Leadership

In America we have the popular maxim, Change or Die. Solomon said there is nothing new under the sun, showing our popular American phrase has its roots in Greek antiquity. Heraclitus said, "Everything changes, πάντα χωρεῖ." [...]

In the early ’90s, I was shepherding a small Baptist church in rural Canada. In those days, being single, I lived with various families in the community. One family who owned their own meat production business [...]

David Fletcher wrote this when he was an Executive Pastor at Grace Covenant Church of Austin, Texas. By writing down your church's "Spiritual DNA," you are putting in print what may only be oral tradition. [...]

What would you say your most valuable asset is? For most leaders, the answer is (of course) their people. But as “twentysomethings” share the boardroom with Vietnam veterans, assumptions fly about what the other person [...]

Remember the old Beatle’s song—All You Need Is Love?” Who knew then that John Lennon and the rest of the Beatles were all over what the Bible has to say to us as leaders? As Executive [...]

John Maxwell says that everything rises or falls on leadership. Let’s test that idea on the topic of evangelism and see if it’s true. I have worked alongside pastors and ministry leaders my entire adult career. It [...]

Churches just might be the least clarified organizations in our society; I believe one of the reasons is a lack of understanding among these three types of leadership—vision, management, and governance. Recently, God has given me numerous opportunities [...]

Change---it really is hard. There are some words in church that are just inflammatory. Uttering the word “change” is the church equivalent of yelling shark at the beach. One of the reasons may be that many times, [...]

In Harvard Business Review, Michael Porter underlines the importance of strategic planning for leaders when he writes, “If you want to make a difference as a leader, you’ve got to make time for strategic planning.” [...]

Warning! Danger! Hazards ahead! God at work! Live at your own risk! Risk. The only way we can know God. You see it from one end of the Bible to the other. Look at the names in the Hebrews 11 Hall [...]

It’s that time of year again when, as a church staff, we prayerfully consider how we are going to take our vision as a church to the next level---how will we divide and allocate our [...]

Julie was an endearing, young missionary who had a fantastic ministry that I was dying to learn about. Julie came into my office and was on the verge of tears. I asked her what was [...]

Volunteers needed, Men’s Breakfast, retreat, trip, work day, financial report, etc. It is the stuff of church life. Often ministries will advertise their programs as just another thing on the calendar. Other ministries will have [...]

What do you do when you find yourself in desperate situations where you know what you are trying isn’t working. I liken it to a battlefield where you are seeing your core, key men [...]

We had just hired a new pastor who was to focus on leading our church in the areas of worship and arts. He’d been in our church a little over a month. Had great ideas. [...]

January always brings an interesting challenge for XP’s. As we return to the office from the holidays, we begin to realize anew that the gang needs us to lead them, once again. Circulating through the [...]

One of the unspoken responsibilities for Executive Pastors is creating environments where leaders in the church are developed and new leaders are attracted to join the team. Most churches that are audited come up short [...]

Earlier this year, I experienced an incredible breakthrough in my working relationship with my Senior Pastor ... honesty! I have the highest respect for my pastor and basically joined the leadership team because of my [...]

I’d like to teach you something that I learned as a kid growing up on a horse ranch. I call it the Manure Leadership Principle. I’m surprised how many Executive Pastors are familiar with manure since [...]

George Barna contends that respect, understanding and appreciation for pastors have fallen to their lowest level over the last decades. Moreover, the author claims that a church member’s trust in their pastor---to understand and address [...]

As church leaders, we are tasked with challenging our members to grow deeper in their relationship with Christ and go further in their ministry. Most of us learned early in our ministry that the best [...]