Bearing Fruit: Ministry with Real Results
Thousands of congregations are in serious trouble. Children are not being taught the faith. Disciples are not being made. Lives are not being transformed. The…
Browsing: Leadership
Articles
Five Practices of Fruitful Living
United Methodist Bishop Robert Schnase, author of the best-selling Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations published by Abingdon Press in 2007, has a new book on…
Find a Few Wise People
When pastors tell me about particularly troubling dilemmas they face in their congregations, perhaps the most common advice I offer is, “Find a wise person,”…
Myths about Clergy Burnout and Managing Stress
The plight of stressed-out pastors has attracted a great deal of attention since The New York Times front-page report, “Taking a Break from the Lord’s…
If You Count the Money, Count the People
At a recent gathering, clergy and laity from several congregations were asked how they keep track of their attendance each Sunday and how they keep…
The Promise and Peril of Conflict
A compelling example of leaders turning conflict into opportunity for structural and cultural change is found in the first seven verses of Acts 6. The…
Should a Church Staff Member Report to a Committee?
When board- and committee-centered congregations engage paid staff, they sometimes struggle to find language to describe how staff members should relate to one another and…
Leaders Stay Young
What are the qualities of a good leader? Fortunately, Jesus defined leadership: A dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to…
Mutual Mentoring
In a traditional mentoring relationship, an older, wiser colleague provides wisdom, counsel, and advice to a younger, less-skilled aspirant. Today, however, the notion of reverse…
Christ-like Leadership for a Post-Modern World
Many of us carry around a model of leadership that grows out of our childhood and is modeled on our parents. Parents have all the…
What Report is First on Your Church Council Agenda?
When I started out in ministry nearly 35 years ago, I wandered into my first church board meeting with wide eyes and my mouth firmly…
The Four Stages of a Pastoral Transition
A time of transition for a pastor can be both exciting and terrifying. The possibility of a new start with its challenges and opportunities brings…
How Full is Your Menu?
Occasionally I like to visit a local Mexican restaurant. As I scan the menu, I search for items I’ve never tasted. However, I often feel…
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…
Leaders Need Holy Friendships
Many think of a leader as the lone figure who walks in front of the crowd. A far more healthy view would ask how a…
Leaders Learn the Art of Making Announcements
Making announcements? Whether it’s at your service, meeting, or event, there are things you should know about people if you want them to hear what…
Can We Learn from Toyota?
My Wesley faculty colleague Jessicah Duckworth called my attention to a National Public Radio story about the mistakes that led to the recall crisis Toyota…
Credibility Essential for Leadership
Credibility is the foundation upon which all effective leadership builds. It is the “operating capital” from which leaders draw to advance the vision. There are…
A God Corrected Vision
“Where there is no vision, the people will perish,” Proverbs reminds us. Vision is one of the five human senses, but is also one of…
The Wisdom of Ants
I was struck recently by an article that begins with a statement about ants by Stanford biologist Deborah Gordon. “Ants aren’t smart,” she wrote in…
Facing Our Losses, Finding Our Future
Church leadership literature often seems lacking in psychological depth. It feels Machiavellian in its world view and behaviorist in its focus, particularly if your seminary…
Leading with Energy, Intelligence, Imagination, and Love
Will you seek to serve the people with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love? This question is asked in the service of ordination and installation of…
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…
Tell Me About a Time
As I sat tapping on my computer keyboard in a Midwestern Starbucks, an unexpected event unfolded nearby. A manager sporting a green apron sat down…
Do Our Assumptions Still Fit?
Peter Drucker maintains that organizational problems are not the result of groups doing things poorly or even doing the wrong things. Organizations fail, he contends,…
Becoming a Tribe of Remembering Encouragers
Just as the congregation of Israel was composed of twelve tribes, today’s churches have different voices that are heard in their communities of faith. Transformational…
Reintroducing the Language of Sacrifice
I have never been an enthusiastic fan of the word “sacrifice” because so few church members in this culture understand or appreciate the term or…
Affirming and Improving Clergy Effectiveness
Clergy effectiveness is on the mind of virtually every denominational leader today. Indeed, many judicatories have initiatives underway to define, assess, and improve clergy effectiveness.…
New Tool to Help Clergy Get Feedback
The Lewis Center has worked with hundreds of clergy, and we know that clergy want to improve. But often they do not feel they have…
Discerning Clues for the Future
What do leaders do? Pastors are leaders, and one of the important tasks of leaders is discerning clues for the future to which God is…
