Off the Agenda: Conversations for Building Church Leaders

At the TAG Consulting Leaders Forum in Scottsdale, Arizona, this week, noted Christian leader Leighton Ford spoke on how to move from crazed busyness to focused attentiveness. Leighton is president of Leighton Ford Ministries. For 30 years he served as associate evangelist and later vice president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. His newest book is The Attentive Life: Discerning God's Presence in All Things (InterVarsity, 2008).

In introducing Leighton, Jim Osterhaus pointed out that Leighton has been at the forefront of 4 major church movements of the past 50 years: mass evangelism (with BGEA), reclaiming the social dimensions of the gospel (with Lausanne), the study of leadership (with Arrow Leadership Program), and now the reintroduction to evangelicalism of the good of contemplative living (his books).

Continue reading "The Forgotten Art of Attentiveness"...

A fellow minister told me recently that a Sunday School class had asked for his help. "I was excited when a group in my congregation wanted to grow!" he said. Unfortunately, he said, they seemed to want him to give them the right answers—some type of magical ministerial formula.

My friend, however, knows that ministry isn't magic. And he had worked with enough groups to know that he couldn't give this group pat answers. So instead of talking about curriculum, furniture arrangement, or the thermostat setting, he went deep. He asked, "What are you willing to do to make this class grow?"

Questions can be more powerful than answers. Quick answers, however, remain a temptation. Aren't we the professionals? What if people discover how lost we can be? So we pop off answers, jump on command, and eventually burn out. But instead of answering others' questions, perhaps we need to ask a few of our own.

I was fortunate to learn this lesson as a young minister when I went to the Young Leaders Development Program sponsored by the Center for Congregational Health. Like many young pastors, I wanted to have all the answers. Fortunately, I stumbled across this program, designed for "ministers who are ready to ask the right questions." Fourteen years later, I continue to ask myself the key questions I learned there: Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?

Continue reading "The Three W's"...

Where does vision come from?

That's the question that will be answered by Dave Ferguson, a pastor, speaker, writer, and BuildingChurchLeaders.com advisor. Ferguson is leading a webinar for us on Friday, December 4, at 11:00 AM CT, and sign-ups are now open!

Ferguson will be speaking on the basics for casting vision in your church, including the three best ways to communicate vision. If you sit in on the webinar, not only will you get to watch Ferguson deliver his presentation in your browser window—you'll also be able to submit questions, some of which Ferguson will answer.

This is BuildingChurchLeader.com's very first webinar, and we're excited that advisor Dave Ferguson is our debut speaker. We'd encourage anybody who casts vision in their church to set aside an hour in their morning (or afternoon on the East Coast) on December 4 to join us.

For more information about Dave Ferguson, go here.

NOTE: This webinar was originally scheduled for October 28 but has been pushed back. If you couldn't make it to the original time, you can give your schedule another look now.

A delegation of Christianity Today International editors attended the Catalyst conference last week, including BCL editor Drew Dyck. In one of the conference sessions, Nancy Ortberg, founding partner of Teamworx2 and editorial advisor and contributor to Gifted for Leadership and Kyria.com, spoke on powerful themes inspired by her books, Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands and Looking for God. Here are some notes from CTI executive VP Kevin Miller:

1. The Seduction of Influence
It's tempting to do it for all the wrong reasons. In our lives, there may be a tearing away of the seductions and a refining of the right reasons.

Word 1: Ego. We've brought the celebrity culture into our church and overlook people who are so like Jesus. We attribute more to up-front people than we should, more to attractive people than we should. The solution is to live more deeply into our brokenness.

Word 2: Burden. We place on ourselves a burden in leadership—our numbers, the highs and lows of leadership—it's about power, control, and outcomes, and Jesus didn't talk fondly about any of those things. Free leaders—free of the need for certain outcomes—are the best leaders.

Continue reading "Nancy Ortberg on the Seduction & Myths of Influence"...

Our theme this week is Making Members Stick. One way you can make your members stick is to give them responsibility. And when you help a new leader step up in the church, both that person and your congregation can grow. Below are a few criteria to help you decide when someone is ready to lead.

Readily accepts responsibility. Potential leaders don't lay low when their services are needed. Willingness to volunteer for small projects is an important characteristic. This means that some of the most able leaders might be behind the scenes.

Understands informal social rules. It takes time for a person to understand how a church works—officially (by-laws and constitution) and unofficially. A basic competence in church dynamics is essential. In some churches, for example, raising your voice in a committee meeting is taboo; in others, it's expected. No matter what the qualifications, someone who cares about and seeks involvement in church life is a greater asset than someone who is unconcerned or too busy.

Continue reading "From Visitor to Leader"...

How should a leader carry herself? I don't mean in terms of virtues. I would likely draw consent on this page that a leader should display humility, courage, and charity above all.

I mean physically. What posture should a leader take when walking around doing whatever they do to lead?

I got to thinking about this while reading about prison ministry. Chuck Colson, who has done so much in that area, described his admiration for a fraternity brother he admired deeply and wanted to be like (in his great memoir Born Again). The older man told of his love for the Marine Corps with such feeling he made Colson want to sign up. So he soon stood before a "tall, arch-backed first lieutenant" and asked to join. It is military people who speak of one's "carriage," and take such care to be sure it is appropriate, bold, inspiring. Political leaders care about such things too. Sam Wells describes how future British politicians are taught already in their boarding schools how to hold their heads very erect, as though they could carry a plant on top without letting it so much as quiver.

Continue reading "How Should a Leader Walk Around?"...

This week's download, Transforming Nominal Christians, is designed to help you assess how well your church challenges and disciples attenders. The piece below gives another model for the idea of discipleship: re-parenting.

To seize upon one of our Lord's favorite metaphors, the "fish" business these days is not as simple as it once seemed. The human fish now come out of outrageously polluted cultural waters, and they bring all the effects of their pollutedness with them. So how do you develop leaders—productive disciples of Jesus—from such a population?

The word re-parenting comes to mind. It suggests an effort at conversion, discipleship, and leadership development—a thorough renovation of one's life in line with Paul's strong words: "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation." Not just a nicer person, but a new creation. Re-birthed! And if re-birthed, then also re-parented.

Re-parenting is selective. You pick a specific group of people and tell them why you've picked them. You tell them that this is not a therapy group and that we are not going to be driven by problems, but rather by possibilities ("henceforth you will be fishing for men" is a biblical example).

Gordon MacDonald has served pastorates in Massachusetts, New York City, southern Illinois, and Kansas, and spent three years as president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He has also written more than a dozen books, including Ordering Your Private World.

Continue reading "Re-Parenting Disciples"...

The case study below highlights the challenge of guiding a church's prayer life. For help with planning prayer services for your congregation, see our newest download.

The Case
"This church hardly ever prays together," complained Joan, a 40-something church leader. "The only times for congregational prayer are during the services and 30 seconds before our committee meetings." An older man named Bill also chimed in, "Whatever happened to our midweek prayer service? The pastor dropped it five years ago, but that should be the lifeblood of our church."

