Earlier this summer Will Willimon (read my review of The Best of Will Willimon: Acting Up in Jesus’ Name - 2012) shared some challenging words for those who seek to be Christian leaders: I’ve read dozens of books on leadership, have even written a few myself. Books on leadership tend to say, “Here are the personal qualities you must have, here are the skills you must acquire if you want to lead.” In the world, leaders must be omniscient and omnipotent, capable and courageous, Read More …
Leadership
Organizational Clarity (#0821)
Last week Scott Williams wrote several blog posts summarizing the sessions he attended at the Willow Creek Association Global Leadership Summit, including one on a session led by Patrick Lencioni on the importance of organizational health. Lencioni is the author of ten business books and president of The Table Group, where he focuses on writing and speaking about leadership and organizational life. Williams shares Lencioni's six questions every organization must Read More …
New Church Metrics (#0801)
Cameron Trimble is the Executive Director of the Center for Progressive Renewal, which seeks to “renew Progressive Christianity by training new entrepreneurial leaders, supporting the birth of new liberal/progressive congregations, and by renewing and strengthening existing progressive churches.” In her article on church metrics in the Spring 2012 edition of New Times she proposes a new scorecard for churches that is designed to more accurately reflect the Read More …
Saving Liberal Christianity (#0797)
Earlier this week, my post "Can Christianity Be Saved" considered Ross Douthat’s July 14, 2102, New York Times editorial “Can Liberal Christianity Be Saved?,” and Diana Butler Bass's reply later that same day on the Huffington Post. During the course of the week I returned to the topic in online and in person conversations. The most encouraging part of the dialogue was the shared understanding about three interelated matters: There is a real Read More …
Becoming a Rebel Leader (#0784)
Sister Joan Chittister is a progressive Benedictine nun, a prolific author, and sought after speaker. She recently gave the baccalaureate address at Stanford University. In this moving speech on leadership, she shared these words with the graduates and all who were gathered: No, the world does not really need the skills you learned here. Today's skills will all change in the next five years and change your life with them. The world does not need answers either. Read More …
Stop Doing That! (#0760)
Many ministries that are highly effective and growing during a given season of a congregation's life eventually wane significantly. LeeAnne Watkins, rector of St. Mary's Episcopal Church (St. Paul, MN), considers how best to respond to these difficult situations in her article in the June 13, 2012 edition of the Christian Century (p.10-11). In her parish, the once popular adult education offerings and midweek services stopped drawing significant crowds. Along with a Read More …
A Simple Approach to Leadership (#0751)
Scott Williams has considerable leadership experience as a prison warden, lead pastor of a congregation that grew to an average weekly worship attendance of over 3,500 during his tenure, consultant, and social media guru. He is also the author of Church Diversity: Sunday the Most Segregated Day of the Week (2011 - read my review here). Recently, he shared his list of "10 Ways to Make Leadership Simple:" Believe In Yourself Believe In Others Point The Direction Read More …
Ministry Job Musts (#0745)
Adam McLane, a Partner at The Youth Cartel and Principal at McLane Creative, recently blogged about two things youth ministers needs to consider in order to retain their current employment: metrics/measurables and donor relations. Speaking bluntly he suggests that by managing these two areas well one can eliminate "90% of the reasons my friends have gotten fired." So What? Like any type of employment, ministry positions involve (or, at least should involve) periodic evaluation. Read More …
The Power of Why (#0727)
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 is also the master of saying a great deal using relatively few words on his blog. Recently he shared this wisdom about the power of why: "Why?" is the most important question, not asked nearly enough. So What? The life of faith and the ministry of a given local community of faith both benefit tremendously from why questions. Read More …
Measurement Matters (#0711)
Mike Bonem, a former executive pastor who now serves as an organizational consultant, wrote an article entitled "Measuring What Matters" in the Spring 2012 edition of Leadership Journal. He names several barriers to generating helpful metrics including two that are especially problematic in a church setting: Not clearly defining what should be measured A perspective that measurement is an unspiritual discipline (p.72) So What? In my experiences very few congregations effectively Read More …