Facilitating Mediation: Understanding The Peacemaking Possibility

by Jon Mullican Most people work hard to avoid conflictual situations. Conflict creates discomfort. Conflict means to most that someone wins, and someone loses; to avoid losing or losing relationships, we sidestep the issue, the conversation, and the confrontation. Churchgoers follow this pattern well. Who wants to fight at church? Who wants to get into […]

How Old Are You – 12?

by Amanda Box Research shows that during conflict, people revert to their behavior from about age 12—sad, but true. Since I happen to have a 12-year-old daughter, I have an up-close-and-personal daily view of what this looks like. It’s not pretty. It’s all about the win/lose, deserve/earn with her. I most definitely have my work […]

Healing After Conflict

by Shane J. Mushonga Conflict is like an unwelcome friend on life’s journey arriving uninvited; and it lingers if left unaddressed. How do we rid ourselves of this unwanted companion? Consider these three steps to choose healing as a better travel companion: 1. Be Intentional in the Process While conflict is common, healing requires an […]

Need a Vision for your church family? Start here.

by Jon Mullican   Vision work is imaginative work, using our God-given minds to generate an image of a preferred future.  In Revelation 21, God tells of a future with a “new heaven and a new earth” where there is no pain and no tears.  This is God’s dream for His people. Functionally then, envisioning […]

Say “Yes” to Church Strategy Sessions: Clarifying Your Mission & Vision

by Chris Goldman   As part of my work with leadership teams for companies engaging our marketing services at bizmktg.com, we begin with a strategy session. This session is usually four hours long and helps clarify the mission, vision, and organizational messaging. For every company or nonprofit organization, this must be uniquely authentic as good […]

Know Where You Play – Know How You Win

by Chris Goldman   “You have to know where you play and know how you win.” ~ Lynn Anderson, Founder – Hope Network When Lynn Anderson made that statement to our mentoring group, it sunk deep into my leadership psyche. To be clear, Lynn wasn’t reducing Kingdom leadership to sporting competitions. Rather, he was reminding […]

Spaghetti, Marshmallows, and Ministry

by Amanda Box The spaghetti marshmallow game is a famous activity used to teach group dynamics. It was created by Peter Skillman, who wanted to discover why some groups worked together successfully and others did not. In the game, a group is given 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string […]

Leadership as Immune System

by Jon Mullican Peter Steinke has equated leadership to the body’s immune system.  According to Steinke, leadership establishes the boundaries of what is of self – what belongs in the body – and what is foreign – what is not of the body.  Leadership is responsible to identify behavior that is allowed and behavior that […]

Nurturing a Discipling Culture

by Steven Carrizal About eight years into my work as a youth minister, I was asked two questions that have stuck with me for more than two decades. The first was this: Do the students in my ministry know that I love God? As I pondered this question, I was confident that my love for […]

Church for Every Context: A Book I Wish Every Minister Would Read

by Jason Locke If you’re familiar with any of the blog posts from my sabbatical partly spent in the UK, then this book by Mike Moynagh explains a big piece of my research. During our 10 days based in Oxford, I got to visit with the author over cool drinks on a warm, summer afternoon. That two-hour […]

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