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Four Ways to Encourage Staff

Everyone needs some encouragement. Here’s some simple ways to do it at your church! Make Gafa brings us this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday with four ways to encourage staff members: Be present. Give your time and attention to the staff members in your church. How? Listen closely, be attentive to their needs, and be focused on them. Be affirmative. Intentionally affirm …

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Luminex Podcast 10: Small Churches Matter

The bigger the better, right? Well, not necessarily. Small churches have advantages that a big church couldn’t have. This week Doug interviews Randy Weener, Classis Leader for the Great Lake City Classis in Michigan. They discuss small churches – their advantages, disadvantages, and unique opportunities. [00:00:30] Defining a small church A small church can be defined as a congregation of …

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Time to Party

Food, fun, and friends – it’s time to PARTY! Season 3 of our Whiteboard Wednesday ends on a fun, high note with Doug McClintic, Church Multiplication Catalyst for Luminex. Outreach can often seem like it needs a complex, theological strategy in order to be effective. But there is a simple outreach technique that everyone can use and that Jesus used …

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Where Leadership Begins

Are you a new leader wondering where to start your leadership journey?  On today’s Whiteboard Wednesday, Curry Pikaart, Classis Leader for the Southwest Michigan Classis, tells us about where leadership begins based on his experiences in college and the story of Nehemiah. Doctor Kenneth Weller became the president of Central College in Pella, Iowa, when Pikkaart was a student there. …

Luminex Podcast 8: To Catch the Wind, Hoist Your Sail

Show Notes On this week’s podcast episode, Doug is interviewing Curry Pikkaart, Classis Leader for the Southwest Michigan Classis. The topic of their conversation is based on Curry’s blog post, To Catch the Wind, Hoist Your Sails, about how to persevere through trying and empty  times while waiting for the Holy Spirit’s wind in our sails. [0:00:25] The Story Behind …

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Leading for Collaboration

A thriving church often has many separate teams overseeing multiple ministries. How can those ministries work together instead of creating division? On this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday, Art Wiers, member of the Luminex core leadership team, shares his experiences with church leaders working towards collaboration. Throughout his time working with churches, Art noticed a pattern he calls the “silo effect.” The …

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Nine Strategic Planning Landmines, Part 2

Hopefully by avoiding these landmines, your strategic planning experience will be a blessing to your leaders and church as a whole. Last week on Whiteboard Wednesday, we talked about the first five of Nine Strategic Planning Landmines – lack of prayer, lack of faith, failure to add wisdom to faith, overlooking the reality of spiritual warfare, and failure to celebrate. …

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Nine Strategic Planning Landmines, Part 1

When you are in a season of planning in your church or ministry, there are some things you should avoid at all costs. On this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday, Mike Gafa, church leadership development catalyst for Luminex, talks about the first five of nine landmines when it comes to strategic planning. 1. Lack of Prayer Prayer is essential; without prayer, nothing …

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Holy Risk

Will you stay in your comfort zone or take a Holy Risk? In this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday, Art Wiers, member of the core leadership team of the Region of the Great Lakes, discusses the subject of Holy Risk based on the book The U-Turn Church by Bob Bouwer and Kevin Harney. Throughout the life of a church, there are times …