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.
Connecting Pastors to Peace
You have certainly had troubles in the past year: difficult transitions, attacks from within and without, possibly dwindling numbers or lack of visible results… Are you craving peace? It is a balm to body, mind and soul. I once heard peace defined as not the absence...
Hope for Pastors
Hope. That essential well from which you must continue to drink if you are to continue on in life and calling. You who have borne the weight of ministry for these past few difficult years understand how crucial hope is to the soul. It’s vital for the energy to...
5 ways you made a difference this year
I would completely understand if you are feeling low heading into the holidays. You might even be struggling to prepare sermons of thanksgiving. It's been a hard year for everyone and as a ministry leader I know you've carried more than your fair share. As I reflect...
Do’s and Don’ts for End-of-Year Giving
If your income projections are in the red going into the winter months, you are not alone. Remember, this is not new. There is a usual dip in giving over the summer months that bring hard financial updates right when you're planning next year's budget. It's an annual...
Capitalize on your strengths
No leader is perfect. Rather than focusing on your weaknesses, you can learn how to make the best use of your strengths to get where you want to go. One of the books I consistently use when I teach leadership in the Fuller Seminary D Min program is Strengths Based...
No ministry is safe without THIS
You've heard the stories. Accountability can mean the difference between success and disaster for even the most gifted pastor. No ministry is safe without accountable leadership. What does it mean to practice accountable leadership? Certainly, as a ministry leader you...
When will you get it right?
When you put so much work into something that has the potential for great good, it's a bit of a gut punch when it falls flat. But you pick yourself and try again... and again. When will you get it right? Don't give up When developing something new, you never get it...
Pursuing God’s Will Together
You want a unified team? Commit to making decisions in alignment with God's will together. I’ve read some of Ruth Haley Barton’s other books, so I was already a fan. But in Pursing God’s Will Together, she breaks new ground with looking at spiritual direction in the...
The three-in-one ministry leader
When you need a ministry role filled, it's easy to get hung up on finding someone who checks all the boxes. You might be looking for a three-in-one ministry leader. Take the example of a Sunday school ministry leader. To fill that role, you ideally want someone who...
Do you have the spiritual gift of guiding?
You probably haven't heard of the spiritual gift of guiding. I certainly hadn't. But it makes a whole lot sense and it's biblical—I checked! Here's how I discovered it and why I think it's so important: Is guiding a spiritual gift? I was recently teaching through a...
Six stages of the leadership training trail
Are you hitting a wall as you train new leaders? If the people you are training as leaders aren't developing like you hoped they would, it may be that you are missing some stages of the leadership training trail... Let’s say you have a promising potential young leader...
Top 7 reasons churches won’t look out their windows
Why are so many of our churches today insular and siloed, unable—or unwilling—to look out the window at the world beyond our walls? Here are seven of the top barriers to engaging with those around us: 1. We aren’t experiencing God ourselves. If we’re not...