As the conversation continued, there was a clear consensus among church leaders that Grace Church desperately needed a church-wide prayer awakening. Unfortunately, the traditional model of the midweek prayer service wasn't working anymore. So all the church leaders looked to Pastor Mark to either revitalize the midweek prayer time or jump-start corporate prayer another way. But Pastor Mark, who longed for a prayer awakening in the church, didn't know where to start. Sadly, the deep longing for prayer left Pastor Mark feeling defensive and burdened with yet another program to organize. And the church leaders felt disappointed with Pastor Mark's apparent lack of spiritual leadership.

What Would You Do?

• Who is responsible for the prayer life of the local church? What is the pastor's role? The lay people's?


• What would you recommend as a good starting action for this church board?

Continue reading "Jump-Starting Church Prayer"...

This week's featured download is an orientation guide (all of which are on sale this month) for children's ministry directors. One common challenge in that role is handling parental expectations, which often show up as suggestions—"try this curriculum" or "what about a Christmas program?". Below are some questions to ask of any ideas proposed for your children's ministry.

Does it fit with our mission statement? If the idea doesn't fit your mission statement, propose that a small group or other ministry incorporate the initiative.

Do we have gifted and called people to support the new idea? Someone must lead every initiative, and success depends upon God's gifting, not man's brainstorming.

Is our facility set up for this? The idea may not be feasible if it interferes with other ministries in terms of space, time, or leadership.

Continue reading "Responding to Suggestions with Discernment"...

From the Willow Creek Leadership Summit, president and CEO of Compassion International, opened up about his painful past and how that has given him his deep compassion for the poor.

His book, Too Small to Ignore, tells his story, which was so painful to tell, "sometimes I could write only 1 sentence a day."

"My most courageous leadership moment came at age 10." At his missionary boarding school, the housemaster put him on a chair and lit a candle on both ends and put it in Wess's young hands to punish him and make the point that "you cannot serve both God and Satan."

Continue reading "Wess Stafford: Leveraging Your Past"...

from the Willow Creek Leadership Summit:

Many of us have taken our mission statements from "Love God with all your heart, soul, mind" and "Love your neighbor as yourself." But there's a little interpretation problem: who is that neighbor? We act like it's "someone like us." It's the homogeneous principle that "likes attract" (Donald McGavran), which caused churches to grow, but developed a consumer church.

We're called to develop a church that is contrarian, abnormal, difficult--the path of a third-culture leader. What is a third-culture? Adaptation. Painful adaptation. The mindset and will to love, learn, and serve in any culture, even in the midst of pain and discomfort.

When Jesus told the Good Samaritan story, it's an Eastern way of telling the story, orbiting the point, not telling it directly, to let the listener discover the point. And the point is: Love someone who's not like you. The world will stop and say, "That's beautiful," when they see us loving someone we hate.

How do we become a third-culture leader?

Continue reading "Dave Gibbons: Thinking Forward--Third Culture Leadership"...

From the Willow Creek Leadership Summit: Gary Hamel. His bio from his website, www.GaryHamel.com:

The Wall Street Journal recently ranked Gary Hamel as the world's most influential business thinker, and Fortune magazine has called him "the world's leading expert on business strategy." For the last three years, Hamel has also topped Executive Excellence magazine's annual ranking of the most sought after management speakers.

Continue reading "Gary Hamel: 4 Imperatives for Outrunning Change"...

Henry Cloud, well-known psychologist and co-author of the best-seller Boundaries, gave a simple way for boards to increase trust:

At the end of each board meeting and take 10 minutes to discuss, "How did we do?" How was our process and how were our interactions with each other in the meeting we just finished?

At the Willow Creek Leadership Summit, Bill Hybels said that Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, has begun a relationship with Christ--about a year ago--and has a "growing faith." The two have been in email correspondence.

For more on Fiorina: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carly_Fiorina

One of my colleagues recently pointed me to the blog of Barry Werner, whose background includes serving as director of operations for World Wide Pictures at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. In his entries, Werner has been walking through the Old Testament and considering how different leadership principles are represented in the passages he reads.

One of his recent posts—which he relates to Numbers 33—addresses the issue of self-discipline. He's primarily talking about time management, and I found this line to be the most helpful:

The essence of self-discipline is to do the important thing rather than the urgent thing.

Tim Avery is the associate editor of BuildingChurchLeaders.com.

Continue reading "BlogSpotting: Time Management for Leaders"...

I recently spoke to a church staff member who had been working with youth full-time for 12 years. Yet in his dozen years of service, he had only attended one Youth Specialties conference—that was all the training he ever received. I couldn't help but think how much he and the thousands of youth he worked with over the years could have benefited from additional training at conferences.

During tough economic times, many churches are looking at cutting all travel for training and events, but that may not be the wisest decision. Why?

1. The church is about people caring for people, so your most important resource is people! They need to be trained and equipped to not only care, but guard and protect. They need to know how to identify young leaders and raise them up. They need to develop an eye for gifting and calling as well as those on the margins. Investing in people is one of the best investments you can make.

Margaret Feinberg is a popular speaker and author of more than a dozen books, including The Organic God, The Sacred Echo, and Scouting the Divine.

Continue reading "4 Reasons Not to Cut Conferences"...

A couple weeks ago, we talked here about reasons you'll want to leave a ministry position but shouldn't. Today we're publishing a condensed version of an article, excerpted from When It's Time to Leave, that takes the opposite approach: when you should leave, or at least consider it. If you want to see the full version of this piece, and several related articles, download our training tool here.

1. Incompatibility.
Good church, good pastor, but a bad fit. The congregation needs a form of pastoral leadership that the sitting pastor does not possess. Take, for example, the pastor who is entrepreneurial by instinct (read "visionary" or "passionate for growth"). The congregation, on the other hand, seeks a pause in the outward look. They want to build their sense of community and concentrate on spiritual development for a while (not always an inappropriate decision). Both pastor and congregation develop a suspicion of the other's agenda, and no amount of mutual reflection brings about convergence.

2. Immobility.
The congregation has become trapped in an ecclesiastical whirlpool—lots of programmatic motion but little sense of direction. By subtle control, some dominant church members quietly (or not so quietly) stymie every pastoral initiative. Fresh leadership is shrewdly neutralized. There is an inescapable sense that the congregation is a closed community that plays church as a way of meeting the social needs of its constituents.

Gordon MacDonald has served pastorates in Massachusetts, New York City, southern Illinois, and Kansas, and spent three years as president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He has also written more than a dozen books, including Ordering Your Private World.

Continue reading "8 Reasons You Might Need to Leave"...

Do you feel isolated in your ministry? Ken Fong, pastor and a member of our Ask the Experts panel, reflects on his blog about how easy it is for pastors to feel alone, or just dazed by the position's "continuous ball of concerns, meetings and messages."

He compares the pastor's situation to the story of a captured soldier in the Vietnam War who is thrown into solitary confinement. Although the officer refuses to talk at first, three years of isolation and monotony breaks him completely.

