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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 Get Ready for the New Normal

As restrictions on gatherings imposed by the COVID-19 crisis begin to ease, congregations are likely to find themselves in a both/and reality. They will need to sustain an enhanced digital presence while at the same time resume normal patterns of gathering. Now is the time to strategize and put teams in place to support the challenges and opportunities of this…

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Leading Ideas
0 Key Questions to Consider Before Resuming In-Person Gatherings

Many congregations are eager to reopen their buildings and resume in-person worship services, but it’s important to resist the temptation to rush back before it’s safe. The Lewis Center staff has assembled this list of key questions to consider before a church can safely resume gathering. With many states and jurisdictions beginning to ease COVID-19 restrictions, churches need to assess…

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Leading Ideas
0 When You Don’t Know Who’s Worshiping

Lee Roorda Schott says that unseen people you don’t yet know are likely worshiping with you online. She says this is an opportunity to enlarge our communities and offers strategies to help these digital newcomers feel included and welcomed. You used to know who was in the worship services you were leading or attending. You could look around and you…

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Leading Ideas
0 11 Provocative Thoughts and Questions About What’s Next

Bill Wilson shares 11 provocative thoughts and questions regarding how the future of the church will be shaped by the implications of the cornonavirus pandemic. He says this crisis catapulted the church forward and we cannot ignore the lessons learned. What’s on the horizon for congregations and parishes as we transition from the crisis of the moment to the long-term…

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Leading Ideas
0 Digital Church Is Here to Stay

Carey Nieuwhof says the post-COVID-19 world will be a different place. The move to digital worship is here to stay, he predicts. Putting it back on the shelf in the new normal would ignore the greatest opportunity the church today has to reach people. By now you’ve realized that the COVID-19 pandemic is not an interruption nearly as much as…

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Leading Ideas
0 How Should Leaders Respond to an External Shock?

Leaders need to focus on core mission and values in the face of a powerful external shock says Meredith McNabb of the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving. Addressing this crisis with integrity, confidence, and hope requires knowing your congregation and its purpose. COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus, has upended the lives of congregations’ members, overturned patterns of life…

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Leading Ideas
0 Is Your Congregation a Swamp, a Reservoir, or a Canal?

Is your congregation cut off and inwardly focused? Primarily a storehouse of resources? Or a connector that brings things together? The images of swamp, reservoir, and canal can reveal the challenges and opportunities impacting your church’s vitality says F. Douglas Powe, Jr., Director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership, and James C. Logan, Chair of Evangelism (an E. Stanley…

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Leading Ideas
0 7 Ways to Keep Revenue and Donations Flowing During the COVID-19 Crisis

Stewardship expert Rob Blezard outlines steps your church can take to address the financial challenges created by the COVID-19 crisis. Key strategies include staying in communication with donors, including an offering time in online worship, and considering the CARES relief program. Your congregation may have curtailed in-person services and activities because of the coronavirus, but there’s no stopping your congregation’s…

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Leading Ideas
0 Becoming a Church Without Walls

Andrew Ponder Williams says that these trying times provide an opportunity to advance a new way of being church. He offers ideas on how digital connections can help us reach people not previously connected to our congregations. For my whole life, I have dreamed about a church without walls. Well here we are! Most churches sadly cannot meet within their…

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Leading Ideas
0 Resurrection Hope and the Response to COVID-19

Resurrection involves transformation, and to proclaim resurrection hope is to affirm the possibility of change. Ann Michel of the Lewis Center staff sees resurrection hope in the willingness of so many churches to embrace new and innovative approaches to ministry in this time of uncertainty and travail. Our Lenten journey this year has been dominated by fear and anxiety, disruption…

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Leading Ideas
0 Choosing Joy in the Face of Disruption and Loss

We can choose to dwell on the loss and change COVID-19 has brought to our lives, or we can shift our focus and choose joy. American University’s Bryan Champion says during this time of isolation we have received the precious gift of time to spend with those most dear to us, advance goals, and improve our own leadership. I know…

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Leading Ideas
0 Preaching to an Empty Room

How can preachers maintain a sense of presence and engage their audience when COVID-19 has their congregants viewing worship via livestream? Read these tips on preaching to an empty room by Alyce McKenzie, Le Van Professor of Preaching and Worship, Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor and Director of the Center for Preaching Excellence at Perkins School of Theology. Our current situation…

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Leading Ideas
0 10 Thoughts on Leading Through the COVID-19 Crisis

