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…
Browsing: Leadership
Articles
Leading as Moses Led
One of the most fundamental elements of any successful organization is leadership. However, it is also one of the most misunderstood qualities as it relates…
Levers of Change for Congregations
Bishop Robert Schnase, author of the popular Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations (Abingdon, 2007), has inspired thousands of congregations to focus on what is most…
Old Habits Die Hard
I grew up working with my parents in our country grocery store. Those were days before the advent of large drug stores with hundreds of…
Nelson Mandela — A Leader for His Time
Late last year, the world paid tribute to the remarkable life of Nelson Mandela. Some said there had been nothing like it since the death…
Starting the Year Poised for Growth
Christmas and New Year’s are just behind us and Lent is on its way! Consequently, there is plenty to do. But thanks to the generosity…
What Church Leaders Can Learn from Other Enterprises
I believe church leaders have much to learn from prayerful and careful consideration of a broad range of management and organizational practices. And based on…
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…
Dreams Take Leadership…and Time
Will Campbell died earlier this summer. He was known as an eccentric Baptist preacher who fought fiercely for justice but was never comfortable with the…
Remember the “Light of Day” Test
A controversy arose recently over the Rolling Stone magazine cover featuring Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in a Bob Dylan-like photo. Although the issue included…
A Little Criticism Goes a Long Way
Leaders must have feedback to grow. Those who become exemplary leaders start out much like others. What causes them to grow into stellar leaders is…
Creating Positive Staff Dynamics
Jesus made it look easy. Pick some folks (anyone will do), spend intentional time with them, give them chances to lead, and Bam! A team…
Determine On What Hills You Are Willing To Die
As a much younger leader, I wanted to fight about everything. Growing in this particular understanding may be more a factor of aging and maturing.…
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…
Building Community through Ministry Teams
As wonderful as our worship gatherings are, everyone sitting in long rows facing a pastor is not real community. Large gatherings of people for corporate…
That Would Never Happen Here
One of the great blessings of my life is knowing W. Clark Randall. Before his retirement, Clark spent his professional career as a senior executive…
Building Trust for Effective Team Ministry
Trust is probably the most oft-mentioned and common ingredient within great ministry teams. Experts from all fields of team building agree on this essential. All…
Giving our Best to God?
A phrase made popular by management writer Philip Crosby is “quality is free.” It reminds us that efforts to ensure that work is done right…
Listening: A Key Team Building Skill
It just may be that the best way to make people feel truly honored is to listen to them with rapt and sincere attentiveness. Few…
Finding Focus in the New Year
Often New Year’s resolutions tend to be grand and unrealistic. Perhaps that is why the failure rate is so high. Sometimes we do the same…
Working with Committees and Boards
One of the least glamorous jobs of any church leader is attending board or committee meetings. Understanding the purpose, vision, and goals of each ministry…
Limitations of an Annual Review
December is often the time when congregations and denominations require annual evaluations of clergy and staff. Evaluation is a good thing. But when the only…
Developing Your Own “Undo Send” Button
Have you ever sent an email and immediately regretted it? Most of us have. Google added a feature to its Gmail system called “Undo Send”…
Surmounting Leadership Defeats
How do we rebound from setbacks to our best-laid attempts to exercise responsible leadership in ministry? I recently returned from a large denominational gathering where…
Stewarding God’s Gift of Time
God has given each of us the ability to do many things. Yet we have to make choices, to say no to some activities in…
The Risks and Rewards of Being an Associate Pastor
Let’s face it. Working as an associate pastor is not glamorous. You are not preaching every Sunday, your name is not on the church sign,…
Showing Appreciation for Your Pastor
Some of you may know that October is designated Pastor Appreciation Month in some denominations and congregations. This is not a major national observance, but…
A Keystone Habit for Our Time
A much-talked-about book currently is The Power of Habit. The author, Charles Duhigg, attempts to answer the questions, “Why do habits exist, and how can…
Metrics: A Tool for Learning, Not Judging
The current focus on setting numerical goals for ministry and reporting on the results is not new, though it is now greatly expanded. In the…
