Leading Like Nehemiah — An In-Depth Interview with Lovett H. Weems Jr.
How does the story of Nehemiah guide leaders today? Lewis Center Director Doug Powe interviews Dr. Lovett H. Weems Jr. They discuss why Nehemiah is…
Author
Lovett H. Weems Jr.
Lovett H. Weems Jr. is senior consultant at the Lewis Center for Church Leadership, distinguished professor of church leadership emeritus at Wesley Theological Seminary, and author of several books on leadership.
Doug Powe
F. Douglas Powe Jr. is the president of Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, OK. Previously, he served as the director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership. He is also co-editor with Jessica Anschutz of Healing Fractured Communities (Palmetto, 2024) and coauthor with Lovett H. Weems Jr. of Sustaining While Disrupting: The Challenge of Congregational Innovation (Fortress, 2022). His previous books include The Adept Church: Navigating Between a Rock and a Hard Place (Abingdon Press, 2020); Not Safe for Church: Ten Commandments for Reaching New Generations; New Wine, New Wineskins: How African American Congregations Can Reach New Generations; Transforming Evangelism: The Wesleyan Way of Sharing Faith; and Transforming Community: The Wesleyan Way to Missional Congregations.
There Are No Volunteers Named “Somebody”
Lewis Center Director Doug Powe explains why recruitment efforts based on general appeals invariably fall flat. It’s far more effective to generate interest through firsthand…
What Can Churches and Businesses Learn from Each Other?
What can churches, nonprofits, and businesses learn from one another? Lewis Center Director Doug Powe interviews Randy Casey-Rutland, a theologically educated business executive, who shares…
A Transformational Approach to Church Finance
How can church leaders approach stewardship and finance in ways that inspire generosity and encourage the sound use of church resources? Lewis Center Director Doug…
A Biblical Perspective on Trauma
What is trauma? And how can congregations be a space of healing for the traumatized? Lewis Center Director Doug Powe interviews Paul Cho, a professor…
Coaching Leaders and Congregations to Reach their Full Potential
How can you connect the dots between where your church needs to be headed and the steps needed to get there? Doug Powe interviews Chris…
Understanding Generation Z and Connecting with Their Passions
What are the unique characteristics of young people coming of age today? Rock Jones, president of Ohio Wesleyan University, describes a generation of digital natives…
Leading with Imperfect Knowledge
Leaders today are faced with the challenge of deciding how to move forward with imperfect knowledge. Lewis Center Director Doug Powe says leaders must risk…
Leading During Turbulent Times
Lewis Center Director Doug Powe writes that the tragic events of January 6 demand our best leadership. He outlines ways church leaders can respond to…
Reaching New People This Christmas Is More Important Than Ever
Ann Michel and Doug Powe of the Lewis Center write that the pandemic makes connecting with new people this Christmas more important than ever. But…
The Church and Election Day
Although congregations are prohibited from endorsing candidates or parties, Doug Powe and Ann Michel of the Lewis Center staff say there is much a church…
8 Factors that Make You a More Influential Leader
A leader needs influence to move a community in the right direction. Eight key factors can help you gain and keep influence writes F. Douglas…
Rethinking Esther’s Leadership
Esther’s story turns in many ways on a very traditional understanding of female roles and influence. But Esther’s capacity for innovative and creative leadership offers…
Online Worship Makes Evangelism Less Intimidating for Many
One apparent advantage of an online worship format is that people seem to be more inclined to extend and respond to invitations to check out…
Is Your Congregation a Swamp, a Reservoir, or a Canal?
Is your congregation cut off and inwardly focused? Primarily a storehouse of resources? Or a connector that brings things together? The images of swamp, reservoir,…
The Adept Church: Navigating Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Learn how to determine your church’s best way forward! How can you help your congregation take an honest look at challenges in their church? And…
Staying Connected in a Time of Social Distancing
How can congregations sustain a sense of community and care for one another when most gatherings have been suspended? Some simple strategies can be used…
The 4 “C’s” of Impactful Leadership
Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe says that courage, conviction, collaboration, and creativity are four characteristics of effective leadership evident in the powerful legacy of…
5 Emerging Trends Impacting Church Life
Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe and Associate Director Ann A. Michel reiterate the importance of nine major trends they outlined last year. They also…
4 Ways to Make Christmas Eve Hospitality the Pattern for the Year
Lewis Center Director Doug Powe says special efforts to welcome visitors at Christmas shouldn’t be set aside once the holiday is over. He outlines four…
4 Ways to Lead Effectively When Expectations Change
Lewis Center Director Doug Powe explains that church leaders today are forced to lead amid constantly changing expectations. He outlines a four-step process to help…
3 Strategies for Leading Beyond Your Blind Spots
Lewis Center Director Doug Powe says we all have characteristics that others recognize but we can’t quite see in ourselves. Effective leaders see past these…
4 Strategies for Reversing the 80/20 Rule
How can a congregation move beyond having a small percentage of congregants doing the lion’s share of the work? Lewis Center Director Doug Powe outlines…
The Changing Face of Ministry
Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe describes shifting staffing patterns and ministry models emerging as more and more mainline congregations suffer decline. The Lewis Center…
5 Leadership Insights from Jethro
Lewis Center Director Doug Powe says when looking for leadership lessons in the Bible we shouldn’t focus so much on Moses that we skip over…
4 Key Practices of Community Engagement
Sam Marullo and Doug Powe, both Wesley Theological Seminary faculty members, have developed a simple model to help congregations engage their communities in meaningful ways.…
3 Leadership Principles from Archbishop Tutu
Lewis Center Director Doug Powe learned through firsthand experience working with Desmond Tutu the key principles of the archbishop’s leadership effectiveness. Powe says Archbishop Tutu was…
4 Ways to Create Accountability for Discipleship
Lewis Center Director Doug Powe says it’s common for many individuals within a congregation to be responsible for discipleship. But often, no one person is…
Church Childcare Programs: Income Generators or Missional Opportunity?
Nursery schools and childcare programs are more to churches than a source of rental income. Lewis Center Director Doug Powe says they offer important missional…
Young Clergy Effectiveness: Good News-Bad News
Data from the Lewis Pastoral Leadership Inventory™ (LPLI) suggest that younger clergy share many of the same strengths as their older colleagues and that they…