Scott Williams is the Campus Pastor of the Northwest Oklahoma City Campus of LifeChurch.tv, which launched three years ago and already has an average weekly worship attendance of over 3,500. To connect with Williams, read his blog, watch him on YouTube, follow him on Twitter, or friend him on Facebook. Previously, I have written posts based on or inspired by Williams on the topics of effective leadership and tweeting in worship (here and Read More …
Leadership
Religious Under and Over Representation in the 112th Congress (#0262)
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life posted "Faith on the Hill: The Religious Composition of the 112th Congress" last month. This article explores the religious makeup of both chambers, compares the religious preferences of newly elected officials and incumbents, and provides historical data. Shown at right is a chart showing how varying religions are represented in the 112th Congress and in the American adult population as a whole. So What? While some variance between the Read More …
What Makes A Good Follower and Why Does it Matter? (#0259)
Brad Lomenick describes himself as "a passionate follower of Christ, and have the privilege of directing a movement of young leaders called Catalyst." To learn more about Lomenick, read his blog, friend him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter. Recently he shared a list of attributes of good followers: Good followers are great finishers Good followers anticipate Good followers criticize in private, and praise in public Good followers are Read More …
What Conflict Reveals About Leaders (#0258)
A lot can be learned by how people handle conflict. Skye Jethani recently interviewed Ken Sande: President and Founder of Peacemakers Ministries and the author of The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict. Excerpts of that interview were published as "Preemptive Peace," which was published in the Winter 2011 edition of Leadership Journal. One question with considerable relevance to all leaders follows: Jethani: What does conflict reveal about who we Read More …
Atheist Billboards and Christian Responses (#0233)
Billboards are big business. According to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, they produced $4.4 billion dollars of advertising revenue in 2008. While religious billboards account for an insignificant portion of the market, they often generate publicity that extends to an audience far greater than those who drive by and personally view the sign. Take for example two recent billboards paid for by the American Atheists: This billboard ad (pictured above) appeared in Read More …
Vision & Strategy Trends (#0232)
Will Mancini is the founder of Auxano – a church consulting group with a unique approach to developing a church’s vision frame before providing traditional consulting services. He is the author of Church Unique: How Mission Leaders Cast Vision, Capture Culture, and Create Movement (read my review here). Mancini's first blog post of 2011 is packed with relevant information about trends in vision and strategy for churches. He sees eleven trends for 2011 and beyond: Read More …
The Top 3 Books on Leadership (#0211)
Slant33.com, a website designed to "help challenge, inspire and equip youth workers through thoughtful dialogue and varied expression from youth ministry’s leading thinkers and doers," recently asked three of its contributors to answer an important question about leadership: "What three books do you recommend on leadership development?" Danny Qwon, a youth minister for almost twenty years and a current Ph.D. student in organizational leadership, recommended one book designed with youth Read More …
Should Clergy Act More Like Nurses? (#0203)
Gallup has conducted an Honesty and Ethics survey since 1976. The survey has been conducted on an annual basis since 1991. Nurses were added to the list of professions included in the survey in 1999 and have been rated as the most honest and ethical every year since except 2001. Shown below in the form of a bar graph are the results of the 2010 survey: So What? In 2010, clergy ranked 7th among the professions surveyed. Just over half (53%) of all respondents rated the Read More …
How Ideas Spread (#0175)
Seth Godin is the author of twelve books that have been bestsellers around the world and changed the way people think about marketing, change, and work. He earned his MBA from Stanford, and was called "the Ultimate Entrepreneur for the Information Age" by Business Week. For more information visit his website or read his blog. He recently listed 20 reasons why people choose to spread ideas: I spread your idea because it makes me feel generous. ...because I feel smart Read More …
Common Strategic and Pastoral Myths (#0174)
Will Mancini is the founder of Auxano - a church consulting group with a unique approach to developing a church's vision frame before providing traditional consulting services. Mancini's pastoral experience includes helping lead two congregations to grow to over 3,000 in weekend attendance: Clear Creek Community Church and FaithBridge UMC. He is the author of Church Unique: How Mission Leaders Cast Vision, Capture Culture, and Create Movement. To connect with Read More …