Communicating in a Crisis
Church consultant Mike Bonem says leaders need to step up their communication in this season of anxiety and uncertainty. It is important to be transparent,…
Browsing: Leadership
Articles
The Right Start: Beginning Ministry in a New Setting — COVID-19 Supplement
The Right Start in the Era of COVID-19 The arrival of a new pastor is a critical juncture in the life of a church. A…
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…
Episode 54: “The Adept Church” featuring F. Douglas Powe Jr.
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.
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,…
Episode 53: “Developing Effective Leaders” featuring Bishop Yehiel Curry
How can we more effectively develop leaders? In this episode, Bishop Yehiel Curry of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, offers his insights on leadership development.
The Adept Church: Navigating Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Learn how to determine your church’s best way forward! How can you help your congregation take an honest look at challenges in their church? And…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
4 Ways to Multiply Disciples the Way Jesus Did
Dave Ferguson and Warren Bird explain that for our ministries to have a truly exponential impact, we need to be mentoring, developing, and multiplying disciples.…
The 4 “C’s” of Impactful Leadership
Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe says that courage, conviction, collaboration, and creativity are four characteristics of effective leadership evident in the powerful legacy of…
3 Ways to Lead More Collaboratively
Justin Irving and Mark Strauss write that collaboration is an important factor contributing to effective leadership. Leading with humility, celebrating the contributions of others, and…
Leading When You Don’t Know the Way
Consultant Susan Beaumont says church leaders need a different set of skills in ambiguous, disorienting periods of transition. In such seasons of change leaders must…
Episode 48: “Congregational Renewal Begins with Breakthrough Prayer” by Sue Nilson Kibbey
Looking for ways to re-energize you congregation? In this episode we speak with church renewal expert Sue Nilson Kibbey about the central role of breakthrough prayer in helping a congregation shift the focus of its gaze up and out, rather than down and in.
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…
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…
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…
Episode 46: “How Can Churches Thrive in a Time of Cultural and Institutional Change?” featuring David McAllister-Wilson
How can churches and church-related organizations thrive in a time of rapid cultural change and deteriorating institutional structures? In this episode we speak with David McAllister-Wilson, President of Wesley Theological Seminary, about new models of church, new ways of preparing people for ministry, and the importance of a renewed vision that engages nontraditional leaders.
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