Fong acknowledges that the experiences of a pastor and a prisoner of war are on completely different scales. And of course, no one is intentionally inflicting this damage on a pastor. But being a leader gives your life a different rhythm and different set of challenges, and it's just hard for many congregants to relate.

Tim Avery is the associate editor of BuildingChurchLeaders.com.

Continue reading "BlogSpotting: A Pastor Fighting Loneliness"...

Should I stay or should I go? At some point, every ministry leader asks the question, sometimes at weekly intervals. The answer isn't always clear. But whether you're asking it because of the Monday-morning blahs, the post-conference buzz, or the deacon-meeting blues, here are five reasons not to leave your current situation.

1. Conflict.
Whether it's criticism, opposition, or differences in philosophy or personality, as a leader you can expect conflict. It's inevitable wherever two or more sinners are gathered, even in Christ's name. Leaving because of conflict often demonstrates the schoolyard value, "If you don't play the game my way, I'm taking my ball and going home." But you win some battles just by surviving them. Live to fight another day.

2. Slow progress.
Many of us in ministry have been conditioned to believe that more and faster are better. We want maximum impact with minimum resistance. Time is short, we say; the Kingdom is coming. But sometimes the King wants us to slow down and listen. Stuckness may frustrate your grand ministry plans, but it may also be the best thing for your spiritual growth.

Continue reading "5 Reasons You'll Want to Leave But Shouldn't"...

Our newest resource, Responding to Recession, is designed to help your church sustain its ministry and discern people's needs in this economic climate. The first article is an interview with Kevin McBride, who pastors Raymond (NH) Baptist Church and serves on the board of directors for the National Association of Evangelicals.

Listen to a brief excerpt below:

Right-click here to save the clip. Go here to check out the whole resource.

Tim Avery is the associate editor of BuildingChurchLeaders.com.

I have learned many things the hard way. No amount of buffing will remove the car wax that you forgot about and has been baking into your hood for several hours. The wrappers you get from Arby's contain metal, and they will do bad things to a microwave. There may be no good way to resign a pastorate, but there are at least three bad ways.

It's nice, now and then, to learn things the easy way—from other people's mistakes. (For example: Will your tongue really stick to a frozen flag pole? Let's assume it will.) That's what makes Best Advice: Wisdom on Ministry from 30 Leading Pastors and Preachers (WJK, 2009) such a delight. William J. Carl, III, has compiled a relatively slim volume of great insights from successful pastors. Most of the entries are short—between five and seven pages—and laser focused: "Preaching in a Church Where the Culture Needs to Change," "Dealing with Diversity," "Why Stay in the Church?"

Brandon O'Brien is assistant editor of Leadership journal and BuildingChurchLeaders.com.

Continue reading "Book Corner: Learning from the Mistakes of Others"...

BCL friend Dave Ferguson posted on his blog an excerpt of a conversation he had with Perry Noble, who pastors NewSpring Church in Anderson, South Carolina. Ferguson asked him how he decides if an idea comes from his own entrepreneurial drive or from the Holy Spirit.

Noble's three-part answer:

1. "Make sure it is an idea you can't get away from." - See if the idea sticks around and continues to surface in your imagination and conversation. If you can't get away from the idea, it may be from God.

2. "Give it time." - Don't think you have to act on every dream. Do what Moses told God's people to do, "wait". Wait for other people to confirm. Wait to see it is confirmed in Scripture. Wait for it to be confirmed in prayer. If it is confirmed, it may be from God.

3. "If this fire is from God, He will pour gasoline on it." - Ask God to help you see the world the way he sees the world. This can be painful, but it can also open your eyes to what God really wants. If the spark turns into a flame, it may be from God.

Tim Avery is the associate editor of BuildingChurchLeaders.com.

Continue reading "BlogSpotting: Entrepreneurial Drive or Holy Spirit?"...

What are two or three defining characteristics of the healthy small church in the 21st century?

One mark of a healthy church is a biblical sense of mission. It's particularly important for the small church to get its marching orders from Scripture, and not from the culture, particularly since the culture seems to focus on the large church. The Bible describes the church as a community of the Word, a community that worships, a community that demonstrates mutual concern and ministry, and a community that bears witness to the surrounding world.

A second mark of health would be a biblically informed sense of realism, because I think there are too many small churches laboring under the burden of false expectations. We approach ministry under the assumption that the small church is really just an underdeveloped large church, instead of seeing it as a distinct expression of the body of Christ. We really can't do all the things that the large church is doing, so we create a climate for failure and that failure creates a culture of defeatism. The mantra you often hear in a small church is, "We're just a small church."

Continue reading "Leading a Small Church"...

1. Recycle
Recycling paper, plastics, glass, and cans was virtually universal. It has become the norm in American society. Beyond the usual, some evangelical leaders are reusing sump water for irrigation, collecting rain water for home use, and composting.

2. Reduce use of energy for transportation
The predictable reductions include consolidating trips, driving fuel-efficient vehicles, and checking tire pressure. Others involve walking to work, driving a motor scooter, taking public transportation, and downsizing to one family car.

Leith Anderson is senior pastor of Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, and president of the National Association of Evangelicals.

Continue reading "Top 5 Ways Evangelical Leaders Care for Creation"...

Is your church planning any short-term missions trips for this summer? Round Trip tells the story of two sister churches—one in Nairobi, the other in Chapel Hill—that are committed to opening themselves up to God and his work in the world. In addition to depicting a fascinating cross-cultural exchange, Round Trip is an indispensable training resource for anyone who is considering a short-term missions trip.

The DVD is paired with a leader's and a participant's guide that will take you and your team step-by-step through the practical considerations and spiritual preparation involved in planning a trip that will result in lasting change. Check out the trailer above, and if you'd like, you can order a copy here.

This week's orientation guide, Elder/Deacon, includes an interview with Dr. Bruce Howard, professor of business and economics at Wheaton College and chair of the council of elders for College Church in Wheaton, Illinois.

In the clip below, Howard answers the question,

"What do you do to foster a spirit of teamwork and cooperation on the elder board?"

Click here to download the clip. What do some of you do to build trust and cooperation on your boards?

For more on elders and deacons...

Margaret Feinberg is an up-and-coming Christian voice who speaks at churches and conferences. She has also written more than a dozen books, most recently The Sacred Echo. BCL's Rachel Willoughby asked her to share about reaching the next generation, finding your gift, and false perceptions.

You've written and thought a lot about the generation of recent college graduates and the difficult transition to adulthood. What can church leaders do to better support twenty-somethings?

One of the most important things church leaders need to recognize is how much the world has changed over the last few decades. In 1970, the average age at marriage was around 22 years old. Today it's pushing 28, so many young adults are no longer graduating with what I like to call the "MRS Degree." They're graduating from high school or college unmarried and most likely saddled with debt. They no longer just a need a job, they need a career.

Rachel Willoughby is the editorial coordinator for BuildingChurchLeaders.com.

Continue reading "3 Questions for Margaret Feinberg"...

Image courtesy of Monergism.com

Do you believe that access to the Lord's Table should be restricted, and if so, how does the church do that in a way that's inoffensive?

