Church Leadership >
In Good to Great, Jim Collins and his team sought out companies that moved from being good at what they were doing to becoming truly great. They pointed out that “Good is the enemy of the great.” In other words, people will praise your organization for providing quality but not ...
Church Leadership >
In our Companions in Christ study entitled “Feeding on the Word,” participants were introduced to the difference between informational reading and formational reading of scripture. This idea is presented very effectively in Robert Mulholland’s book,Shaped by the Word.Informational reading of scripture is a left-brain approach. Mulholland points out that the ...
Church Leadership >
Most of us in ministry leadership want to do a better job and are constantly seeking resources to help us, especially those that are based on sound theological reflection and actual practice. If you are this type of leader, let me share something with you.Under the leadership of executive director ...
Church Leadership >
A couple of weeks ago, we received a mailer from a new church start in our community. Actually, the pastor has been working on this for about four years, but evidently they are moving toward more visibility in the community, thus the mailing.When I went to the church’s web site, ...
Church Leadership >
On any given Sunday, there are more people outside the walls of the churches that within and few of these will be in Christian worship at any other time during the week. Some leaders see starting new churches—new communities of faith or worshipping units--as one way to address this situation. ...
Church Leadership >
Ed Rollins passed away on Tuesday. Ed was who I wanted to be when I grew up. Shortly after Charles Roselle became the director of National Student Ministries at the Baptist Sunday School Board, he asked Ed (then state director of student ministries in California) to join him as manager ...
Church Leadership >
Strategy planning is not what it used to be. There was a time when governments, businesses, and even churches planned for the future as if what happened next would be a natural consequence of what had gone before. Of course, this kind of linear thinking no longer applies. Instead of ...
Church Leadership >
Although I have been a mentor and informal coach most of my life, I have practiced professional life coaching with clients for about five years now. During that time, I have built on my inherent gifts of encouraging and relating by adding professional training and observed coaching experiences.As I talk ...
Church Leadership >
These are challenging days for theological institutions—seminaries, theological schools, and divinity schools. Whether they are attached to denominations or larger institutions, they still must deal with declining enrolments, stagnant endowments, and increasing costs. In a recent article in The Christian Century, Daniel Aleshire, executive director of the Association of Theological ...