Leaders Interpret the Present in Light of the Past
Leaders create holding environments for innovation in part by helping the community interpret its legacy, present situation, and future. This centers on asking questions to…
Browsing: Planning and Visioning
Articles
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…
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…
Unclutter Your Church
What needs to die in your church? We begin the journey of restarting your church by allowing for, even encouraging, places of death. We choose…
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…
Planning Inspired by the Spirit
Drawing on his experience leading a strategic planning process, Pastor Myung Sun Han identifies key lessons to keep a church-wide planning exercise positive, productive, and…
Overcoming Motion Sickness
Have you ever experienced motion sickness? Persons who suffer from motion sickness become severely ill when traveling at certain speeds or distances. In many cases,…
The Power of Praise in Awakening Missional Identity
I serve a congregation that averages 60-70 in worship and have been there five years. As preparation for a visioning process, I began meeting with small…
Casting a Vision
Not long ago, while driving along the coast observing nature, I became aware of countless people fishing. I wondered what their visions or expectations were…
From Our Doorsteps: Developing a Ministry Plan That Makes Sense
Many churches today desperately need to fall in love with their communities again. Increasingly, congregational life and community life spin in different orbits with little…
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…
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…
Spiritual Leaders and Vision
Bishop Schol writes that spiritual leaders help a congregation discern and attain a vision of their future. Spiritual leaders are compelled by vision. Out of…
A Church That Feeds Body and Soul
Michele McGrath describes the process of leading a congregation in defining a vision that captured the church’s true passion and identity around feeding others. After…
Developing a Strategy for Your Congregation
In his book, Leading a Local Church in the Age of the Spirit, Bishop Jonathan Gledhill writes about the primacy of vision and strategy which, once…
The Church of the Good Air
Rhonda VanDyke Colby writes about the congregation at Bon Air United Methodist Church making an imaginative turn from the church’s history to its mission in articulating…
Prayer and Fasting Leads to a New Mission and a “Mission Prayer”
While pastor of a church started in a rapidly growing area, Peter Moon describes how prayer and fasting led his church to a renewed sense of mission,…
Demographics and Leadership
Lovett Weems offers the example of the Girl Scouts USA who understood that continued viability depends on adapting to changes in national demographics. A community…
Take the Next Step: Leading Lasting Change in the Church
Learn how to work for genuine and effective change in your church without trying to throw out everything that has gone before. Pastors and other…
