Off the Agenda: Conversations for Building Church Leaders

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This week, we're debuting a new kind of resource for BCL: the "podule." As you can tell from the screenshot above, it's a little different from our regular training tools (go here and click on "Demo" to get a feel for how one works).

We're still giving you written articles, but we've added videos to the mix—in the case of Reimagining Evangelism, there are four of each. There's also a forum, where you can talk about the lessons with other people who have used the same podule. We hope that you'll learn not only from our materials, but from other readers.

To give you these new features, the podule was made into a web-based tool. So instead of downloading it to your computer, like our other resources, you simply create a username and password that lets you access it right away in your Internet browser. And you can come back and reuse it as many times as you want.

Unfortunately, we can't make a podule free to our paid members, because of an agreement related to the technology that powers it. Don't worry, we'll still be releasing lots of standard training tools for members to enjoy. But we hope that this week you give Reimagining Evangelism a try and see if podules are as dynamic as we hope they are. And since this is your first look at this new tool, we're offering it right now for $9.95. Click here to try it.

For those of you who are newer to Building Church Leaders or our blog here, Off the Agenda: Welcome! We hope you find useful tips for your ministry and stimulating ways to think about the big issues.

We try to post at least three times a week on Off the Agenda, so an easy way to keep up is to subscribe to our RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feed. Click here and then choose which application you want to use. You can probably use one like Live Booksmarks that's built right into your web browser, but Google, Yahoo, and Bloglines are some other popular (and also free) options. Then just sit back and let the feed tell you when there's something new to check out.

Also, you can subscribe to our main site, BuildingChurchLeaders.com, by clicking here. You'll be notified whenever a new article or resource is added.

Happy reading!

If you’ve been visiting BuildingChurchLeaders.com or receiving the BCL newsletter for long, you’ve probably noticed that our downloads come in a variety of formats and under a multitude of names. You may have even noticed more than one download on the same topic. If you’re new to the website, you may wonder what BCL is all about. With the short descriptions below, we hope to explain—to old friends and new—just what you can expect to find here at BuildingChurchLeaders.com.

To summarize, our editorial staff is committed to providing church leaders with practical and useful downloadable resources that can be used in and adapted to virtually any church environment. To do that, we develop nine different kinds of downloads, each with a specific purpose.

Practical Ministry Skills
This is our staple download: practical, brief, and ready for use in a discussion. These downloads are collections of between seven and nine articles that address a single topic from multiple angles and are designed for quick reading.

Continue reading "Understanding BCL Downloads"...

The Billings Gazette, Montana's largest daily newspaper (with a weekday circulation of about 47,000), mentions BuildingChurchLeaders.com in today's edition.

The paper ran an article about local churches and their discussions regarding security after the recent shootings in Colorado.

The Rev. Stan Simmons, pastor of Faith Chapel, one of Billings' two largest churches, said his staff met Wednesday and discussed security concerns using an article written this summer by Andrew Mills, a police lieutenant with the San Diego (California) Police Department, for BuildingChurchLeaders.com and LeadershipJournal.net.

Mills' piece addresses such topics as working with local police, training ushers and greeters, developing a lockdown plan, and how to respond if a shooting event unfolds. An abbreviated version of Mills' article still is available on LeadershipJournal.net. The full version will be included in an upcoming Building Church Leaders training download for ushers and greeters.

If you missed it, check out Chris Blumhofer's December 11 post on Off the Agenda. It highlights other free resources from BuildingChurchLeaders.com, including ways to help others grieve the tragic events in Colorado, as well as steps churches can take to better prepare for crisis situations.

We're off to a successful start here at Off the Agenda. Hopefully you've had a chance by now to get to know our team, and some of the people within the church community who have joined us to help shape the conversation here. And we really hope the posts you've read so far already have encouraged you, challenged you, and equipped you for the leadership roles you handle day to day.

But now that you know who we are, it's time to get to know you.

We'd love to see you comment to this post to tell us a bit about yourself.

Continue reading "And You Are?"...

The look of bewilderment and hurt in my friend’s eyes caught me off guard as we ate lunch together last April.

It was just after Easter, yet that look still remains vivid in my memory five months later. And our conversation helps illustrate the spirit and purpose behind “Off the Agenda,” the new blog we’ve launched here at Building Church Leaders.

I had just asked my friend, a veteran pastor leading a small congregation, what one thing was keeping him up at night. I didn’t get the usual type of response, such as dealing with a board fight or a struggle to increase members’ giving. Instead, he looked down toward the table for a moment, shifted in his seat, and took a deep breath.