Yes, I believe access should be restricted at two points. First, the folk who come to share the Lord's Supper with the congregation should be people who have shown that they can discern the Lord's body. In other words, they understand what the Communion service is all about: Christ crucified for us.

Continue reading "J.I. Packer on Restricting Communion"...

Churches are increasing their visibility online these days, but Scot McKnight is frustrated with how some choose to do it—that is, at least on pastor or staff bio pages.

McKnight argues that many of these pages reflect a trivial attitude toward the pastoral role, telling us "what's most annoying" for Pastor So-and-So, or "what's on the iPod." On one staff page, each pastor named his dream job; none said pastor.

Tim Avery is the associate editor of BuildingChurchLeaders.com.

Continue reading "BlogSpotting: Scot McKnight Isn't Happy with Pastor Bios"...

I've never been a great runner. My high school has a storied cross country program, but I spent most of my high school career as the seventh (and final) runner on our varsity team. Even though seven runners compete in a varsity race, only the top five factor into the team's score. So every race, I ran my 3.1 miles knowing that unless two people got hurt - or horribly lost in the woods - my time wouldn't really matter.

My former teammates, however, were exceptional runners. After high school, six of them went on to run in college. One of my former teammates recently competed in the Portland Marathon, and he finished sixth in a field of more than 9,000 runners. His time (a little over two and a half hours) qualified him for the Boston Marathon. And he's not even the fastest marathoner from my old team. Another former teammate competed in the 2008 U.S. Olympic marathon trials in New York. His personal best is 2 hours and 21 minutes.

Continue reading "Leading from the Back of the Pack"...

Needless to say we as a country, and indeed a world, are in a unique time of financial upheaval - times which can bring with them deep concern and fear.

While not wanting to minimize the personal pain and sacrifice that many will suffer as a result of the meltdown, I do wish to sound a note of encouragement in the midst of it all. We know that God is aware of and present in all circumstances, so let's look at some potentially bright sides of an otherwise very dark situation.

? We are being reminded of reality. The warning signs and predictions that things could not continue as they were have been present for some time. In the times ahead, some basic principles around living within our means, avoiding consumer debt, and saving for the unexpected will undoubtedly be adhered to by greater numbers of people.

Continue reading "A Note of Assurance"...

If I had no time or budget limitations, I could probably pass all of my days working on do-it-yourself projects around the house. To me, it doesn't really matter what the project is - big or small - as long as it's moderately creative and will make a noticeable improvement (that is to say, I don't like changing light bulbs or servicing the lawnmower.) I wouldn't want to build a house, but I love to take on small tasks - especially when I have someone to share them with.

For some reason, when I think about ministry, I forget that I'm happy doing small things. This was particularly true when I was a pastor. It's not that I believed certain responsibilities at the church were below me. Rather, the problem I had was being unsatisfied with progress that was too small or unspectacular. I didn't want to invest my time in the couple who lived next door to the church but never attended; I wanted to grow our congregation from 20 to 200 in a month. I wasn't content planting flowers outside the church entry; I wanted to plant a community garden that would provide subsistence for poor families. One thing's for sure: I did not lack vision.

Why is it that I so often think everything I do in Jesus' name must be earth shattering and world changing? After all, we're not commanded to change the world. We're called to mundane sorts of things - be fruitful; go and make; love your neighbor. I guess I feel pressured, as a representative of Christ, to accomplish extraordinary things.

I just finished a book that helped put this issue in perspective for me.

Brandon O'Brien is assistant editor of Leadership journal and BuildingChurchLeaders.com.

Continue reading "Let’s Build Something Together"...

I've been attending my church for a little over a year, and right from the get-go I was on the watch for a mentor. In my spiritual growth thus far, nothing has impacted me more than the examples of women who had vibrant, thriving relationships with Christ and who have poured truth, grace, and love into me. So I was eager to be in a mentoring relationship like that again.

I prayed to that effect. I got involved in an inter-generational Bible study, attended Sunday school classes, and kept my eyes open on Sunday mornings for women who had that tangible aura of spiritual maturity about them; women whose lives I wanted to emulate. But the truth is, it takes time to build relationships, and asking a stranger to commit to meeting with you and taking an interest in your life is daunting. After six months, I still hadn't become close enough to anyone who I felt comfortable asking to listen to me for an hour a week.

Rachel Willoughby is the editorial coordinator for BuildingChurchLeaders.com.

Continue reading "Finding a Mentor"...

When my daughter was getting ready to enter second grade, she was really anxious. Every time we asked her how she felt about it, she said she was scared and nervous and she didn't want to go to second grade - ever.

We talked about her feelings and tried to figure out why she felt so anxious. She couldn't really explain it. Then one day, after I asked her to tell me what she thought would be the worst thing about second grade, I realized that she had no idea what second grade would be like. Between kindergarten and first grade, we had moved across the country and settled in a whole new community and (obviously) a whole new school. Everything had started over for her. She didn't realize that going to second grade wouldn't involve so much transition. In fact, it would look a whole lot like first grade.

Amy Simpson is a vice president and publisher for the Leadership Media Group at Christianity Today International.

Continue reading "Leading Anxious People Through Change"...

The script always started with a standard "we need your help" spiel, and then the haggling began. Judging by the tone of the person's voice, I'd suggest a dollar amount:

"Would you be willing to donate $75?"

Measuring the outrage in their response, I'd determine whether I recommend $50 or drop straight to $25.

"Okay, I understand that?sure?of course?but let me assure you that even the smallest bit helps. Could you spare $10? What about $5? Hello? Are you still?"

Dial tone.

If someone agreed to send money, we sent him a pledge card for the amount he agreed to contribute. More importantly, whenever I made a "sale," I earned a tick on the white board:

Tyler C. - 1

We were expected to average one sale per hour. I was lucky to get one before lunch. So eventually I decided to try a new script.

Tyler Charles is the Associate Editor of FaithVisuals.com.

Continue reading "I Pledged To Do What?"...

One of our goals for BuildingChurchLeaders.com is to provide space for ministry leaders from all over the world to share their insights, struggles, and experiences with other men and women in the trenches. Off the Agenda is a major part of that. But we have other venues for discussion, as well.

One of those venues is our "Your Turn" discussion forum, in which you pose questions to your ministerial colleagues, and they respond with advice, stories, and resource recommendations they believe will point you in the right direction.

I found this question, and your responses, particularly interesting: What ministry worry are you dealing with daily right now that keeps you up at night?

Here's what some of you said:

Brandon O'Brien is assistant editor of Leadership journal and BuildingChurchLeaders.com.

Continue reading "What’s On Your Mind?"...

It's a little hard to believe that the time has come already, but we, the ever-diligent editors of Building Church Leaders, are busy preparing for 2009. We have plans to address some exciting topics in the next year, and we know you'll find these fresh downloads useful for your ministries.

