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David Brubaker is Professor Emeritus of Organizational Studies at Eastern Mennonite University. He has trained or consulted with over 100 organizations around the world. He is the author of Promise and Peril: Understanding and Managing Change and Conflict in Congregations and When the Center Does Not Hold .
David Brubaker says congregational leaders are in the precarious position of responding to three simultaneous crises — the pandemic, racial reckoning, and political violence. This…
Effective leadership is the critical variable that holds an institution together when conflict threatens to tear it apart. David R. Brubaker says a high level…
David Brubaker says leaders need different skills in this age when deep political divisions affect our families, congregations, and communities. It requires clarity, compassion, courage,…
Dave Brubaker says making meaning of life, providing a network of relationships, and transmitting essential values are three essential ways congregations respond to core human…
David Brubaker says that most congregations are quick to welcome newcomers but slow to extend a much deeper form of acceptance — genuine inclusion in…
David Brubaker says that while every congregation is a political system, political activity doesn’t need to be manipulative, polarizing or demeaning. He outlines four requirements…
A compelling example of leaders turning conflict into opportunity for structural and cultural change is found in the first seven verses of Acts 6. The…
This article is reprinted by permission from Leading Ideas, a free e-newsletter from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary available at churchleadership.com.