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Leading Ideas
Delivered every Wednesday, our free e-newsletter Leading Ideas offers articles by thoughtful, cutting-edge leaders on subjects you care about — navigating change, reaching younger people, financing your ministry, communicating effectively — to help you be the leader God is calling you to be.

The Lewis Center is committed to helping congregations and denominations thrive and grow by providing ideas, research, resources, and training for vital and fruitful leadership. Through Leading Ideas, we share vignettes of leaders and congregations, book reviews, leadership quotes, and helpful “right questions” built around the premise that leaders don’t need answers — they need to know the right questions.

Leading Ideas
0 The Case for Church Membership

People are less inclined today to join a church than in the past, even if they are interested and involved. But membership still matters, says Jayson Bradley, as it is a proclamation of commitment, belief, mutual support, and a desire to mature as part of a community. Church membership is a concept that some people really struggle with. I can…

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Leading Ideas
0 F.I.S.H. Differently! Take Stock of all Available Capital Resources

Sidney Williams says that established congregations seeking to develop transformational ministries must learn to fish differently by taking full advantage of all the capital resources available to them — Faith Capital, Intellectual Capital, Social Capital, and Human Capital. Established congregations face a climate of declining attendance, increased financial pressure, and a growing frustration with the decline in church membership. The…

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Leading Ideas
0 5 Disciplines of Teams that Thrive

Ryan Hartwig and Warren Bird studied leadership teams in more than 2,500 churches to discover the distinctive features of thriving teams. They found that the key factors in successful teamwork are a shared purpose, leveraging of differences among team members, exercising of leadership through inspiration rather than control, clear decision-making processes, and a culture of ongoing collaboration. Studying more than…

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Leading Ideas
0 5 Emerging Trends Impacting Church Life

Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe and Associate Director Ann A. Michel reiterate the importance of nine major trends they outlined last year. They also name five other emerging trends ranging from the rise of digital ministry to the waning influence of denominational institutions. Last year, we named some of the major trends shaping the contours of congregational life. (See…

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Leading Ideas
0 Get Off to a Great Start with Volunteers in the New Year

Deborah Ike says the fresh start of a new year is a great time to implement strategies to strengthen your volunteer team. Her tips include expressing gratitude, seeking feedback, developing volunteer leaders, and delegating more. There’s something about the start of a new year that invites us to refresh areas of our lives. That could mean initiating a new Bible…

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Leading Ideas
0 Top 5 Leading Ideas Articles of the Decade

As a new decade dawns, we look back at the five most-read Leading Ideas articles from 2010-2019. 10 Leadership Lessons from Nehemiah Examining the biblical account of Nehemiah rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, Lovett H. Weems, Jr., sees a compelling example of how a leader should function. Nehemiah defined the reality of the situation, named a vision, and then engaged…

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Leading Ideas
0 Leading Ideas: Top Lewis Center Resources of 2019

Lewis Center resources guide you in strengthening your personal leadership and renewing your congregation. Below are our most popular free and purchased resources of the year, plus a free PDF e-book! Year-end Savings Save 25% on video tool kits, video-based study curricula, and PDF e-books with coupon code TOP2019 through January 6, 2020.* Shop now. 50 Ways to Take Church…

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Leading Ideas
0 Top Leading Ideas Articles of 2019

What Leading Ideas subjects are trending this year? We’ve assembled this list to give you another opportunity to glean insight and inspiration from the authors and articles most popular with our nearly 20,000 subscribers. Top 10 Reasons Visitors Don’t Come Back What do visitors say when asked why they don’t return to a church? Thom Rainer outlines the top 10 responses when…

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Leading Ideas
0 4 Ways to Make Christmas Eve Hospitality the Pattern for the Year

Lewis Center Director Doug Powe says special efforts to welcome visitors at Christmas shouldn’t be set aside once the holiday is over. He outlines four ways the hospitality of the Christmas season can be the launching pad for more intentional visitor welcome throughout the year. In many churches, Christmas, Easter, and Mother’s Day are the three times of year when…

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Leading Ideas
0 Will Your Christmas Visitors Feel Celebrated or Shamed?

Ann Michel of the Lewis Center staff says Christmas visitors can leave feeling shamed or belittled if church insiders project a holier-than-thou attitude. The preparation of Advent, she says, should include prayer about and discernment of how we might reflect the heart of our Father in welcoming all who seek the Christ Child at Christmas. You know what I’m talking…

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Leading Ideas
0 4 Ways to Help People Cultivate a Heart of Gratitude

Ann Michel of the Lewis Center staff suggests ways that churches can cultivate an attitude of gratitude — a mindset that makes people more mindful of God’s abundance, more generous, happier, and more content. Giving thanks to God is the most fundamental way we praise and worship God. Cultivating our sense of gratitude deepens our love of God. And acknowledging…

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Leading Ideas
0 Unforeseen Leaders Emerge from Charleston Tragedy

