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Why do women leaders sometimes struggle with using their power and influence? Listen as Lewis Center Associate Director Ann Michel speaks with church consultant Susan Beaumont about how women leaders can learn to use power constructively in leadership relationships.
Are you a pastor serving more than one church? Or a leader in a congregation that’s part of a multi-church ministry? Listen as Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe speaks with Dr. Lew Parks, a small church vitality expert. They explore perspectives and practices that can help ministry flourish even in a church that doesn’t have its own pastor — or a pastor who doesn’t serve just one church.
Does your church have the “church plus” factor? Listen as Lewis Center Director Doug Powe speaks with Tim Shapiro and Kara Faris about their book Divergent Church. They examine innovative, alternative faith communities that combine religious practice with a “church plus” factor — a dedicated focus on some unique aspect of their church’s cultural DNA like gardening, table fellowship, artistic expression, and more.
How can dreaming big help your church reach more people? In this episode Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe, Jr., speaks with Rev. Olu Brown of Impact Church in Atlanta about how to creatively reach new people through extreme hospitality and by dreaming big.
How can churches grow beyond simply engaging in political activism and instead practice “sacred resistance?” In this episode Lewis Center Associate Director Ann A. Michel speaks with Ginger Gaines-Cirelli, pastor of Foundry United Methodist Church in downtown Washington, DC, about sacred resistance as a way of being grounded in the gospel and about who we are as people of faith.
How can we reach millennials? In this episode, Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe, Jr. speaks with the Rev. Dr. Joshua Mitchell about connecting with this diverse group.
Why does fear so often prevent leaders and congregations from taking action? Listen as Lewis Center Associate Director Ann Michel speaks with Rev. Adam Hamilton, author of the new book Unafraid: Living with Courage and Hope in Uncertain Times, about how people of faith can move beyond the paralysis of fear.
How do you balance tradition and innovation? In this episode, Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe, Jr., speaks with Rev. Amy Butler of The Riverside Church in New York City. They discuss insights for leading a historic church.
Related Resources
Unsticking a “Stuck” Institution by Amy Butler
Discovering God’s Future for Your Church Video Tool Kit
What does it take for an older church to thrive in a changing urban context? Listen as Lewis Center Associate Director Ann Michel speaks with Rev. William Lamar, pastor of the historic Metropolitan AME church in downtown Washington, DC.
Related Resources
Begin with Where by Bill Lamar
5 Key Practices for Connecting with Your Context by Mark Gornik and Maria Liu Wong
Is Your Building Impeding Your Mission? by Mark R. Teasdale
How can crowdfunding be used for funding ministry? Lewis Center Associate Director Ann Michel speaks with Adam Copeland of the Center for Stewardship Leaders at Luther Seminary about trends in congregational stewardship and crowdfunding.
Related Resources
Beyond the Offering Plate: A Holistic Approach to Stewardship by Adam Copeland, available at Cokesbury and Amazon.
Lead, Learn, Launch: Getting Started with Digital Giving by Alex Benson
Embracing Electronic Giving by Adam Copeland
How can you connect with more people and engage current parishioners better through preaching? In this Leading Ideas Talks, Lewis Center Director Douglas Powe speaks with Pastor Charley Reeb, author of That’ll Preach!: 5 Simple Steps to Your Best Sermon Ever (available at Cokesbury and Amazon).
What practices lead to synergistic leadership? Listen as Lewis Center Director Douglas Powe interviews Ann Michel about her book “Synergy: A Leadership Guide for Church Staff and Volunteers.”
How can we really see and hear the people in front of us? Listen as Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe speaks with thought leader Rev. Junius Dotson about moving from being inward-focused to outward-focused.
How can church leaders shift and adapt to the rapid cultural changes experienced by younger adults? Listen as Lewis Center Associate Director Ann Michel speaks with Rev. Scott Chrostek, pastor of Resurrection Downtown in Kansas City, about his book The Kaleidoscope Effect: What Emerging Generations Seek in New Leaders (available at Cokesbury and Amazon).
How do you do ministry with people who don’t look like you, sound like you, or think like you? Listen as Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe speaks with thought leader Rev. Jasmine Smothers about insights for doing effective ministry outside one’s native culture.
What can church look like in your neighborhood? Listen as Lewis Center Associate Director Ann Michel speaks with Bishop Ken Carter and Reverend Audrey Warren…
Is your church caught between a rock and a hard place? In this episode we speak with F. Douglas Powe Jr. about his new book, The Adept Church, and what churches can do to move toward a more interactive way of connecting with others. Dr. Powe is director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership and holds the James C. Logan Chair in Evangelism (an E. Stanley Jones Professorship) at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC.
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.