Posts by toddhiestand
Making coffee soda with your SodaStream and your Aeropress
I just bought a Sodastream and it has already made me a better person. I am now one step closer to sainthood because of it. This is not a hyperbolic statement. This morning, in a brilliant epiphany, I realized that I can make the coffee soda that I always get when I go to fancy coffee…
Read MoreIncreasing Engagement In Your Marketing Campaigns
In our noisy, busy, over informed world, you can still create social media, email and marketing campaigns that will actually be opened and read by your donor base and community (and raise more money in the process)
Read MoreThree Essential Elements of Successful New Year’s Resolutions
If you are like me, your resolutions (whether they are for the New Year or not) constantly fail. Let’s look at three successful elements of what makes lasting change possible.
Read MoreA few thoughts on PPSD – (Post Pastoral Stress Disorder)
A friend messaged me this afternoon… I call this PPSD. Post Pastoral Stress Disorder. Here’s a challenge: Don’t only meet with your pastor when you have something to complain about. In my unscientific research, I’d say that at least 90% of the time when someone wants to meet with a pastor, its because they “need…
Read MoreMy Journey into Never Writing
I struggle as a writer. Wait, there are already problems here. I am not sure it’s fair to call myself a writer. I think it would be more accurate to call myself an “aspiring writer.” I mean, I do not ever write. I am now, of course, but this is literally the first time I’ve…
Read MoreWe’re Moving to Portland, OR
For the last 14 years that we have been married my wife and I have been living in the Philadelphia area. If you count the 4 years at college, we’ve been here for 18 years. For 13 years we have been serving at The Well, our church here in Philly and its with a lot…
Read MoreSignificant Books that Have Shaped My Leadership and Ecclesiology
I started working at The Well 1 year out of college. That was 2001. Since then, it has been quite the journey. It’s fascinating (to me at least) to look at how I have grown as a Christian and as a leader based on the influences of authors and their books. In this post, I…
Read MoreEdwin Friedman – Failure of Nerve – in Five Minutes
I prepared this for a leadership call I did with some close friends in the Ecclesia Network. Many of us have found Edwin Friedman’s book, The Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix (Soft Cover / Kindle) exceptionally helpful. I’d say its one of the most influential books I’ve ever read on…
Read MoreTowards a Discipleship Framework
I’ve been working on the following thoughts for the last year or so and I am honestly apprehensive to even publish this because it has morphed and changed so much over the last year. It’s far from perfect but I’d love to hear your thoughts to improve it and tighten it up a bit. Discipleship…
Read MorePreaching on the Run: Preparing Sermons as a Bi-Vocational Pastor
I was told in seminary that I should spend 1 hour of sermon prep for every minute I will be preaching. For many of us that means we should spend 20-30 hours preparing sermons? This approach poses some serious problems for me. First of all, I have other pastoral responsibilities. Second, I am bi-vocational so…
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