Yesterday I reviewed Robert Welch's Church Administration: Creating Efficiency for Effective Ministry, 2nd edition (2011). In that post, I noted that his research shows most pastors graduate from seminary with little or no preparation for church administration even though the average pastor spends around half of her or his time on such tasks. When I entered seminary, I already had a solid educational and experiential background in administration outside of the for-profit sector. Read More …
Leadership
Your Pastor Wants to Tell You (#0479)
W. Allen Thomason recently wrote a post about things your pastor wants to tell you, but lacks the courage to say. He writes, "I know that every pastor has things on his or her heart that he or she would love to tell the church, but they never get said for fear that it might cost them their job in the long run." The following items are among those on Thomason's list: The Pastor is not responsible to do all your “Christian Stuff” for you You are not as loving as you think you are Read More …
More Variety in Worship or Not? (#0478)
Jim Moss is the pastor of Clarksville Presbyterian Church in Clarksville, VA. He and I have interacted from time to time via Twitter, and I appreciate his willingness to discuss big issues. Recently, he reflected on a conversation he had with several others via Twitter about the future of the church. More specifically, he was surprised to find less openness from progressive clergy to the possibility of pursuing alternative styles of worship as one of many avenues toward the Read More …
Not To-Do List (#0466)
Michael Hyatt is the Chairman (formerly Chairman and CEO) of Thomas Nelson Publishers, the largest Christian publishing company in the world and the seventh largest trade book publishing company in the U.S. On his Intentional Leadership blog, he recently wrote about "Not To-Do Lists." Hyatt suggests that while most have mastered the idea of using a To-Do List and employ a variety of technological tools for managing their list, far fewer have created and follow a Not Read More …
Seminaries Are Failing Us (#0451)
Sky McCracken is the new Paducah District Superintendent in the Memphis Conference of the United Methodist Church. In June, he blogged about his frustrations with the current seminary system. This material was published a month later as a commentary by the United Methodist Reporter. His most thought provoking remarks follow: The most sobering thing I’ve learned is that there is no correlation between education of clergy and clergy effectiveness. I am convinced more than ever Read More …
The Introverted Ministry Leader (#0441)
Adam S. McHugh, Presbyterian pastor and author of Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture (2009), wrote an article in the Summer 2011 edition of Leadership Journal about introverted leaders that included these words: . . . in more than a decade of Christian leadership I have come to see the significant contributions introverts make to others and have learned effective introverted models of leadership. So we must distinguish between our energy level Read More …
A Proposed Intergenerational Covenant (#0434)
The Reverend Dr. Frederick W. Schmidt, Jr is an Episcopal priest who serves as Director of Spiritual Formation and Associate Professor of Christian Spirituality at Southern Methodist University, Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, TX. Recently he wrote about the need for better intergenerational relations. Toward that end, he offers a proposed intergenerational covenant, which includes these words: For Older Generations You are old enough to be "stuck Read More …
Overcoming Deference (#0433)
Ron Ashkenas is a Senior Partner of Schaffer Consulting and an internationally recognized consultant who writes extensively on organizational change. His recent article, "The Dangers of Deference," published on the Harvard Business Review blog considers the prevalence of deference to authority within organizations. Recognizing "that managers at all levels need their people to add ideas, provide different perspectives, and challenge them" he offers the following suggestions Read More …
Never Complain About (#0411)
Jon Acuff, author of Stuff Christians Like (2010) and Quitter (2011), recently blogged about complaining. In that post he shared his past personal experiences of complaining about various aspects of church life, before learning how unhealthy his perspective had become. In contrast, he suggests a better way for members and active participants to respond to areas of church life they see as less than ideal: then I learned a pretty powerful truth about church volunteers that forever Read More …
Understanding Organizational Culture (#0396)
Michael Schrage is a research fellow at MIT Sloan School’s Center for Digital Business who advises organizations on the economics of innovation through rapid experimentation, simulation and digital design. He recently wrote an article for the Harvard Business Review exploring an important way one can learn about organizational culture. Schrage writes: Paying close attention to customer complaints is a leadership "best practice." Here's a better practice: Pay even closer Read More …