Who led members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in their astonishing acts of forgiveness? Lovett H. Weems, Jr., says the spiritual, moral, and pastoral leadership in the months after this tragedy came from faithful Christians who held no formal church leadership roles, yet embodied the cumulative witness of all the church preaches. On June 18, 2015, as soon as I…

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Leading Ideas
0 7 Ways to Lead When the Way Ahead Is Unclear

Susan Beaumont explains that saying, “I don’t know” is not a sign of weakness in a leader. It is an honest acknowledgment that more learning is required before action can be taken. She outlines seven ways to inspire confidence while acknowledging that you don’t have all the answers yet. People look to leaders to fix organizational problems. A leader who…

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Leading Ideas
0 What to Do When Volunteers Quit

Deborah Ike says people step away from volunteer positions for various reasons. But regardless of the cause, they need to know the church continues to value them. She offers a three-step formula to respond in a way that is respectful and encourages longer-term retention. It’s that awkward moment you’re always trying to avoid: a volunteer emails you or mentions one…

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Leading Ideas
0 How Can Your Church Building Reignite Your Mission?

Krin Van Tatenhove and Rob Mueller remind us that a congregation’s physical assets are resources to be stewarded to advance the kingdom. They recommend examining building users and partnerships to see how they can help reignite your congregation’s mission. Every brick, beam, shingle, stained-glass window, and pew of our buildings came into being through the generous, often sacrificial giving of…

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Leading Ideas
0 3 Unhelpful Postures on a Leadership Team

Eric Geiger says a church leadership team’s effectiveness is hampered when members act as consultants, critics, or senators. Each of these postures distances members from owning problems and committing to solutions. Wise leaders long for their teams to be filled with people who assume the posture and attitude of servant, steward, equipper, and executor. When that happens, the whole team…

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Leading Ideas
0 Meet with a Purpose

Leadership Consultant Mike Bonem suggests strategies for making meetings more productive. The first step is to be clear about the purpose for convening a meeting. How often have you thought to yourself, “Why are we having this meeting?” or “This meeting is a waste of time.” A significant amount of time in church and ministry leadership is spent in meetings.…

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Leading Ideas
0 It Used to Work So Well

Lovett Weems says that a congregation’s success can lead to its demise if the creativity and adaptability that made the congregation vital becomes frozen in place. This irony can be surmounted only if a church maintains dynamic interactions with its constituencies and the surrounding environment. “It is one of the paradoxes of success,” says Charles Handy, “that the things and…

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Leading Ideas
0 Asking Millennials to Give

John Wimberly dispels the myth that millennials aren’t willing to contribute to church. The problem is the church has not adapted to the 21st-century ways of soliciting and receiving donations that would encourage their generosity. “Boomers at our church don’t understand how we give.” I hear this from young people around the country. In a striking example of how generations…

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Leading Ideas
0 4 Ways to Lead Effectively When Expectations Change

Lewis Center Director Doug Powe explains that church leaders today are forced to lead amid constantly changing expectations. He outlines a four-step process to help a church deal with a change in direction. We all live with expectations. Even kindergarten children are expected to read at a certain level and count to a certain number. No one can escape expectations.…

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Leading Ideas
0 What Question is Your Church Trying to Answer?

Quincy Brown says most churches are focused on answering questions related to their own survival rather than answering the life questions that people beyond the church really care about. The question needs to shift from saving the congregation and its traditions to helping people feel at home in a world awash in chaos by following the path of Jesus. What…

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Leading Ideas
0 5 Ways to Help Church Staff Succeed

How can your congregation help those in paid staff roles perform most effectively? Ann Michel of the Lewis Center staff outlines five ways to clarify expectations and help church staff develop their professional skills. This article was originally published on October 9, 2019. 1. Clear and reasonable expectations Many churches hire staff without a clear vision for what the person…

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Leading Ideas
0 5 Reasons Why the Church of the Future Will be Online

With more and more people working, learning, and dating online, Paul Nixon predicts an explosion of online ministry. And rather than just broadcasting things meant primarily for people gathered in a church building, more worship and activities will be designed entirely for and with people on the web. I was driving in Northern Virginia one Sunday morning a couple of…

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Leading Ideas
0 3 Strategies for Leading Beyond Your Blind Spots

Lewis Center Director Doug Powe says we all have characteristics that others recognize but we can’t quite see in ourselves. Effective leaders see past these blind spots by cultivating self-awareness, seeking accountability, and soliciting meaningful feedback. How many times have you attempted to cross a lane of traffic and ended up with a horn blaring in your ear? Almost every…

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Leading Ideas
0 7 Building Blocks for Church Social Media Success

Mark MacDonald outlines how your church can stay in touch with congregants throughout the week with social media posts that extend the reach of your ministry by building an audience and a relevant brand following. It’s difficult to believe we’ve had social media for almost two decades. We once wondered if it would have staying power — and now we…

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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.