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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 3 Key Skills for Leading in Today’s Argumentative Climate

Joel Snider says church leaders need new skills to move people toward common goals in a time when conflict surrounds so many church decisions. Rather than leading by force, he suggests building consensus one person at a time, probing ideas through questions rather than criticism, and responding respectfully to the ideas of others. Leadership comes hard these days. Everyone wants…

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Leading Ideas
0 7 Tips for Sharing Your Congregation’s Story on Social Media 

How do you effectively share your congregation’s story via social media to reach new people? Tim Welch offers seven tips for sharing your congregation’s story on various social media platforms.  One of the best forms of communicating with church members is through digital platforms. Most of your congregation has immediate access to web-based content or smartphone apps. This makes spreading…

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Leading Ideas
0 The Hidden Impact of Rural Churches: An In-Depth Interview with Bob Jaeger and Rachel Hildebrand

What is the economic impact of small congregations on their communities? Jessica Anschutz of the Lewis Center staff speaks with Bob Jaeger and Rachel Hildebrandt of Partners for Sacred Places about their report on the “Economic Halo Effect of Rural United Methodist Churches in North Carolina.”  Listen to this interview, watch the interview video on YouTube, or continue reading. Jessica Anschutz:…

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Leading Ideas
0 Small Church Big Impact

Blake Bradford shares how smaller congregations can use their unique giftedness to fulfill their mission. He says smaller churches can enhance their vitality by clarifying their purpose, engaging their community, leveraging relational intimacy to reach people and build disciples, and rightsizing their leadership and governance structures. To celebrate the Lewis Center’s anniversary, we are highlighting Leading Articles — some of…

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Leading Ideas
0 Keep Your Bucket Full of Energy and Compassion

Alan Baker highlights the importance of self-care for pastoral care providers to keep their personal buckets filled so that they are not emptied by burnout and compassion fatigue. He offers ways for church leaders and chaplains to enhance their practice of self-care and build resilience.   Your personal health is an important aspect of self-care. Christian chaplains strive to sustain healthy…

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Leading Ideas
0 13 Do’s & Don’ts for Incoming Cross-Racial and Cross-Cultural Pastors

How can an incoming pastoral leader lay the groundwork for successful ministry in a congregation where most members are from a different racial or cultural background? The United Methodist General Commission on Religion and Race shares “Do’s and Don’ts” to help new clergy leaders in cross-cultural ministry partnerships begin on the right foot. 1. Honor your predecessor and the history…

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Leading Ideas
0 Who are The Nones?: An In-Depth Interview with Ryan Burge

The rapid growth in the percentage of Americans claiming no religious affiliation is drastically reshaping the country’s religious and cultural landscape. Ann Michel of the Lewis Center interviews Dr. Ryan Burge, a leading expert on the “Nones,” about the characteristics of the growing cohort of Americans who say their religion is “nothing in particular.”   Listen to this interview, watch the interview…

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Leading Ideas
0 Engaging Children Through Active Wondering

Tanya Campen describes how engaging children through active wondering creates space for them to share freely and nurtures honest conversation. She equips teachers and guides to shepherd children in the holy work of active wondering. Active wondering creates space for authentic and honest conversation. “I wonder” questions present an invitation into holy conversation. They create a space for children to…

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Leading Ideas
0 5 Essential Qualities of Effective Evangelism

Priscilla Pope-Levison’s book, Models of Evangelism, studies eight influential approaches to evangelism, everything from visitation and revivalism to social media. She finds that regardless of the method deployed, five qualities are essential to effective evangelism — hospitality, relationships, integrity, sharing the Christian message, and rootedness in the church. To celebrate the Lewis Center’s anniversary, we are highlighting Leading Articles —…

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Leading Ideas
0 Who will be God’s Agents of Pastoral Calling?

Many pastors recall that it was another pastor who first invited them to consider their call to ministry. Yet it seems fewer and fewer pastors today feel comfortable initiating these conversations. This paradox has promoted the Lewis Center’s Religious Workforce Project Research Team to wonder who will be God’s agents of pastoral calling? In interviews with scores of pastors, we…

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Leading Ideas
0 5 Guideposts for Reshaping Your Staff Team

Susan Beaumont says many churches see a need to reconfigure their staffing in this new era. She outlines five guidelines to frame a better conversation about the design of your church’s staffing structure. The pandemic unraveled staff team structures. Resignations and retirements were at an all-time high. Downsizing was necessary for some congregations. Others hired new staff to respond to…

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Leading Ideas
0 Effective Pastoral Transition: An In-Depth Interview with Lee Kricher

