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.
Missio Intensive in Portland
I’m at the Missio Intensive today in Portland with Hugh Halter and Matt Smay—pictured here. In case you’re not clear on what an Intensive actually is, it’s an event designed to help you rethink your assumptions about church and move your current church in a more...
End of the trail: celebration at the destination
Note: part of a series from From Followers to Leaders. See Feb 21 blog entry for backstory. Eventually, the new leaders reach the end of the path. They may have gained competence in a particular area, or accomplished a specific goal such as multiplying a small group...
Support networks: campfire conversations
Note: part of a series from From Followers to Leaders. See Feb 21 blog entry for backstory. We’re not on this journey alone. And we’re not on it just with our guide. We’re on it with our fellow hikers, our peers, our teammates. There are other people trekking nearby,...
Ongoing support: along the trail
Note: part of a series from From Followers to Leaders. See Feb 21 blog entry for backstory. Even after people have started out along the path and we’ve provided some on-the-job training, we’ll still need to provide continuing support. The challenges our leaders will...
Show-how training: beginning of the trail
Note: part of a series from From Followers to Leaders. See Feb 21 blog entry for backstory. To the degree that learning content doesn't incorporate experience, it begins losing value. Conversely, learning that incorporates experience is exponentially more valuable…...
Orientation: the trailhead
Those who decide in the parking lot that this journey sounds like a good idea will move on to the trailhead. We might expect that once people have left the parking lot and decided to hike the path, they would just get on the trail and start going. Not so. It seems we...
Motivation: the parking lot
Note: part of a series from From Followers to Leaders. See Feb 21 blog entry for backstory. The parking lot is the decision-making place. It’s not somewhere people want to stay and hang out. It’s the place where people make up their minds about whether they want to...
The path
Below is an excerpt from my book From Followers to Leaders that lays out one of my favorite metaphors—the path. The path is about the process of getting where you want to go… wherever that may be. Over the next few days, we’ll look in more depth at each stage of the...
A Word from Wisconsin: Discipleship vs. Discipling
Today some thoughts from Brian Williamson, Lead Pastor of The Bridge Bible Church, a decentralized networked approach in Somerset, WI. Their church’s vision is to lead everyone toward full life development in Jesus through missional communities. “We’ve benefited from...
Orville Wright
“… we were lucky enough to grow up in a home environment where there was always much encouragement to children to pursue intellectual interests; to investigate whatever aroused curiosity. In a different kind of environment our curiosity might have been nipped long...
Learning styles
Learning styles are something we often think of in terms of a classroom: some kids learn by hearing, some kids learn by seeing, etc. But the concept applies outside the classroom to any kind of learning. Recently one of my leaders in ViaCordis had an ah-ha moment...
Learning new balance
This time a story from Steve Brightwell: “I am now convinced that the absolute greatest impact I can make is through personal investment in the disciple-making process with a handful of willing and responsive new believers. I also believe it is the most effective...