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.
Protecting our reputation
Go ask some people on the street what their impression of Christians is. Afraid what you might hear? That’s a reasonable fear. We are known for being “against stuff.” We are known not for our deeds but for our words—and our words are often arrogant, closed-minded, and...
What’s your definition of “friend”?
When my friends Matt and Hugh moved to Denver with an eye toward incarnational missional living, they set a goal of each making 50 new friends who weren’t believers. Meeting that goal required them to think through their definition of “friend.” It certainly means more...
Where’s the love?
We've moved from a cognitive/rational approach to an experiential approach. The people we're trying to reach have changed. It used to be a matter of mastering Evidence that Demands a Verdict. But now we're in a different paradigm. You're not convincing just because...
What’s on your scorecard?
What we count is what we value. And what do we generally count in our churches? The number of people who sit in the services. The offering. Why not try counting something different this month—something more in line with what Jesus told us to do when he said to make...
Cramming for the Kingdom?
Street improvements in Mexico, I am told, happen like clockwork once every five years—the year before elections. Every five years they’ll have some improvements done, but not the rest of the time. Any additional road work will wait until just before the...
Congregational Conversations
Here’s a strategy you can use regardless of the kind of issues you are facing. Read the description below and think through how you could use this kind of strategy in your own ministry. One church has been in the process of transition. The church is two years old and...
Gaining ownership
Effectively casting vision means more than getting consent or compliance. It means getting ownership. If the people consent to the vision, they’re essentially promising not to block you. If they have ownership of the vision, they want it to happen as much as...
Casting vision
People can lose vision is less than a month. Effective visioncasting must be repeated, intentional, and take many different forms. Here are a few common strategies: Strategic prayer Personal example Rewards and recognition Powerful stories Appeals to scripture...
Clarifying your vision
Leaders must be able to effectively visioncast for a preferred future, and effective visioncasting—of course—starts with ourselves. In order to grow and develop our ministries in the right direction, we need to know where we’re headed. Often our best intentions are...
Now that’s something Jesus would do
I ran across a great example of incarnational ministry recently. There’s a Mennonite group in Colorado called New Horizons Ministry. They run a residential home that cares for the babies of women who are in prison. Women who give birth in prison are faced with some...
Planning for the unexpected
In Mexico, something seems to go significantly wrong almost every day. Miguel was one of my hosts on a recent trip. The motor mounts on his car were shot from all the speed bumps, so he got them replaced. Then the battery light came on. The next morning, the battery...
Teaching your team to listen
Relational health and harmony is extremely important when working with teams. To create and maintain that quality on your team, one of the most important skills you can learn—and teach—is to listen well. If you can learn that, then you can model good listening skills...