How can a seamless pastoral transition lead to a more effective leadership transition? Jessica Anschutz of the Lewis Center staff speaks with Lee Kricher, author of Seamless Pastoral Transition: 3 Imperatives — 6 Pitfalls, about shared leadership, nurturing future leaders, leading with humility, and more.  Listen to this interview, watch the interview video on YouTube, or continue reading. Jessica Anschutz: Lee,…

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Leading Ideas
0 The Importance of Holy Friendships

Victoria Atkinson White says that pastors and Christian institutional leaders cannot do their holy work without the support of holy friendships. Mutual, sacred relationships deeply formed in God’s love combat loneliness and isolation, promote spiritual health and emotional wellbeing, and enable God’s servants to remain fruitful in ministry. An institution cannot thrive if its leaders are not healthy, so my…

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Leading Ideas
0 4 Characteristics of Biblical Evangelism

To celebrate the Lewis Center’s anniversary, we are highlighting Leading Articles — some of our most popular posts of the past 20 years. We are pleased to share again this article by Doug Powe, originally published on December 5, 2018. Lewis Center Director Doug Powe says biblical evangelism is characterized by four key practices — proclamation, community, service, and witness.…

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Leading Ideas
0 Why Small Congregation Worship Matters

Teresa Stewart has faith in the future of small congregations because she has faith in a God who shows up even in small and forgotten places. She believes that small churches are critical learning laboratories as the church navigates a future far too complex for one-size-fits-all patterns of ministry. Let’s start with this fundamental agreement about worship. It’s a truth…

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Leading Ideas
0 Two Approaches to Digital Playlists for Faith Formation

How can a digital playlist enhance hybrid and online faith formation? John Roberto shares two approaches for creating digital playlists to strengthen faith formation. The digital playlist has become an essential resource for designing hybrid and online faith formation. What the textbook was to the print era, the playlist is to the digital world. It provides the learning content in…

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Leading Ideas
0 How to Keep Preaching Fresh: An In-Depth Interview with Teresa Fry Brown

How can preachers keep their preaching fresh? Doug Powe of the Lewis Center staff interviews Professor of Preaching Teresa Fry Brown about preaching familiar texts for different generations, preaching for in person and digital audiences, as well as sermon preparation for bivocational pastors.  Listen to this interview, watch the interview video on YouTube, or continue reading. Doug Powe: Dr. Teresa Frye…

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Leading Ideas
0 Leading Topics: Paving the Way for Smoother Pastoral Transitions

Paving the Way for Smoother Pastoral Transitions The transitional time when one pastor is leaving a church and another is picking up the mantel of their leadership is a critical chapter in the life of any congregation. It is also a key juncture in the ministry of any pastoral leader. Both outgoing and incoming pastors and the congregations they serve…

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Leading Ideas
0 5 Characteristics of Effective Ministry Teams

To celebrate the Lewis Center’s anniversary, we are highlighting Leading Articles — some of our most popular posts of the past 20 years. We are pleased to share again this article by Ann Michel of the Lewis Center staff, originally published on July 29, 2015. If your congregation relies on leadership teams to make ministry happen, the vitality of your…

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Leading Ideas
0 Is Spiritual Maturity a Prerequisite for New Church Leaders?

Ann Michel of the Lewis Center questions the common advice that churches should only invite those who are already spiritually mature into leadership roles. She says new leaders can grow in faith and discipleship through their service, especially when existing leaders are committed to supporting their faith development and leadership growth.  I’ve read a lot of advice over the years…

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Leading Ideas
0 Humility is Critical to Successful Pastoral Transition

Lee Kricher says that one of the key variables in a successful pastoral transition is humility. It is difficult but essential that both outgoing and incoming pastors adopt an attitude of humility and respect for each other. The outgoing pastor who genuinely cares about the people and ministry of the church will do everything possible to humbly transfer their leadership…

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Leading Ideas
0 Breakthrough: Trusting God for Big Change in Your Church — An In-Depth Interview with Dawn Weaks

What happens when a congregation trusts God for big change? Doug Powe of the Lewis Center staff speaks with author and pastor Dawn Darwin Weaks about the rebirth of Connection Christian Church and how to lead change well.   Listen to this interview, watch the interview video on YouTube, or continue reading. Doug Powe: Breakthrough: Trusting God for Big Change in Your…

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Leading Ideas
0 Where Churches Spend Too Much and Where They Spend Too Little

In working with more than 500 churches, The Unstuck Group identified certain expenditure areas where churches commonly invest too little and those where churches tend to invest too much. Their findings may offer clues to bringing a better balance to your church’s budget.  Many churches underinvest in some aspects of their ministry while other aspects of their ministry have disproportionately…

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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.