But to be certain we're best meeting your needs, we'd love to hear from you. What topics would you like to see BCL cover in 2009? What challenges are you facing, or in what areas do you feel ill equipped? Feel free to list broad topics - such as worship, Christian education, volunteer training - or specific ones - meaningful Easter practices, using Internet technologies, etc. Simply post a comment with your recommendations.

Thank you for helping us help you. We look forward to hearing your feedback.

The passage is from Isaiah 42. Describing Jesus, the Suffering Servant, the prophet says: "A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out." These beautiful snapshots of compassion and tenderness bring to mind the ministry Henri Nouwen describes in The Wounded Healer (Image, 1979). They present a vision of Christian service that suits my personality. That's why I find it so troubling how discordant this sentiment is with the following words of Jesus: "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?"

To put the matter bluntly, this offends my understanding of authenticity. When I think of someone being "real," I usually have in mind that said person behaves the same way around everyone. He's confident "being himself." That's what makes the TV doctor House so endearing. He's a jerk, sure; but he's a jerk everywhere and always. He's so authentic. And, because authenticity is such a central cultural value for people my age, it's easy for me to adopt the mantra, Be yourself. If you're nothing else, be real. But Jesus - he interacted with some people in one way and others in another. That's the textbook (if junior-high) definition of "inauthentic."

Continue reading "Stiff Necks and Bruised Reeds"...

Three months after moving into Chicago from one of its affluent suburbs, we are still getting our bearings. Is it the Mexican or Polish market that has the better produce? What time is too late for my wife to take a walk by herself? How long will it take to get from the church office to my lunch meeting via the Blue Line? We expected these kinds of questions. Unanticipated, however, was the proper response to shattered windshields and guys with baseball bats. I knew the transition to life and ministry in the city might be tough, but this tangible sense of fear came out of left field.

Continue reading "Urban Exile: Following Jesus in the Face of Fear"...

This week I attended a retreat as part of the Leadership Media Group of Christianity Today International. I was responsible for posing a warm-up question to the group before we tackled the day's itinerary. Since we are all in the business of equipping church leaders, I asked each person to name the Christian leader who had made the profoundest impact on his or her spiritual life.

The answers surprised me. I expected to hear about best-selling authors and big-time preachers. Instead, most members of our team cited virtual unknowns: youth pastors and teachers, parents and siblings. We have a bookish team, which includes editors and authors, so thinkers such as Henri Nouwen and G.K. Chesterton were also mentioned. But for the most part, my colleagues talked about ordinary people that influenced them during critical phases of their lives: a youth leader who took a special interest in a student, a college roommate whose habit of Bible-reading made a lasting impression, a father who challenged his son to be serious about his faith.

Continue reading "The Trench Versus the Stage"...

I've just read an article by two Christian counselors about the soul-killing impact of church ministry on leaders. (The statistic above comes from them.) They note that the pressure to grow the church is a significant factor leading to pastoral burn out. And some pastors "admitted they promoted growth models that were incongruent with their values because of a desperate need to validate their pastoral leadership." It seems too many of us have our identities wrapped up in the measurable outcomes of our work rather than in the life-giving love of the Christ we proclaim. Something's wrong.

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Today is day two of Willow Creek's annual "The Leadership Summit" conference. Yesterday, in his opening plenary address, Willow founding pastor Bill Hybels shared his insights into "The High Drama of Decision Making."

"So much of leadership is decision making," Hybels explained. Yet many church leaders fail to reflect on their decision-making processes. As a result, those leaders can feel totally unprepared to tackle a tough decision with confidence.

Continue reading "Leadership Axioms"...

The "God thing" comes before the vision. Most leaders make the mistake of thinking that change starts with their vision. Instead, change starts with a "God thing." The leader's job is to identify where God is at work, communicate the vision of what God is doing, and articulate how we must get involved in His work.

Money always follows vision.
People give money to a compelling cause with a clear vision. When economic times are hard, leaders are tempted to reduce the budget and the vision. No! Increase the vision and money will follow. Never forget - God is always at work and vision is free!

Make it fit on a napkin.
If it can't be explained on a napkin, it is too complicated. Make sure everything from your slogan, to your process for disciple making, to how you will create a movement can be explained on a napkin. If it is simple and reproducible, you can mobilize the masses.

Lead with a "yes" and ask "how" later.
If you want to bring about innovation, learn to lead with a "yes" and not a "how". People are born with dreams from God and they want to make a difference. What they need most is a leader who will say "yes" when they ask for permission to give it a try.

Take risks on emerging leaders and artists.
Resist the urge of telling young leaders to wait a few years; they need and deserve opportunities to lead, so take a risk on them now! Likewise, good art always involves risk. If you want good art in your church you must take risks on your artists!

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Build a healthy team. It's impossible to lead others in isolation. A healthy team bases its relationships on trust in God and one another; knows that each member needs to be empowered to serve out of his or her passion and gift mix; assimilates with one another in order to multiply their shared effectiveness; manages the resources entrusted to their care; and serves with joy - always for the glory of God.

Be relationally focused. Recognize that everything you "do" in ministry grows out of who you "are" in ministry. Leaders are called into a ministry of reconciliation, leading others first toward God and then toward community. In order for the whole organization to thrive, lead others into authentic, honest, life-giving relationships. When conflict occurs, welcome it as your friend and work diligently to learn from and resolve it.

Discern - decide - act - assess. It's important that leaders know how to make both big and small decisions, and then hold them all with open, outstretched hands. Discernment leads to decisions and action. Then, in order to stay fresh in all you do, hold every effort up to the light, and don't be afraid to assess your effectiveness. Make this a repeated pattern of prayer, thought, action, and reflection.

Keep the main thing the main thing. Know your vision and mission and stick to it with unwavering zeal. There's nothing worse than getting off course and entering areas that lead you away from your primary calling. The leader's greatest discipline is maintaining focus and guiding the team toward accomplishing God's primary objective for your shared ministry.

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Steve Macchia is founder and president of Leadership Transformations, Inc.

So here are a few pickings for church leaders from today's tree:

First commandment first
Te first and greatest commandment is "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." The second is also great, but is definitely second: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Leaders who serve people risk getting so caught up in loving neighbors that the can easily put the second commandment first. Doing so will wear you out and take you down. Love God and then the others.

Diversify
Get a hobby. Find a second job. Teach a class. Write an article. Go back to school. Just don't limit yourself to your primary leadership role. We should think of our lives as mutual funds that invest in different stocks. When some are down, others are up. None are up all the time. Leaders who don't diversify can spiral out of control when the ministry isn't going well. We all need something going well to keep us sane.

Be good at the basics
Some leaders are brilliant visionaries with spectacular ideas. But they crash like a cartoon bird that lost its feathers, because they don't give themselves to the basics. Preach a good sermon every Sunday. Show up for board meetings fully prepared. Return phone calls and answer email. Be on time for funerals. Smile at weddings. Do the basic stuff and your visions will have a better chance of becoming reality.

Control your schedule
It's easy to let everyone else control your schedule until you can't get your work done, you feel manipulated, and life is out of control. Be respectful of others, but say, "Tuesday morning won't work for me, but I could meet the following Thursday afternoon." Book birthdays, vacations, study days, and prayer time a year in advance; you can always make a change. Control your schedule or everyone else will do it for you.