Continue reading "The Looks in Our Eyes"...

Off The Agenda: Conversations for Building Church Leaders is a blog where people in church leadership positions — pastors, staff members, and volunteers, among others — gather for discussion, where they encourage, equip, and prepare each other for the joys and challenges they face each day. The blog is a part of BuildingChurchLeaders.com, a web site devoted to equipping and guiding church leaders worldwide.

Building Church Leaders, founded by the editors of Leadership journal in 1998, started out by providing notebooks of training materials to church leaders. In 2001, the web site launched, offering downloadable training resources on myriad topics. It has steadily grown ever since, and now reaches nearly 90,000 subscribers through its free weekly e- newsletter .

"Off The Agenda" was added in 2007 when BuildingChurchLeaders.com relaunched as a revamped and upgraded site, adding interactive assessments, online community connections, and insights from leading thinkers in the evangelical world, including Leith Anderson, Reggie McNeal, Angie Ward, and Mark Driscoll, to its roster of more than 2,000 training downloads.

Contributors to "Off The Agenda" include Marshall Shelley, Matt Branaugh, Chris Blumhofer, Amy Simpson, Kevin Miller, and Sam O'Neal.

Have a question? An idea for a blog post or training article? Contact the editors at BCL@ChristianityToday.com.

Following years of urban ministry in Chicago and Cincinnati, Alvin and his wife, Caroline, founded River of Life Church in downtown Cincinnati in the midst of civil unrest over the shooting death of an African American teenager by a white police officer. River of Life is a mostly biracial (white and African American) church with a heart for reconciliation.

Continue reading "Dr. Alvin Sanders"...

Leith’s many interests involve him in pastoring, teaching, writing, speaking, and leadership. Leith earned a master of divinity from Denver Seminary in Denver, Colorado, a doctor of ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, and a doctor of divinity from Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He has been senior pastor of Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, since 1977.

He currently is president of the National Association of Evangelicals.

Continue reading "Leith Anderson"...

Charles Arn completed his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Southern California, majoring in Instructional Design and Technology. He became actively involved in the church growth movement as his father, Dr. Win Arn, began to pioneer the study and application of church growth principles to North America in the early 1970s.

Charles began working full-time with his father at Church Growth Inc., specializing in research and new product development.

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Lynne M. Baab served in pastoral roles in two Presbyterian congregations in Seattle and is currently lecturer in pastoral theology at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. She is the author of several books, including Fasting: Spiritual Freedom Beyond Our Appetites (InterVarsity Press, 2006), Sabbath Keeping (InterVarsity Press, 2005), and Beating Burnout in Congregations (The Alban Institute, 2003).

Continue reading "Rev. Lynne M. Baab"...

Ruth Haley Barton is co-founder and president of The Transforming Center, a ministry dedicated to caring for the souls of pastors and the congregations they serve. She is a teacher, spiritual director, and retreat leader trained through the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation (Washington, D.C.) and The Pathways Center for Spiritual Leadership (Nashville, Tennessee).

Continue reading "Ruth Haley Barton"...

Chris Blumhofer is assistant editor for BuildingChurchLeaders.com, where he began working in February 2006. In his role, Chris coordinates and edits many of the articles and training downloads that reach Building Church Leaders' customers.

Chris attends College Church in Wheaton, Illinois, where he has served as a small-group leader, a short-term missions trip leader, a Sunday school teacher, and as a ministry intern. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biblical and theological studies from Wheaton College.

Continue reading "Chris Blumhofer"...

Matt Branaugh is director of editorial and special projects for Christianity Today International’s Your Church Media Group. Prior to this role, he led Christianity Today’s Ministry Team, which includes BuildingChurchLeaders.com and FaithVisuals.com.

He is passionate about equipping and energizing church leaders with the principles and tools that help them more effectively serve the kingdom of God.

Continue reading "Matt Branaugh"...

Mark Buchanan is an author and pastor living on Vancouver Island with his wife, Cheryl, and their three children, Adam, Sarah, and Nicola.

Mark graduated from the University of British Columbia’s Creative Writing Department, and he holds a master’s degree from Regent College in interdisciplinary studies.

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Gary R. Collins is a licensed clinical psychologist with a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Purdue University. He is the author of about 200 articles and more than 50 books, including The Biblical Basis of Christian Counseling and Christian Coaching: Helping Others Turn Potential into Reality. His classic textbook, Christian Counseling: A Comprehensive Guide, appears in several languages and has been revised in an updated and expanded third edition published in 2007. An accompanying Christian Counseling Casebook will appear later in the year.

