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.
Being right vs. being effective
I ran across this great post recently from coach Scott Eblin: Five questions for leaders who would rather be effective than right. He makes a great point about the tension we sometimes feel when we’re trying to advance an agenda. We most often want to get credit for...
Not every good thing is a God thing
There are many, many good things we could do. So many, in fact, that it can actually cause a problem in one of two ways. One is that we could overcommit and not do anything well. The other is that sometimes when we are faced with too many options, we paradoxically...
Not your run-of-the-mill baby dedication
Today’s blog entry is by Ross Nelson, pastor of Northwoods Vineyard Church in Tomahawk, Wisconsin. About six years ago, my older son Nate worked in a family grocery business and oversaw the liquor department. In that capacity, he developed a friendship with another...
3 ways to avoid becoming a team without athletes
Today’s blog entry is written by Joel Seymour, lead pastor of the Lancaster Vineyard. He can be reached through Twitter @JoelSeymour or via email. You’ve probably been watching an NFL game and heard one of the announcers comment about one of the teams, “there just...
T4T: Keeping it simple
This week’s blog series is by Dave White, a missionary with OC International in The Philippines. He shares his experience using T4T. T4T is a set of principles that weaves together evangelism, evangelism training, discipleship, and leadership development, including...
In and through: how transformation connects to mission
I’ve been meditating on Colossians 1.28-29: “So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. That’s why I work and struggle so hard,...
Sodality and modality
Ralph Winter coined the terms sodality and modality in a little chapter in a big book that a lot of people have on their shelves but have not read: Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. The book is an anthology of articles, edited by Ralph Winter. He included...
Engaging those who won’t be engaged through traditional church
Randy Lovejoy, a pastor turned “missionary to the culture,” has had some adventures lately getting to know people he would never have encountered in his former role as pastor. He connected with a friend-of-a-friend who had hit a hard time in life and has been...
What are your criteria?
If you simply gather your team or pull people together to do an evaluation of some particular ministry event, people will give assessment: this was good, this wasn’t good. That is everyone coming at the issue from their own perceptions. Each person has their own...
Who can benefit from coaching? You might be surprised
I recently ran across this quote from Tom Boasberg, the Superintendent of Denver Public Schools: The number one overwhelming focus that we have is the quality of our teaching. We’ve significantly increased our investment in teacher leaders who give one-on-one...
When seeing is the first step
Sometimes when you’re coaching someone and seeking to develop them in their leadership, they run up against some kind of blockage. If you probe a little further into their background, you might find the roots of the blockage. What have they experienced in ministry?...
Scanning the horizon for what’s changing
I happened to be talking with a friend of mine who owns a bike store. He told me that historically, Thanksgiving through Christmas was a major busy season. He barely had time to ride—it was crunch time for taking orders and assembling bikes. Now it’s different. It...