Archive for Leadership Coaching

10 Practical Steps for Recruiting Volunteers

by Shannon Rains   The start of the school year typically brings a flurry of activity in our church’s education ministry. Leading education has many challenges, and recruiting is one of the most critical, yet dreaded, tasks. If I ask any team of ministers about the biggest struggle in their ministry, someone (probably the children’s […]

Successions in Leadership

by Scott Laird   If you have been reading the Christian Chronicle lately you have noticed the preacher shortage in our fellowship. Individual congregations can make a difference in this struggle. Since 2000 the Great Falls church of Christ in Great Falls, Montana, has worked with nine men and their families to prepare them for […]

Mentorship Matters: The Journey Together

by Jordan McDonald   I don’t know if I’m young or old anymore. I turn 30 today and in one sense feel as though life has passed me by, in another sense I feel like I’m just starting. I have been in formal leadership roles since I graduated from college. Even so, last year while […]

Leaders with the Skill of Adaptability

by Becky Burroughs   “A bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you fail to make the turn.”  Helen Keller  Born in 1880, Helen Keller, author, political activist, and lecturer, was the first person born blind and deaf to earn a Bachelors Degree. Her exquisite ability to adapt set her […]

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 […]

Fired! Terminated! Let go! (We’re going a different direction…”)

by Grady King– Say it anyway you want, termination is always difficult, no matter which side of the desk you are on. When it comes to the termination of a minister, the ramifications are legion for him, his family, the leadership and the church. In recent weeks I have listened to the gut wrenching stories […]

Leaders as Weight Bearers

by Grady King –  A friend of mine recently reminded me that good leaders are weight bearers. The phrase, “weight bearers” conjures up carrying a load, bearing burdens, being responsible.  Inherent to all of this is anxiety.  No church rejected Paul more than the Corinthian church. Paul, however, yearned for them to be devoted to […]

Difficult Conversations

by Amanda Box –  This semester I’m team-teaching a Sunday morning class called Difficult Conversations. The goal with this class is to teach and practice basic conflict management skills to help negotiate differences and controversial topics. Being able to have productive conversations with believers and nonbelievers about critical subjects that connect with our deepest beliefs and […]

Being Nice at What Price?

by Grady King –    We have all experienced it.  One person gets their way over the majority—a “few” people, predictably, control decisions. Group decision making is multi-faceted involving long-term relationships, history, precedent, threat and fear. When final decisions come down to one person’s influence, opinion or dominance repeatedly, frustration and fear tactics abound. The […]

Church Leadership & Difficult People – When Being Nice is Not Enough

by Grady King – Charles Schultz is on one my favorite theologians. What he communicated through Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Lucy reached millions of peopl  “There’s nothing you need more than Christ.”  “Keep looking up…that’s the secret of life.” “Whatever is worrying you right now, forget about it.  Take a deep breath and trust in God.” For […]

X