Leadership
Holistic Leadership Development
You want to develop leaders who will do what Jesus called us to do, leaders who can take the church forward into the 21st century. You look to the fields and see them, as Jesus does, ready for harvest — and you know that’s where your ministry needs to concentrate.
What’s needed is holistic leadership development — the kind of leadership development that comes from the harvest and leads people back into the harvest, resulting in subsequent generations of new believers and new leaders living as Jesus called us to live.
We can help you develop leaders the kind of leaders you need in a way that is both relational and intentional… and ultimately effective in helping your church accomplish its mission.
Real disciplemaking starts with nondisciples
You have embraced the vision of multiplying disciples—starting with someone who is not a follower of Jesus and walking alongside them the whole way through exploration, discipleship, and leadership development. You have embraced the vision. What you really need is a...
Dear Bob– counsel for a missional church planter
Hey Bob! My name is Jason Wood, I am a church planter and I am currently a part of a church plant and we are in the process of starting missional community groups that are to be the life blood of the church. Any suggestions? Thanks! Hi Jason— Congrats on starting...
Lightbulb Conversations
A few days ago I had a conversation with a friend who is also a network leader. I was telling her about the kind of work I’m going to be focusing on next—helping people return to the work of Jesus at a grassroots level, living missionally and incarnationally in the...
Group Baptism
Let’s take some time to celebrate. Last week our church was able to participate in a baptism celebration for a number of people in the transition center network where we’re serving. Together with the residents and another church that is serving here we had over 20...
The starfish group
One woman in my church plant has started a new group. One of the members, new to both the group and the church, wanted to call the group “the starfish group,” after the book The Starfish and the Spider—with the idea being that the group is set up to multiply right...
When God’s people pray, God’s power is released
I remember the powerful impact of having an intercessor pray onsite during an entire church planter training. Having prayer coverage during the whole training made a huge difference. So when someone within my church context asked me how her specific gifts might be...
Follow the promptings of the Spirit
One of my friends went to the grocery store last week. As he was checking out, he had a strong impression to buy a rack of ribs. He didn't need ribs, but the sensation didn't go away. So he bought a rack of ribs anyway. As he drove home, he decided to give the...
Start with listening prayer
Yesterday, our house church spent time in listening prayer. We asked God questions and waited quietly to sense the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Questions raised included ones like: Lord, what should be be asking you? What have you already shown us? Where are...
Along-the-way-learning
Imagine being an expectant first-time mother or father taking a parenting class. The instructor starts out talking about early infancy, and all of the pregnant women and their husbands are nodding and taking notes. But then their expressions become increasingly...
Information overload
Why do we keep doing it? We try to cram everything someone could possibly someday need to know into their orientation or training. We overload them with information, and their practice doesn’t have a chance to catch up. Essentially, we are educating people beyond...
Is your church a family or a team?
Often in churches we use the language of family to describe our relationships with each other. And that description can be helpful in some ways. However in other ways a group of churches that is really moving forward is functioning more as a team than as a family....
Convoy Mentality
We tend to believe that for organizational change to take place, we must first get everyone on the same page, ready to move along in the same direction. We will all go together in a big convoy. Until everyone is ready to move, no one moves. While it would be nice to...