Don't reward dysfunction
Churches and other religious organizations attract some highly dysfunctional people. Strangely, many reward the dysfunctional for being weird. Bad idea. If the guy is nothing but trouble, don't nominate him for the church board so you can keep an eye on him. When people are sinful, they need loving confrontation, not encouragement of their behavior.

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Is it okay to talk about "difficult people"? Does the word "assimilation" sound too corporate (or bring up images of the Borg from Star Trek)? What should we call the study materials we produce - curriculum, Bible studies, Bible discussions, or courses?

But the phraseological debate that looms above all others is this: How should we refer to that singular experience of 4?10 people coming together to study God's Word, fellowship, worship, and eat Betty Crocker brownies? Is it a small-group meeting? A gathering? A small-group session? A Bible study?

I've always used the word meeting to describe such occasions. But that's an odd term to use for something that primarily happens in living rooms. Having worked in an office environment for several years now, I don't really think of meetings as having great potential for deep communication and life-change - two things I definitely want to see in my small group.

It was while ruminating on these subjects that I encountered the following audio clip from Harvey Carey, which originated at the Small Group and Evangelism Conference of the Christian Reformed Church. Harvey is the founder and senior pastor of the Citadel of Faith Covenant Church in Detroit, Michigan, and he has some very interesting things to say about meetings and community and making a real difference for the Kingdom of God.

Click here to hear an expanded version of this clip.

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Sam O’Neal is managing editor of BuildingSmallGroups.com.

And then divine lightning strikes. You have an epiphany that can change the course of the week, the year, your church, perhaps it can even usher in the kingdom! You raise your idea, excitedly presenting what is no less than a revelation. As conversation begins, enthusiasm mounts; others are buying into your vision.

And then someone older and, possibly, wiser begins to speak. He (or she) judiciously probes the weaknesses of your idea; soon it is no more impressive than a deflated birthday balloon.

Bad memories and emotions aside, the moments in which a good idea dies are some of the worst for team morale. My church recently conducted a business meeting in which a great idea (in my opinion) met vigorous opposition and soon gave up the ghost. The main weakness of the idea had nothing to do with the concept. Rather, it became palpable early on that the groundwork of highlighting the need for this new idea was virtually untouched. Without a foundation, the idea had nothing left to stand on, and it soon fell to strong - and at that point justified - resistance.

In the spirit of protecting your next idea to fight another day, here are three structures that General Henry M. Robert built into Robert's Rules of Order. They won't get a bad idea through a committee meeting (I hope). But they can give a good idea a fighting chance - whether you rigorously follow the book of order or not.

Chris Blumhofer is associate 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.

Continue reading "When a Good Idea is Under Attack"...

Let me be clear. I am not saying that we need to stop having racial reconciliation conversations. I am saying these conversations should morph into racial reconsideration conversations. In our globalized society we must talk beyond black vs. white racial dynamics.

Dr. Alvin Sanders serves as the director of reconciliation for the Evangelical Free Church of America. He is an editorial advisor to BuildingChurchLeaders.com.

Continue reading "Racial Reconsideration"...

The issue at hand is far from nit-picky. Evangelicals have long been accused of domesticating Jesus - making him one of "us" (often white, middle-class, socially respectable, and politically conservative). The glut of Jesus-as-leader books runs a tremendous risk as it attempts to introduce Jesus into the economy that surrounds 21st century leadership.

Jesus the leader endangers our view of Jesus the savior. Frankly, Jesus the leader is less threatening. He's an organizational director that would fit in wearing business casual and sitting in a conference room. I believe wholeheartedly that Jesus wants to control how I behave, think, and lead when I'm in the conference room, but I don't have much confidence in Jesus as the teacher of strategic leadership lessons.

Chris Blumhofer is associate editor for BuildingChurchLeaders.com.

Continue reading "Jesus Is Not a CEO"...

Like that Clematis near my house, another vine is taking over my life and the lives of most people I know. It's called information technology. When it began to grow, only a few years ago, we all watched in amazement. Since then it has created millions of new jobs, made communication much easier, enabled us to do library research from our homes, and made it possible to communicate around the globe instantly, without cost, and even with video images. PDAs, iPods, cell phones, BlackBerries and additional pieces of technical gimmickry are ever-evolving and increasingly sophisticated. They let us make purchases online, pay bills, access information, download videos, and even exchange text messages or check baseball scores during sermons in church.

Continue reading "Trimming Technostress"...

My second ministry position was a lesson in the danger of being a visionary.

The church was a two or three-year-old plant when I joined the staff, and it was full of life. We held services in a coffee house. Our music was intimate and unpolished. Our preaching was relevant. We staff members had a very clear picture in our minds of the ideal congregation, and everything we did helped move church members toward that picture. We were a testimony to Dietrich Bonhoeffer's observation in Life Together, that the zealous minister "set down for the first time in a Christian community, is likely to bring with him a very definite idea of what Christian life together should be and try to realize it."

I only wish I had read Bonhoeffer then. He goes on in the first chapter of that wonderful little book to explain the danger of vision for a church:

The man who fashions a visionary ideal of community demands that it be realized by God, by others, and by himself. He enters the community of Christians with his demands, sets up his own law, and judges the brethren and God Himself accordingly?He acts as if he is the creator of the Christian community, as if his dream binds men together. When things do not go his way, he calls the effort a failure. When his ideal picture is destroyed, he sees the community going to smash. So he becomes, first an accuser of his brethren, then an accuser of God, and finally the despairing accuser of himself?

Brandon O'Brien is assistant editor for Leadership and BuildingChurchLeaders.com.

Continue reading "Thus Says the Lord?"...

Seven months ago, the editors of BuildingChurchLeaders.com launched this blog to connect church leaders through conversations about ministry, leadership, and spiritual formation. Watching Off the Agenda step into this space has been, and continues to be, very exciting.

However, this blog is only one branch of our ministry. To become further involved in the ministry of equipping and inspiring church leaders, you need to check out the articles, discussion panels, and more than 400 leadership training downloads available in our store.

Full access to those training downloads - the cornerstone of our ministry - is available to BCL members. We've set up a special offer for Off the Agenda readers to enable you to join this community of church leaders for $20 off the regular price. Use this link to become a BCL member for the reduced price of $79.95.

If you're interested in acquiring five or more memberships - in order to equip a multi-site church, a district, or even a denomination with these resources - send us an email and we'll give you the details on how you can sign up for as low as $39.95

We can pick apart the moral depravity of the show (which is all too easy), or we can talk about why it was so popular with the young (which is probably related to its moral depravity). Let's simply draw this conclusion - the younger generation isn't enamored with celebrities. They aren't cultural gods to be worshiped and respected. They're more like rodeo clowns trying not to be impaled by the paparazzi beasts we unleash to devour them for our own entertainment.

