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 …
Leadership
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 …
Imagine an Institution (#0386)
A short illustration, posted on April 20 by Jerry Bowyer on the forbes.com blog, was printed in the May 31, 2011 edition of the Christian Century: Imagine an institution that requires its leaders to attend not only college, but graduate school. Imagine that the graduate school in question is constitutionally forbidden from receiving any form of government aid, that it typically requires three years of full-time schooling for the diploma, that the nature of the schooling bears almost no Read More …
The Limits of Pragmatism (#0376)
Edith Guffey has spent her adult life in administrative roles with large organizations. After working for several years in student records and admissions at the University of Kansas, she found her home in the national setting of the United Church of Christ in 1991. Guffey initially served as the denomination's secretary, which included acting as the denomination's "chief statistician." In 1999 she was elected Associate General Minister, tasked as Read More …
Review of God Is Not a Christian (#0371)
Meet the Author and Editor The Most Rev. Dr. Desmond Tutu was the first black person to serve as General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches and the first to serve as Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa. Tutu is best known for his tireless and effective work to end apartheid. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism in 1986, the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2005, and Read More …
Should Clergy-Scholars Lead the Church? (#0339)
Donald Miller is the author of several books including A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing my Life (2009) and Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality (2003). To connect with him, read his blog, like him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter. Earlier this month he posted, "Should the Church be Led by Teachers and Scholars?" In the article he questions the centuries old norm of the church being led by Read More …
Church and Academy: Healthy Interdependence? (#0338)
J. R. Daniel Kirk, Assistant Professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, recently wrote multiple blog posts about the divide between the church and the academy. In "Church and Academy Need Each Other" he writes: . . . the church and the academy need each other–and we sometimes reflect this interdependence in ways that we are unaware of. . . . let me say why the academy needs the church. The church always remembers what the academy too often forgets: the Read More …
Returning to Parish Ministry (#0333)
After my first time away from parish ministry since the early days of seminary, I will be returning to that role effective May 1 when I assume the role of Director of Adult Education at Naples United Church of Christ. Some of my regular readers may be familiar with that name as I have written several times about my volunteer leadership experiences in this community of faith, especially in leading worship (i.e. sermon manuscript or other recent materials: 1, 2, 3, 4). Read More …