Does Everyone in a Church Need to Know Everything?
Every congregation has a set of expectations, mostly unspoken and never completely identified, about making decisions. And sometimes, these expectations are unhelpful. One such unhelpful…
Browsing: Lay Leadership
Articles
Making Space for Faithful Following
As people live longer and are healthier and active further into older adulthood, a logjam of sorts is created. Older adults who have found great…
The Church That Wouldn’t Die
Detroit is almost surgically separated into east and west by Woodward Avenue. Woodward stretches northwest from the Detroit River downtown all the way up through…
The Power of Laity in Connecting to the Community
For much of my ministry, I had a recurring fantasy each time I was moving to a new church as pastor. I would imagine myself…
Saying Yes
One of the surest ways to empower people to serve is to champion their ideas. If any church member approaches you with an idea for…
Leadership is Always about Others
There are many, many things about leadership that we do not know. However, there are a few truths about which we can be sure. One…
A Consensus Model for Conducting an Annual Meeting
Each year, my congregation holds an annual meeting to review the past year, give updates on issues, and share projections for the coming year. We…
A Different Kind of Church Shopper
Gone is the denominational and congregational loyalty that was the mark of our parents’ generation. In particular, I have been acutely aware of two types…
Reach More Volunteers
If the idea of recruiting volunteers has been a challenge in the past, you are not alone. But getting rid of the mind-set of recruiting…
Turning Church Spectators into Active Participants
The story told in John 21:15-19 is almost too familiar. Three times Jesus asks if Peter loves him, three times Peter says yes, and each…
Recent Research Quantifies the Nature and Scope of Lay Staff Ministry
The growth of lay staff in congregations across denominations is a significant trend shaping the way churches engage in ministry and the way people experience…
Strengthening the Ministry of Lay Staff
Many churches rely on lay staff workers to lead critical ministries of education, formation, outreach, and worship. Yet lay staff rarely have the level of…
Volunteer Expiration Dates
Expiration dates are on all sorts of things and for good reasons. We can find them on loaves of bread, gallons of milk, and egg…
Avoiding Lay Ministry Burnout
Have you known a church member who seemed fully engaged and invested in a congregation but suddenly walked away? What makes someone “flame out” unexpectedly?…
Nursery Lessons: A Better Way of Recruiting Volunteers
Recently we have been focused on revitalizing the nursery at our church. We put in rigorous safety measures. We organized a committee to support the…
What’s Your Leadership Game?
Someone asked me recently if I preferred to play chess or tic-tac-toe? “Actually I’m not a big fan of either game,” I responded, “but if…
Rewarding Leadership
How do congregations celebrate persons who point toward the achievement of the congregation’s mission? And how do these celebrations occur consistently and frequently, rather than…
Creating Leadership Accountability Systems
Intentional leaders know that team leadership is not a lone ranger proposition. While leadership is certainly a specialized role, it serves best in conjunction and…
Igniting a Ministry
Ultimately Responsible: When You’re in Charge of Igniting a Ministry contains plenty of practical advice on how to jumpstart tired programs and engage church members…
Leadership Multiplication and the Way of Jesus
Dwight Zscheile believes that developing leaders is a priority in churches today and he writes about several dimensions of the work of leadership development. The…
Coaching New Leaders
Steward Perry describes a simple process of on-the-job coaching to help new deacons get familiar with the ministry of visitation. Getting new people involved in…
I Hope They Will Know I Believed in Them
Lovett Weems notes the prevalence of a “we-they” attitude of clergy toward their members while lifting up examples of leaders who affirm laity. One study…