The anti-celebrity sentiment of the younger generation, and of the culture as a whole, may be taking root in the church as well. Among evangelicals, there are two seemingly opposite trends occurring that relate to this. One is the movement away from hierarchical leadership structures. The other is the movement toward hierarchical leadership structures. Let me explain.

Skye Jethani is the managing editor of Leadership and a teaching pastor at Blanchard Alliance Church in Wheaton, Illinois.

Continue reading "Church Celebrity Deathmatch"...

Ministries close down. Programs come to an end earlier than expected. No one enjoys these events. Perhaps the people who have to pull the plug enjoy them least of all.

It still happens, however, and ending a ministry can even be seen as an act of stewardship. We asked Leith Anderson how to close down a ministry. His answer doesn't contain too many surprises, but it may motivate you to do what leaders are called to do - to make decisions.

Seven months ago, the editors of BuildingChurchLeaders.com launched this blog to connect church leaders through conversations about ministry, leadership, and spiritual formation. Watching Off the Agenda step into this space has been, and continues to be, very exciting.

However, this blog is only one branch of our ministry. To become further involved in the ministry of equipping and inspiring church leaders, you need to check out the articles, discussion panels, and more than 400 leadership training downloads available in our store.

Full access to those training downloads - the cornerstone of our ministry - is available to BCL members. We've set up a special offer for Off the Agenda readers to enable you to join this community of church leaders for $20 off the regular price. Use this link to become a BCL member for the reduced price of $79.95.

If you're interested in acquiring five or more memberships - in order to equip a multi-site church, a district, or even a denomination with these resources - send us an email and we'll give you the details on how you can sign up for as low as $39.95

Newsweek recently interviewed Anglican bishop N.T. Wright. Whether or not you have an opinion on our brother from the U.K., one thing is clear in Wright's work: he does his work with a pastor's heart.

A few quotes from the Newsweek interview stand out, especially since Wright spends much of his time speaking to people who would call themselves Christians (as, I suspect, many of us do too).

As you read on, note how Wright's view of the resurrection sees it as literal, historical, relevant, and comprehensive to every aspect of life. Such a view can transform and inspire ministry. May it do so more and more in each of ours!

The full interview (well worth the read if you're into this kind of thing) can be accessed here.

NEWSWEEK: When you talk about the resurrection, are you telling people something they haven't heard before?

N. T. Wright: Usually, yes. People have been told so often that resurrection is just a metaphor, and means Jesus died and was glorified - in other words, he went to heaven, whatever that means. And they've never realized that the word resurrection simply didn't mean that. If people [in the first century] had wanted to say he died and went to heaven, they had perfectly good ways of saying that.

What does the resurrected body look like?
The analogy that I use is this: if you are with somebody who is very sick, you say, "Poor old so-and-so, he's just a shadow of his former self." He's still recognizable as the same person. Who we are at the moment is just a shadow of our future selves. There's a real you, a real me, which will one day be there and we'll say, "My goodness, you're looking well." There's a sense of "like but more than."

How do you reconcile your orthodox theology with your progressive politics?
?The resurrection gives you a sense of what God wants to do for the whole world, and it gives the church the courage to say, "God's new world has actually begun already." The church can then say to the powers that be, whether it's George W. Bush or Gordon Brown or the United Nations, "We are urging you to do justice, and we're going to hold your feet to the fire and go on reminding you when you're getting it wrong and congratulating you when you're getting it right."

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Chris Blumhofer is associate editor of BuildingChurchLeaders.com.

My great-grandfather was born during the Civil War, and his parents named him Robert Lee Shelley. Want to guess which side of that conflict they were on?

I didn't know this until recently, thanks to my dad's genealogical research, which traced the family to Grand Glaise, Arkansas, where the Shelleys ran a sawmill and a small hotel. Since this revelation, I've been newly interested in the character and leadership of my great-grandfather's namesake.

I learned, for instance, that one of General Robert E. Lee's most significant moments of leadership was not on a battlefield but on the eve of his surrender.

After four years of warfare, during which, except for the final campaign, he had repeatedly out-performed his opponents, he now had to face the reality that he could not continue the war against the well-resourced Union Army. His Army of Northern Virginia numbered 15,000, while Union forces under General Ulysses Grant numbered 80,000.

His soldiers weren't ready to quit. Even with their shortages of food and ammunition, they would greet him, "General! General! Say the word, General, and we'll go after them again."

The night before he met with General Grant to discuss an end to the war, his artillery officer, E.P. Alexander, recommended that the Confederate Army should "scatter like rabbits and partridges in the woods" and fight a guerilla war.

It must have been a tempting suggestion. Lee had already lost his home and virtually all his worldly goods, including his savings and investments. Worse, he had lost a daughter, a daughter-in-law, two grandchildren, and countless friends and comrades. A patriot who loved his country and his home state, he now was deprived of citizenship and liable to be tried for treason. Why shouldn't he give his men permission to continue striking back at those who had carried out the Union's policy of total war, destroying much of the South's countryside?

But Lee looked at Alexander and shook his head.

"The men would have no rations, and they would be under no discipline," he said. "They would have to plunder and rob to procure subsistence. The country would be full of lawless bands in every part, and a state of society would ensue from which it would take the country years to recover. The enemy's cavalry would pursue? and everywhere they went, there would be fresh rapine and destruction."

Lee told Alexander that he mustn't think of what surrender would mean in terms of lost honor; they had to do what was best for their country.

Alexander recounted later, "I had not a single word to say in reply. He had answered my suggestion from a plane so far above it that I was ashamed of having made it."

When I found that story in H.W. Crocker's book Robert E. Lee on Leadership (Prima, 2000), I asked, "What does this say about Lee's character?" Perhaps a leader's most difficult task is to view the current situation from a higher plane, to see beyond the immediate situation to the long-term effects.

This requires more than 20/20 eyesight. It requires a wisdom that rises above accomplishing my current agenda.

Have you and your team ever prayed for a "God's-eye view" of your ministries? When we do, it both humbles and energizes us.

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Marshall Shelley is editor of Leadership journal and an editorial advisor to BuildingChurchLeaders.com and Off the Agenda.

Eight weeks ago, Leadership journal partnered with BuildingChurchLeaders.com (our main site), as well as a few other sites at our parent company, to spread the word about Scot McKight's Hermeneutics Quiz.

Tens of thousands of church leaders - even entire church staff teams - have used it to gauge their approach to Scripture and, if you're like me, uncover a few blind spots along the way (one of my more obvious blind spots: a high view of Scripture but a low view of the Sabbath).

If you haven't taken the Hermeneutics Quiz, here's your opportunity. It's a great way to engage one of the more important questions of ministry: how do you read the Bible.

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Chris Blumhofer is associate editor of BuildingChurchLeaders.com.

StreamingFaith.com recently sat down with marketing guru Seth Godin and asked his advice on church "marketing" in our increasingly plugged-in, techno-driven society. At the forefront of Godin's thought-world these days is "new marketing" - methods of communicating messages that aren't top-down (from an ad firm to your TV) but side-to-side (from a bootleg YouTube clip, to your blog, to my blog, to the evening news). New marketing reaches smaller audiences, but it creates more of an impact.