Continue reading "Gary R. Collins"...

Dave Ferguson is the lead pastor of Community Christian Church, a multi-site, missional community in Chicagoland that draws more than 5,000 people every weekend at eight locations. The church recently was recognized as one of the most influential churches in America.

Continue reading "Dave Ferguson"...

Stephen A. Macchia became the founding president of Leadership Transformations Inc. (LTi) on July 1, 2003. LTi is a ministry focused on the spiritual formation needs of leaders and the spiritual discernment processes of leadership teams in local church and parachurch ministry settings nationwide.

He is the author of Becoming a Healthy Church (Baker Books, 1999), Becoming A Healthy Church Workbook (Baker, 2001), Becoming A Healthy Disciple (Baker Books, 2004), the Becoming A Healthy Disciple Small Group Study and Worship Guide (LTi Resources, July 2004), and most recently, Becoming A Healthy Team (Baker Books, 2005).

Continue reading "Rev. Dr. Stephen A. Macchia"...

Gordon MacDonald is an author, speaker, and teacher. He was a pastor for more than 40 years, most recently the senior minister at Grace Chapel, Lexington, Massachusetts. When he stepped down from that position, the Grace Chapel congregation honored him with the title, Pastor Emeritus. Other pastorates were in New York City, Southern Illinois and Kansas. For three years MacDonald was president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

MacDonald has written more than a dozen books and co-authored others with his wife, Gail. Perhaps his best-known book has been Ordering Your Private World, which won the Gold Medallion and the Platinum Awards from the Evangelical Christian Publishing Association. There are nearly 1.5 million copies of this book in print, and it has been translated into a dozen or more languages.

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Reggie enjoys helping people, leaders, and Christian organizations pursue more intentional lives. He currently serves as the Missional Leadership Specialist for Leadership Network of Dallas, Texas.

Reggie’s past experience involves more than a decade as a denominational executive and leadership development coach. He also served in local congregational leadership for more than 20 years, including being the founding pastor of a new church. Reggie has lectured or taught as adjunct faculty for multiple seminaries, including Fuller Theological (Pasadena, California), Southwestern Baptist (Fort Worth, Texas), Golden Gate Baptist (San Francisco), Trinity Divinity School (Deerfield, Illinois), and Columbia International (Columbia, South Carolina).

Continue reading "Reggie McNeal"...

Sue Mallory, the author of The Equipping Church and co-author of The Equipping Church Guidebook, has spent more than 20 years in full-time ministry.

Sue served as the founding executive director of Leadership Training Network (LTN) for eight years and more recently as the directional leader and executive director for Leadership Connection. Sue served as executive consultant for Church Volunteer Central, a division of Group Publishing.

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Kevin A. Miller is editor-at-large of Leadership journal and executive vice president at Christianity Today International. Kevin writes for Leadership journal and PreachingToday.com, and he is a featured speaker for Preaching Today Audio. Kevin is also the author of several books, including Surviving Information Overload (Zondervan).

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Sam O’Neal is managing editor of the Discipleship Team at Christianity Today International, where he works primarily with small-groups resources. He is a contributor to Leadership journal, Ignite Your Faith, and Christianity Today.

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Marshall Shelley is editorial vice-president of Christianity Today International, and editor in chief of the Leadership Media Group, which includes Leadership journal, PreachingToday.com, BuildingChurchLeaders.com, FaithVisuals.com, SmallGroups.com, and ChristianBibleStudies.com. He served as general editor of The Quest Study Bible, a best-selling edition of the New International Version, released in 1994.

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Amy Simpson is passionate about serving the church and its people through leadership, communication, and resources. She currently serves as executive director for the Leadership Media Group at Christianity Today International.

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John is the pastor of City Church in Minneapolis, Minn. Prior to leading the founding of City Church in 2005, he was executive director of Wooddale Center, a ministry to churches and church leaders at Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, Minn. Previously, John was a marketing executive at General Mills. While there, he held a number of marketing positions, including marketing manager for Cheerios and the European head of new product development for Cereal Partners Worldwide, a joint venture between General Mills and Nestlé.

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Angie Ward is a “leader of leaders” with more than 15 years of leadership development experience in a variety of ministry settings. She is the founder of Forward Leadership and is a contributing editor for Leadership journal.

Angie is passionate about helping leaders and organizations realize their full potential. She has a unique ability to see how little details fit into the big picture, and the steps needed to move toward greater effectiveness.

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