Trend toward Older Clergy Continues in 2014
For the past ten years, the Lewis Center in partnership with the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits has reported annually on Clergy Age…
Browsing: Leadership
Articles
Change Leaders Persevere
Regularly we remind others and ourselves that resurrection never happens until after a death. Yet often in leading a significant change, we panic. When the…
Learning to Fail Fast
While reading recent studies in leadership development trends, I was reminded of Paul’s call in Romans to be “transformed by the renewal of your minds.”…
The Power of Five Questions
In a local church, feedback will happen — whether you ask for it or not! But the challenge is to collect feedback in a systematic…
What’s Good about That?
It’s good to pay attention to what’s going well. Most congregations — like most people — can accomplish more by building on their strengths than…
Lovett Weems Briefly Reviews Three Books of Interest to Church Leaders
Rebuilt: Awakening the Faithful, Reaching the Lost, Making Church Matter by Michael White and Tom Corcoran, Ave Maria Press, 2013. This book will surprise…
Jesus’ Lessons for Leading
Building a congregation’s life around a clear vision and purpose is easy to affirm. Aligning that purpose with biblical teaching and witness makes sense. Seldom…
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…
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…
