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 …
Leadership
Associate Pastors & Technology (#0691)
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) recently released its first systematic look at associate pastors in an 88 page report "Associate Pastors in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)." The comprehensive report is based on a 2011 survey of associate pastors and a 2008 & 2009 survey of key leaders. The survey found associate pastors spent an average of 11 hours a week "emailing, text messaging, or using the Internet" in their personal lives. Professionally, these pastors used differing Read More …
Overweight Clergy (#0678)
Recent research shows that most clergy in the United States are overweight. In blog posts on Beyond the Ordinary, Cynthia Woolever (2010) and Joelle Kopacz (2012) share how pastors fare when compared to the population as a whole. Woolever relates how senior or solo pastors fare compared to the population: 77% of American male senior or solo pastors compared to 72% of all American males BMI (Body Mass Index) is high enough to be considered overweight 76% of American female senior Read More …
9 Reasons Leaders Struggle (#0671)
Michael McKinney recently wrote about nine reasons why leaders struggle. His article highlights the list Denny Strigl, former CEO and president of Verizon Wireless, includes in his recent book: Managers, Can You Hear Me Now? (2011): Managers Fail to Build Trust and Integrity. They Have the Wrong Focus. They Don’t Model or Build Accountability. They Fail to Consistently Reinforce What’s Important. They Over-rely on Consensus. They Focus on Being Popular. They Get Read More …
Taking Advantage of Mainline Decline (#0617)
Emmy Award winning journalist Chris Yaw is an Episcopal priest who effectively blends his expertise in media and ministry with his passion for building healthier congregations in his new creation: ChurchNext. Recently he interviewed me on the topic of the continued decline of mainline Protestantism in America. You can view the video or download a mp3 here. So What? Yaw asked me the kind of questions congregational leaders should be discussing as they consider what it Read More …
God is Still Speaking – the First Decade (#0553)
Ron Buford is the lead architect of the United Church of Christ's (UCC) Still Speaking campaign which began in 2002. He recently accepted a call to serve as Interim Minister for Discipleship at Old South Church in Boston, and authored an article about Still Speaking in the denomination's magazine (Vol. 2, Issue 2 - p.54-56). In that piece he explores his experiences over the last decade, including his travel to congregations in all but two of the UCC Conferences. Read More …
Pastors & Forced Termination (#0531)
Thom Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, recently shared some observations on church staffing trends in a piece for the Christian Post. One of the six trends he discussed is the percentage of senior pastors who lose their jobs each year because of forced terminations. Over the last seven years, approximately 1.5% of senior pastors have been subject to forced termination each year. So What? Basic math indicates that over that 7 year period, 10.5% of senior Read More …
Can You Be a Leader? (#0496)
Terry "Starbucker" St. Marie is a seasoned executive leader with over two decades of experience in the cable television industry, who has partnered with Liz Strauss to create Inside-Out Thinking (a venture centered around the development of great leaders who can make a difference in any organization) and SOBCon (a business "think tank" with a Social Media twist). On his blog, he recently shared his experience of his first job interview with a CEO, which happened while he Read More …
De-bunking Fundraising Myths (#0490)
Earlier this year, the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations (UUA) Congregational Stewardship Services blog featured a 12-part series designed to de-bunk myths about giving. Each post explored a single myth. While the whole series is worth reading, I focus today on three: Myth #5 Myth: Because many people are suffering from information overload, they do not want to know how the congregation is using their contributions. Truth: Many Read More …
Being Prepared for Church Administration (#0485)
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 …