More Than Us. More Than Here.

by Kevin Bolton   Attention seems to be the currency of our culture. How do Christ-followers, tasked with changing our world, capture the interest of those around us in a way that honors God and points our neighbors to Jesus? Every Saturday morning cars begin to fill the Westover Hills Church of Christ parking lot, […]

Understanding Servant Leadership: Lessons Learned from Lynn Anderson

by Grady King   Several years ago, I was on a plane reading They Smell Like Sheep in preparation for some time with elders. I noticed the man sitting next to me looking at the title. He said, “Excuse me, I did not know Lynn Anderson wrote about sheep. I thought she was a country […]

Empowering Others: Developing Leaders Through Servant Leadership

by Jay Jarboe   In the Philippines, I learned a valuable lesson about servant leadership. I observed local leaders facilitating a Discovery Bible Study from Matthew 20:20-28 for emerging leaders. One of the observations they made from their cultural perspective surprised me. We know the context; James’ and John’s mother requested that Jesus make her […]

Overcoming Challenges to Servant Leadership: Addressing Common Barriers

by Kaley Ihfe   I suspect we all have different parts of ourselves that form barriers to servant leadership. For some of us, it is our ego – we want the credit for the good things we do; we crave recognition. For others of us, it is difficult to do the work of serving others […]

Self-Awareness: The Foundation of Leadership

by Chris Goldman   One of the most impactful books for leaders globally is Leadership and Self-Deception by the Arbinger Institute. This book highlights how self-deception undermines effective leadership – including pastoral and ministerial roles. The authors assert, “Self-deception actually determines one’s experience in every aspect of life.” This is because self-deception blinds individuals to […]

Emotional Intelligence and Empathy in Leadership

by Steven Carrizal   Emotional intelligence is commonly described as the awareness and management of emotions and emotional reactivity within ourselves and what we are experiencing from others.[1] Good leaders learn how to do this, first by acknowledging their own emotions and understanding what it feels like when they are stirred up by various difficult […]

The Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Church Culture and Community

by Greg Anderson   “Emotional Intelligence refers to the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships.” Daniel Goleman in Working With Emotional Intelligence Goleman’s definition of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is not the only definition out there, but his […]

Empathetic Leadership: How to Support Those in Need

by Kaley Ihfe   When I was a small child, my parents took me to see the movie “For the Love of Benji.” The tagline for the movie is: “A wonderfully unique motion picture of laughter and love…” Unfortunately for my parents, I did not laugh at all because I was so upset about Benji […]

Leveraging Community Strengths: Engaging with Local Needs and Voices

by Chris Goldman   The definition of a good church facility is simple: it facilitates the ministry of the church. If it doesn’t, you will quickly find yourself exhausted trying to make things work. In 2016, NWChurch decided to “build a community center where a church happens to meet.” The intention was to make the […]

Leading a More Faithful Church: Why Diversity in Leadership Matters

by Sean Palmer Church leaders have a sacred responsibility—not just to guide their congregations, but to partner with God in the in-breaking of God’s kingdom. Leadership influences everything from teaching and discipleship to outreach and community engagement. And one of the most pressing challenges facing the church today is a leadership structure that often lacks […]

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