Alex Shanks says that people pay particular attention to what leaders say and do in times of crisis. He shares ten lessons to help leaders be more deliberate in how they chose to lead in the face of the unprecedented challenges of the unfolding COVID-19 crisis. The unfolding COVID-19 crisis presents unprecedented challenges for virtually every sector of our society.…

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Leading Ideas
0 Leading the Church in the Face of Coronavirus

How can the church provide timely and proactive leadership when there is no tried and true template? Bill Owen, a consultant and coach with the Center for Healthy Congregations, lists best practices, but more importantly stresses the importance of leaning in toward the challenge and into your values as the Body of Christ. There’s no denying the stress in recent…

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Leading Ideas
0 Staying Connected in a Time of Social Distancing

How can congregations sustain a sense of community and care for one another when most gatherings have been suspended? Some simple strategies can be used to stay in touch with those who are isolated and maintain an ongoing spiritual presence says F. Douglas Powe Jr., Director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership, and James C. Logan, Chair of Evangelism…

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Leading Ideas
0 10 Ideas for Church Financial Leaders Amid the COVID-19 Crisis

Ken Sloane of Discipleship Ministries shares ten ideas for church financial leaders to help sustain the church and its ministries in the face of interruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak. Numerous good resources are available for churches about how to prepare for the reality of the spreading COVID-19 virus. The following list of ideas is specifically directed to financial leaders…

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Leading Ideas
0 6 Leadership Practices that Enhance Involvement and Collaboration

Are you leading in a way that inspires, invites, and engages others? Katie Carson Phillips outlines six basic leadership practices that support greater collaboration and more meaningful engagement. Does your church suffer from a lack of committed involvement? Your committees may be full. People may show up. But they lack passion, investment, and a willingness to act. It’s tempting to…

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Leading Ideas
0 Resources for Church Leaders about the COVID-19 Pandemic

Information about COVID-19 is changing seemingly by the hour. Tom Pruski, a registered nurse and director of Wesley Theological Seminary’s Heal the Sick Initiative, urges church leaders to stay current with the latest recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Also, we’re sharing a lot of great information on Facebook and…

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Leading Ideas
0 Are You Teaching People about Faith? Or How to Practice It?

Johannah Myers describes a paradigm shift in how we form disciples with a move away from Christian education toward an emphasis on forming people in the practices of the faith. In place of age-level classrooms she sees a need to help people of all ages live out their faith through intergenerational mentoring and experiential learning. When I first started serving…

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Leading Ideas
0 6 Silver Linings in the Clouds of Doom and Gloom

Ann Michel of the Lewis Center staff points to six positive factors that may offer clues to churches seeking a way forward in an environment shaped by so many discouraging trends and challenges. Do you feel barraged by the discouraging trends and challenging circumstances defining church life today? Aging clergy. Denominational struggles. Decreasing average worship attendance. Worrisome giving trends. The…

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Leading Ideas
0 3 Key Lessons from Leadership Pioneer Mary Parker Follett

Lovett H. Weems Jr. explains how Mary Parker Follett, a pioneering leadership thinker who valued human interaction and interconnectivity, influenced his thinking on key leadership themes such as vision, collaboration, and reconciliation. Mary Parker Follett (1868-1933) was ahead of her time. Her life was that of a pioneer and, perhaps more importantly, her ideas were and continue to be groundbreaking.…

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Leading Ideas
0 What Does Religious Freedom Mean Today?

Some people misuse the cause of religious freedom by making it a weapon against their opponents, says Lovett H. Weems Jr. However, this cherished freedom was established on behalf of those with minority views and beliefs. It is not a pretense for discrimination, a license to do anything in the name of religion, or a guarantee of religious comfort. The…

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Leading Ideas
0 3 Characteristics of Genuine Christian Hospitality

Christian hospitality doesn’t begin at the church’s front door, writes Philip J. Brooks. It extends Christlike love into the surrounding community, builds relationships, and risks change for the sake of including someone new. Hospitality is a word one hears often in church. Many congregations have a permanent hospitality committee or dedicated team to ensure guests on Sunday are welcomed warmly. But…

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Leading Ideas
0 4 Steps to a More Welcoming Church Building

Lovett Weems reminds us that visitors often form a first impression of a church based on the appearance of the areas they first encounter, such as the parking lot, entry, and restrooms. He recommends four steps to assess and improve the message sent to newcomers by the condition of your facilities. Do you remember what it was like to go…

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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.