sheep_week

church growth is sexy

March 23, 2013 By David Hayward 7 Comments

church growth sheep cartoon by nakedpastor david hayward

When I pastored a local congregation I was well aware of the fact that most often the visitors were disaffected members from other churches. We created our own disaffected members as well that went elsewhere. It's an elaborate exchange program. Or, in keeping with the analogy, swapping program. A real swinging time! Once a whole bunch of people left our church and started their own. Others left and populated other churches. One church got so many of our members that they actually asked if … [Read more...]

Filed Under: cartoons Tagged With: breeding_sheep, church_growth_cartoon, david_hayward, nakedpastor, sheep_cartoon, sheep_week 7 Comments

a sheep’s attempted escape

March 23, 2013 By David Hayward 7 Comments

There's really no theological commentary to add to this one. Sheep don't intentionally try to escape and hide. At least I don't think so. However, just the other day someone asked me how it felt to be lost. I politely replied that I'm not lost, but escaped. And then I thought of this cartoon and realized that even though I have escaped, I keep getting dragged back into the fold, engaging in the conversation around theology and the church. So I guess some of us are like sheep in the desert, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: cartoons Tagged With: david_hayward, jesus_cartoon, lost_sheep_cartoon, nakedpastor, sheep_cartoon, sheep_week 7 Comments

the church and herding cats

March 22, 2013 By David Hayward 9 Comments

This cartoon was inspired by a friend of mine, Richard, who commented on one of my sheep cartoons this week by saying that he was more like a cat. Bingo! Right now I have a dog. I have had cats in the past. You can control a dog. You can't control a cat. You relate to a dog on your terms. You relate to a cat on theirs. When I pastored a local church, this is often what it looked and felt like. Herding cats. Then one day I realized that's okay. People are allowed to be the way they are. On … [Read more...]

Filed Under: cartoons Tagged With: david_hayward, herding_cats, jesus_cartoon, nakedpastor, sheep_week, shepherd_cartoon 9 Comments

SHEEP WEEK: culling is killing

March 21, 2013 By David Hayward 3 Comments

culling is killing cartoon by nakedpastor david hayward

Welcome to SHEEP WEEK, a week of my sustained critique of the shepherd/sheep analogy illustrated by my cartoons. This morning's cartoon is "Culling is Killing". If you have a particular vision of what you want your people to be like that isn't universal, that doesn't include all, that isn't all-encompassing, you immediately prohibit community. To pursue purity of the flock actually destroys it. Everyone de facto belongs. I claim that the problem isn't who belongs. No. The actual struggle … [Read more...]