Archive for Leadership Encouragement – Page 3

From Quick Fix to Healthly Assessment (part 4: Managing Assessment – continued)

by Evertt Huffard – In the last article, we discussed four interacting factors that every healthy church needs: spirituality, mission, organization, and relationships. Figure 2 expands the model. The wisdom of the spirit gives the spiritual basis for mission while good works flow through organization and relationships. This system approach also illustrates the responsibility of elders to […]

From Quick Fix to Healthy Assessment (part 2: Managing Self)

by Evertt Huffard – Managing Self In the last article, we discussed three principles that have served me well in approaching a church crisis. These three principles have something in common–the need for leaders to manage their own fears and emotions in a crisis. Stress, personal attacks, threats, pain, anxiety and a host of fears can make it […]

Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times (Part 3): Being a Non-Anxious Presence

by Tim Woodroof –  “Showing up” may be the first step of effective congregational leadership. But exuding a calm, principled, hopeful demeanor is the “other shoe” that has to fall.[i] In times of crisis, members will be anxious enough for us all. If leaders allow themselves to be infected by such anxiety, if leaders become transmitters of such […]

Reflections on Being a “Minister”: A Job or Calling?

by Grady King   The Latin word, “vocatio” is the English word vocation.  It’s basic meaning is, “calling.”  Every Christian’s calling is to be God’s person–to seek  and love him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. God calls us through the gospel (2 Thessalonians 2,14), yet, after 40 plus years of doing this […]

Every Church Has a Story: Walking on Sacred Ground

by Grady King – I went to high school with friends who were Creek Indian. Their burial grounds were sacred. They were no mere cemeteries—simply holes in the ground.  These sacred burial sites were a blend of Indian traditions, fused with Christianity and the spirits of the “old ones” were respected in this sacred ground.  […]

Leaders & Failure: Shadows in the Soul

by Grady King –  We don’t fail. We learn. These five words give hope thanks to my missional friend, Pat Keifert. What are you learning as leader from failure? Most church leaders I know fight a sense of failure. No matter the public rhetoric of trusting God, working hard even those good day experiences, often […]

Characteristics of an Aligned Team

by Greg Anderson –  Have you ever been part of a team that is rowing in the same direction? It is a wonderful thing to experience. Everyone has embraced a specific vision and aligned head and heart with it. They have articulated a mission to help them get there. Enthusiasm is potent, all things seems […]

Plane Ride to Dallas: “Who Created God?”

by Grady King –  “Who created God?”   That’s the sincere question of my new friend, Li., my new friend who sat next to me on a three hour plane ride home from Philadelphia. Li is 30 years old and is from China. He attended the  University of Wisconsin and completed his Ph.D in chemical engineering […]

Preaching Matters

by Grady King –  “Use your head, share your heart.”  After four decades of church ministry, thirty two of them as a preacher I can honestly say that preaching still matters!  I can also say without question that preaching is more difficult now that at anytime in my life. Information overload coupled with multi-sensory technology […]

The Catch-22 for Women in Ministry

by Rhesa Higgins –  Calligraphied on a pink plaque surrounded by hearts and flowers, this statement hung on my bedroom wall from infancy. As I entered high school, other plaques that representing successes in debate tournaments soon surrounded it. At the time, I didn’t appreciate the irony. Little girls in the United States, and especially in […]

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