Leadership Tips
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Plan to Fail
I've been experimenting with ways to grow my church. I know "church growth" is sometimes a bad word, but at its best, church growth is about making disciples of Jesus Christ. So I went with my worship leader, Jeremy, to Michigan State University's campus and tried to hand out worship invite cards to students. This was way out of my comfort zone, but I was asking my congregation to push themselves, and I thought I ought to push myself, too. I found it a lot easier to tack the invite cards up on bulletin boards than hand them out to people, but we did both. -
Correcting Someone Who Works for You
I'm amazed by Wesley's patient persistence with John Trembath. The two letters cover 17 years in their relationship. Wesley never gave up on his coworker. The letters demonstrate three ways in which Wesley invested himself attempting to improve Trembath's effectiveness. -
Organizational Pain
My pain story started when I took a huge Labrador for a walk. Actually, it was more like the Labrador took me for a walk—pulling and running ahead of me until she suddenly decided to change direction and force me into an argument with the laws of physics. The episode resulted in an instant crack in my lower back—not to mention a permanent dislike of the canine species. -
Second Impressions
Do you ever find yourself longing for more of God? Wanting to experience the presence of Jesus in a fresh way?
Did you ever find yourself wishing Jesus would show up in your Sunday School class or small group of junior highers? To help you as you teach, or at the very least, to put the fear of God (literally) into that squirrelly seventh-grader?
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Stress vs. Distress
Lutheran psychiatrist Paul Qualben raises an intriguing question: "Why do some [church workers] … seem to thrive in stressful situations, find satisfaction in their work, and weather the ups and downs … with equanimity, while ones in the next parish burn out?"