Imagine how a football team would do if the offensive coordinator never listened to the head coach. Or, how would a baseball team fare if no one paid attention to the third base coach’s signals? Disorganized, disgusted, frustrated – and losing! Now imagine a church, or any level of church structure, in which the leaders are not listening to the …
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. …
Teachability as a Leadership Virtue
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever!” 2 Peter 3:18 Next month, my dad will celebrate his 99th birthday. He is one of my heroes—for many reasons—not the least of which is that my dad is a life-long learner. My dad is still reading. Dad …
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 …
Thinking Outside the Box
Innovation is vital for a future oriented and visionary organization. Innovation in the church is crucial for the vitality of our present and future ministry. The Church is also charged with not innovating, at least when it comes to the vital doctrines and unchanging ethics of the Christian faith. So how do we “think outside the box” in an organization …
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 …
Equipping Leaders for Success
Leadership formation is the key to cultural change and organizational flourishing. There, I said it. It feels good to get that off my chest. And, when I say “leadership formation,” I mean that in two distinct but deeply connected ways. First, established leaders must be continually forming, reforming, and transforming. Good leaders embrace their own evolution, and pursue their own …
Stewardship and Spirituality
Money matters are always an awkward topic to broach in church. Here’s the answer: KISS – Keep It Spiritual, Silly. In this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday, Ken Neevel, Director of Development and Facilitation for the Reformed Church in America, talks about financial stewardship and spirituality. He changes the acronym of “KISS” from “Keep it simple, silly” to “Keep it spiritual, silly;” …
Locating Questions
Because of my work, I’m often in spaces where people want to discuss current trends in community engagement. One of my favorite stories from a friend of mine was exceptionally telling. His organization, which focuses on economic development, had a booth at a large Christian conference in their display area. Next to them was a well-known ministry. In response to …