gardening. But this reading has been different. Wonderful. The reading has been part of my Master’s program in Ministry Studies and Women’s Leadership. I’ve been learning theology and ministry skills. I’m not in it for the academics, or to win contests in Bible Trivia.  I’m certainly…

Vicki Gatchell Oct 7, 2015

Perfection or Excellence?

I’ve had trouble collecting my thoughts today, so here’s a reblog from my old site.  I can see how God has continued to work in this area since the post 3 1/2 years ago: MARCH 19, 2012 BY VICKIGATCHELL Hi, my name is Vicki, and I’m a perfectionist.  (Hi Vicki!) It was my friend Lisa who first mentioned the concept of pursuing Excellence rather than Perfection.  Her words were refreshing, -–like a cool glass of lemonade on a hot summer day!  It’s funny.  Since that time, the topic keeps coming up in my reading, reminding me that I, the perfectionist, must pursue attainable goals, and…

Vicki Gatchell Oct 6, 2015

Nothing Compares

It’s been a year or two now (actually 20-something), since I was in college doing everything I could to get accepted to Ohio State’s physical therapy program.  I remember how important it was to me, and how difficult.  Physical therapy was, and remains, a course of study in high demand, but it enrolls a limited number of students.  PT was attractive to me because it combined my love for science with my love for people in a career that offered many job opportunities.  I’ve been in the field 25 years now, and it has been good for those reasons, but…

Vicki Gatchell Oct 4, 2015

Irresistible Grace

Tell me something you find irresistible. I love to walk in the quiet of the woods where I can hear every bird calling out his territory and each hickory nut pelting the ground in autumn.  I’ve learned that if I climb high into the hunter’s treestand I can feel the gentle breeze on my face, see the sun gazing through the canopy, and even catch the silhouette of a hawk soaring against the cottony clouds that don’t seem so high above as they did before.  There I can sit… and pray… and think, a rare commodity in my industrious lifestyle. I also…

Vicki Gatchell Oct 3, 2015

Solitude

For a few years now I have been making it my practice to set aside Wednesday as a special day.  I call it my “chai tea and theology” day, and it is my favorite day of the week.  On this day I spend extended time with God.  I read and study His Word, and I listen.  I pray about decisions and for people I love, and I listen.  I love it when I can take a walk or to work in the garden and I listen. This day has become essential to my well-being. It nourishes my soul.  I, like…

Vicki Gatchell Oct 3, 2015

#Write31Days

I’m a day late and a dollar short.  My friend Sara invited me to #Write31Days but I just learned about this challenge today.  For the rest of the month of October I am going to try to blog daily just to get in the habit of writing and not being too perfectionistic to post. My topic?  I’m writing about spiritual formation and discipleship. Today our women’s bible study began the book/video series Gripped by the Greatness of God by James MacDonald.  As I began to hear what MacDonald had to say, I realized this study may address the heart of…