His advice may surprise or offend, but it is still worth thinking about.

Consider these excerpts (you can see the full interview here):

"Churches are the oldest businesses around today. And yes, they're businesses. They don't necessarily sell a physical product, and they don't always charge money, but there's a transaction nonetheless. And that involves the individual paying attention. Attention is precious and it's rare and it's non-refundable?."

"Just because it's important to you (and it could be your Tupperware product line or your sermon) doesn't mean it's important to me. The essential idea here is that new media is selfish and you can't buy or demand attention, no matter how worthy you believe your idea may be?."

"I'd say you need to concentrate on what's remarkable and interesting and noteworthy and touches my faith, and stop spending time on tasks that don't amplify any of those elements. Doing something because you've always done it isn't an idea worth spreading?."

What do you think? Do we short-change ourselves by taking people's attention for granted? Do we recognize the selfish way in which people listen to our messages? How can church leaders make the most of insights from the business world?

Let us know what you think. If you want to read more, check out the full interview on StreamingFaith's website.

Chris Blumhofer is associate editor of BuildingChurchLeaders.com.

I recently had the opportunity to return to my native Arkansas. I had forgotten that spring arrives in some parts of the country by March. But I was even more surprised to find, in Little Rock of all places, a vibrant and growing multi-ethnic church.

Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas, led by pastors Mark DeYmaz and Harry Li (with several supporting staff), is an intentionally multi-ethnic and economically diverse community in Little Rock's University District. Though only six years old, the church has gained credibility by shining forth the love of Christ in a historically divided town. It has done so through its focus on inter-ethnic ministry and worship. In his book, Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church, DeYmaz warns:

I believe the homogeneous church will increasingly struggle in the twenty-first century with credibility, that is, in proclaiming a message of God's love for all people from an environment in which a love for all people cannot otherwise be observed.

In his book - and on the Mosaix Global Network website - DeYmaz offers "Seven Core Commitments of a Multi-ethnic Church":

1. Embrace dependence: determine to trust God to provide financially and spiritually.

2. Take intentional steps: make changes to attract people outside the majority demographic.

3. Empower diverse leadership: multi-ethnic churches require multi-ethnic staff.

4. Develop cross-cultural relationships: work through awkwardness to develop true friendships.

5. Pursue cross-cultural competence: learn to be sensitive to cultural differences.

6. Promote a spirit of inclusion: commit to being comfortable being uncomfortable.

7. Mobilize for impact: take steps to minister to the greater community and make disciples.

Take a moment to think on these things. Are there things your church could do to develop a multi-ethnic and economically diverse ministry?

Timing is very significant in spiritual leadership. Indeed, timing played a major role in shaping Jesus' ministry and death. Not only would Jesus not go to the cross for the wrong reasons. He didn't go until it was the right time ("Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father" [John 13:1; NIV]).

Great leaders understand the importance of timing, specifically when it comes to making decisions. There are right times to consider issues and right times to make moves. Conversely, even the right issue tackled at the wrong time faces certain defeat.

There is no formula for great timing. It is part instinct, part intuition, part paying attention to surroundings, part prayer life, and all of the above. But it is not guesswork. Leaders who have a good sense of timing seem very wired into their situations while, at the same time, wired into God for a perspective that transcends just what the leader and his or her advisers can see.

Leaders adept at timing know how to read audiences and situations. They have practiced this over the years, testing out their hunches and intuitions. They have learned how to monitor their own internal sensors and when to pay attention to the voices around them and the voice within. Leaders with great timing know how to test the water, sniff the wind, and commit just enough to gauge reaction before committing it all. They risk, but they do not gamble.

Continue reading "Choosing the Moment to Lead"...

Few barriers can subvert the depth and transforming power of a small-group discussion faster than one or more group members who dominate the conversation. Such members can monopolize entire gatherings with their problems and perspectives and can hinder the participation of everyone else in the group.

Here are some practical tips for handling small-group members who talk too much.

Be Assertive
The best way to handle a dominant personality is for the group leader and/or facilitator to be assertive.

? Be assertive before the discussion. Prior to a discussion, or prior to asking a question, tell the group that you are looking for brief answers and thoughts. You may even consider setting a cap on the amount of time people are allowed to speak on each question - no more than one minute, for example. Also, make it known that you want to hear from as many people as possible on each subject.
? Be assertive during the discussion. If a group member ignores your request for brevity and begins to monopolize the conversation, the best thing to do is nip it in the bud - even if that means interrupting. Thank the person for his or her contribution, and then move the discussion in another direction by calling on another member or by asking a new question.
? Be assertive after the discussion. If a person continually monopolizes the group's time, you may need to discuss the issue with that person in private. State that you appreciate his or her willingness to contribute to the group's discussions and recognize the depth of his or her answers and opinions. But also be honest in sharing that the frequency and thoroughness of the person's responses can make it difficult for other group members to participate. As a result of these conversations, it's possible to ask the dominant person for help in encouraging the rest of the group to talk, thus turning a difficult person into an ally.

Continue reading "When Group Members Talk Too Much"...

Practices vary for church leaders seeking to hear God's call. The most radical method is "the lot," used by many Anabaptists since their early days in Europe. This method of discernment, taken from the example of the eleven disciples in Acts 1, is still practiced today by most Amish and a few Mennonite groups.

When a church needs a leader, they hear a sermon (Titus 1 or 1 Timothy 3) on the necessary qualifications. Then each member submits the name of one person from the congregation who meets those criteria.

Anyone receiving three or more votes is given the opportunity to decline but otherwise enters the lottery. If, say, five names remain, then five hymn books (or Bibles) are taken outside the room and a slip of paper, on which is written the words of Acts 1:24 or Proverbs 16:33, is placed in one of them.

The books are brought back into the room and placed on a table. Each of the five individuals picks one book. The one whose book contains the paper becomes the leader! The chosen one (and family) often weeps because of the solemn and unsought responsibility, and the dramatic sense of God's calling.

Marshall Shelley is editorial vice-president of Christianity Today International, and editor in chief of the Leadership Media Group.

Continue reading "Exploring "The Call""...

Last year, I was at the Leadership Summit Debrief in Chicago. It's a gathering of all the lead pastors from different churches that serve as satellite sites for the Leadership Summit. This group gathers to review the Summit and be mentored by Bill Hybels and other key leaders that they bring in.

Why did you decide to trust Bill and invest so much in the Willow Creek Association?
First of all, I believe success attracts success. I first met Bill through his father and I saw his ministry continue to grow and grow. I was always fascinated with church builders - people could grow a church that would reach people. Bill was a success and I wanted to be a part of helping him. Secondly, I'm a cheerleader. I believe the most important words you can say to a person are "You can do it!" It's awfully simple, but I just want to tell people they can accomplish their dreams.

Dave Ferguson is lead pastor of Community Christian Church and an editorial advisor for BuildingChurchLeaders.com.

Continue reading "90 Minutes with Rich"...

Posted by Rachel Willoughby at 7:00 AM on March 24, 2008 | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)