The Rev. Robert H. Naylor
Denomination: United Church of Christ (UCC)
The Rev. Robert H. Naylor is a noted church consultant and author, and a retired United Church of Christ minister.
Bob is the lead consultant for "In Church Imaging," a clergy coaching and local church planning resource.
He's also the author of several books on church leadership, including his latest, "What Church Leaders REALLY Need to Know! A Practical How-To Guide" publishing by Pilgrim Press.
For 10 years until his retirement in 2011 he was senior minister of Second Congregational United Church of Christ, in Greenwich, CT. Earlier he served other UCC churches in Connecticut, and was also part of the national church staff in the Office of Church Life and Leadership.
Bob is a graduate of Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA, and earned his master of divinity degree from Lancaster Theological Seminary.
Day1 Weekly Programs by The Rev. Robert H. Naylor
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Jesus Says Everything Is Small Stuff, Except...
Tuesday November 05, 2013
In his sermon on Luke 20, Bob Naylor says that Jesus calls us to focus on the big stuff in life: to love God, and to love neighbor as self. This isn't easy in a greedy world obsessed with big stuff that's really small stuff.
Articles by The Rev. Robert H. Naylor
Bob Naylor: Where Have All The Millennials Gone? The Legacy of Second or Third Priority Youth Ministry
Wednesday December 28, 2016
Among the mainline churches, the cry echoes through their increasingly vacuous buildings 'Where have all the millennials gone?' The question that often follows is 'Why are they down the street in the more evangelical churches?' The answer to these is not as complex as we may think.
Bob Naylor: Returning to a Tent Ecclesiology - Church Buildings and Declining Memberships
Wednesday December 21, 2016
As I mused on the places I have called home, I remembered these passages from Scripture, and the realities of many of our churches – I could give you numerous statistical data on the state of many struggling churches - a few foundational thoughts on local church vitality came to mind.
Robert Naylor: Beware of the Side Effects
Sunday February 15, 2015
The music in the background is always soothing. There is laughter and joy on the faces of everyone in the scene. The pharmaceutical product being advertised promises renewal of energy and health from almost any malady, physical or emotional.
Bob Naylor: Downsizing Thoughts
Tuesday September 02, 2014
I have been asked on numerous occasions why many churches with a more evangelical emphasis were growing and what are the key factors in church growth. My answer to the growth questions – particularly in relationship to new, fast growing churches - included the following elements...
Robert Naylor: In Praise of the Word and Words
Thursday June 26, 2014
Words and the pictures they paint can bring harmony or division. They can heal or they can hurt. Words have power!
Robert Naylor: Giving Your Firstborn Isn't Required
Tuesday May 27, 2014
Micah's words were a condemnation of the hollow religious rituals that many of his hearers believed would please God. Micah cries out that God does not want blood offering rituals but rather the hearers' blood, sweat and tears in offering God righteous lives. And we don't have to look too far into the Christian Scriptures to find Jesus' validation of Micah's challenge.
Robert Naylor: A Halo for the Right Answer
Sunday December 15, 2013
Spending time recently in some wonderful art museums, I was reminded again and again – particularly while looking at Medieval, Renaissance, and Central and South American art - of the centrality of the Madonna and child.
Robert Naylor: Jumping Into the Saints' Gene Pool
Thursday November 21, 2013
Our DNA makes me uniquely me and you uniquely you. Biogenetics have become assets in seeking answers to curing some of the most deadly diseases and in deciding between the innocent and guilty in the courtroom. Knowing one's genetic makeup is important.
Robert Naylor: A Healing Tongue
Friday November 01, 2013
It is one of the most multifunctional parts of the body but it also is the body part that can cause the most dysfunction in our human relationships.
Bob Naylor: The Serpent's Vocabulary
Tuesday September 17, 2013
All is well in the Garden of Eden. We are told that paradise is found there and the happy couple have all they need for a fulfilling life. But then the serpent entered the scene and told the couple they had no reason to be so happy.