Subscribe free to "Leading Ideas" at churchleadership.com/leadingideas. Every Wednesday, "Leading Ideas" delivers information, resources, and strategies for forward-thinking church leaders.
Looking for practical strategies to more effectively engage others and lead change? Listen as leadership expert Lovett H. Weems Jr. shares some of his sage advice on the attitudes and practices that can help church leaders thrive.
Mike Bonem says effective leaders are strategic in deciding what not to do. He advocates resolving to drop inconsequential tasks and delegate work peripheral to…
Leading Ideas Talks podcast debuted in January 2018, providing a new way for Leading Ideas subscribers and other church leaders to learn cutting-edge leadership strategies…
Lewis Center resources guide you in strengthening your personal leadership and renewing your congregation. Following are our most popular free and purchased resources of the…
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…
Denise Dombkowski Hopkins, a professor of Hebrew Bible at Wesley Theological Seminary, says we often see biblical leadership in one-dimensional or overly idealized ways. Her…
What can church leaders learn from Moses and other Biblical figures about leading? In this episode Director Douglas Powe discusses biblical leadership with thought leader Dr. Denise Dombkowski Hopkins, the Woodrow W. and Mildred B. Miller Professor of Biblical Theology at Wesley Theological Seminary.
How can we lead like Jesus? In this episode, thought leader Dr. Ken Blanchard shares insights with Lewis Center Director Douglas Powe about being a servant leader.
When so many causes, crises, and critical needs demand our attention, how can a congregation decide where to engage? Pastor and author Ginger Gaines-Cirelli outlines…
New Testament professor Bill Brosend says that preaching in the age of fake news and alternative facts can be like walking a tightrope. But it’s…
Amy Butler, former pastor of the historic Riverside Church in New York City, reflects on how churches can faithfully address the issues of the day…
Aaron M. Bouwens says too many churches make decisions based on the popularity and charisma of a plan’s proponents. He says congregations can make better…
Charley Reeb, author of two books on preaching, says that preachers better connect with people in the pews when they realize they are in the…
What leadership lessons help make you more effective? In this episode Hyrum Smith, creator of the Franklin Planner, speaks with Lewis Center Director Doug Powe about leading with purpose as well as practical, transformational leadership lessons.
Lewis Center Staffer Ann A. Michel says people who think they are too busy to serve at church should be challenged to reexamine their priorities…
Missouri Pastor Jim Hoffman discusses how a five-step process for evaluating and testing possible new initiatives can help churches develop and implement ideas in a…
Church consultant Susan Beaumont says that power accrues more easily to men than women in our culture, so women need to be especially savvy about…
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.
It is increasingly common for a congregation to share a pastor with another congregation and for pastors to be serving more than one church. Lew…
Amy Valdez Barker says that the church should be a training center in the development of trust. She names practices that leaders can employ when…
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.
Church consultant Joel Snider says that serious congregational conflicts can be caused or exacerbated by the poor use of electronic communication. Congregations can work to…
Ginger Gaines-Cirelli, author of Sacred Resistance, says it’s up to preachers to address the pain, injustice, confusion, and chaos in our days even when it…
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.
Lovett H. Weems Jr. says incoming pastors tend to see everything through the lens of their own experience, vision, and interests, rather than learning how…
Ann Michel of the Lewis Center staff outlines six questions that can help reveal whether a particular staff role is likely to be fruitful or…
How can church leaders confront the fear that prevents congregations from dealing with controversial issues or taking necessary risks? Adam Hamilton, pastor of the United…
Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe Jr. says it can be difficult to hold volunteers to high standards of job performance, but clear position descriptions,…
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.
In 2014, Amy Butler stepped into the pulpit of The Riverside Church in Manhattan, a church well known for its public witness and prominent pastoral…
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.
