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Leading Ideas
Delivered every Wednesday, our free e-newsletter Leading Ideas offers articles by thoughtful, cutting-edge leaders on subjects you care about — navigating change, reaching younger people, financing your ministry, communicating effectively — to help you be the leader God is calling you to be.

The Lewis Center is committed to helping congregations and denominations thrive and grow by providing ideas, research, resources, and training for vital and fruitful leadership. Through Leading Ideas, we share vignettes of leaders and congregations, book reviews, leadership quotes, and helpful “right questions” built around the premise that leaders don’t need answers — they need to know the right questions.

Leading Ideas
0 Are Your Pandemic Giving Systems as Effective as the Offering Plate?

Due to COVID-19 restrictions most churches have adopted new ways of taking up the collection. Ann Michel of the Lewis Center staff says it’s important that these new methods honor the central role of offering in worship and invite everyone to give. The familiar ritual of passing the plate has fallen victim to the pandemic. Many churches worshiping online have put…

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Leading Ideas
0 The Search for New Leaders Begins with Prayer

Ken Willard and Kelly Brown say that prayer and study are necessary first steps in creating a leadership pathway for your church. They present six ideas for laying a spiritual foundation for a new leadership development process. Leaders tend to be people of action. This is a very good thing! But we suggest you ensure a strong foundation of prayer…

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Leading Ideas
0 Good Communication Requires More Than Just Sharing Information

Trying to improve communication by sharing more and more information is likely to backfire, according to Ryan Hartwig and Warren Bird. Effective communication is aimed at creating shared meaning, structuring decision making, and coordinating leadership activities, not just transmitting information. Church leadership teams often struggle with communication because they don’t understand what communication truly is. When communication is seen simplistically…

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Leading Ideas
0 Leading between Faith and Patriotism

Lovett H. Weems Jr. writes that preaching at the time of a national holiday offers opportunities and dangers. He says it is important to approach the holiday theme through the lens of biblical faith, especially in today’s deeply polarized political climate. National holidays and celebrations offer both opportunities and dangers for congregations and their leaders. Preachers and worship leaders often…

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Leading Ideas
0 Discipling People in Midlife and Beyond

Older adults are leaving or downsizing church involvement at rates comparable to that of younger adults, says Michelle Van Loon. Churches that typically focus most of their energy on early-stage faith training need to give similar attention to the spiritual needs of those in the second half of life. A high percentage of our churches tend to approach the task…

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Leading Ideas
0 Connection is More Important than Content in Digital Gatherings

Zach Lambert of Restore Austin Church says that the move to digital gatherings reveals that content is important, but our connections are imperative. He believes online ministry must intentionally create spaces where deep friendship can blossom. Restore Austin Church has been livestreaming our Sunday gatherings since the debut of Facebook Live in April of 2016, just two months after our…

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Leading Ideas
0 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 positive leadership lessons as well, writes F. Douglas Powe, Jr., Director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership, and James C. Logan, Chair of Evangelism (an E. Stanley Jones Professorship), at Wesley Theological Seminary. Imagine…

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Leading Ideas
0 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 church online. Virtual evangelism is proving easier, less intimidating, and more spontaneous than face-to-face evangelism. This article is also available in Korean. 한국어 버전 Anecdotal evidence suggests that worship attendance has increased rather significantly for…

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Leading Ideas
0 Committing to a Hybrid Model of Ministry

Tom Berlin says churches will likely need a hybrid ministry model with a mix of in-person and online ministry for some time. He shares thoughts on how churches can embrace this approach and focus their efforts as they move forward. Are you barraged by a cacophony of voices with conflicting advice on what your church should do next? Open immediately.…

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Leading Ideas
0 Leading in an Age of Political Polarization

David Brubaker says leaders need different skills in this age when deep political divisions affect our families, congregations, and communities. It requires clarity, compassion, courage, and connection. Leading in a polarized environment requires a very different set of skills. While thoughtful leaders normally want to plan a process, form a team, and work for consensus, patience with process and finding…

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Leading Ideas
0 Why the Church’s Mission Really Matters in this Time of Crisis

Anthony Hunt says crisis reveals the strength of the church’s ministries of connection and message of hope. Even with changing patterns of interaction, we need ministries of prayer, community support, and missional engagement more than ever. The circumstances presented by the COVID-19 crisis have presented churches and leaders with unprecedented opportunities and challenges. They have had to discover new ways…

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Leading Ideas
0 Why Reopening a Church is Different

Alex Shanks says the question of whether to reopen is different for a church than for other institutions. Rather than just reacting to what others are doing, churches need to model responsible decision making and exceed basic health guidelines to protect the most vulnerable. Everywhere we turn, people are talking about reopening. Should churches simply follow the same guidelines regarding…

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Leading Ideas
0 SPEAKPIPE — Pentecost Reminds Us That God Speaks in the Ways That We Each Hear Best

Pentecost reveals how the Spirit breaks down barriers of language and belonging, calling faith leaders to embody hospitality, inclusion, and presence in ways that make God’s love tangible across difference. Drawing on Acts 2 and contemporary examples of multilingual worship and community formation, Angel Eaglin considers how the church can communicate God’s deeds in ways that are truly heard and…

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Leading Ideas
0 SPEAKPIPE – Showing Up with Questions: Listening in a New Setting

Strong leadership in a new ministry setting begins not with quick answers, but with intentional listening. Luke Edwards shares the key questions he plans to ask as he begins a new pastoral appointment at Huntersville United Methodist Church, offering a practical framework for leaders navigating transition, discernment, and community engagement. I have some big news. On July 1st, I will…

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Leading Ideas
0 Communicating in a Crisis

Church consultant Mike Bonem says leaders need to step up their communication in this season of anxiety and uncertainty. It is important to be transparent, hopeful, and focused on the mission. Communication is one of a leader’s most important responsibilities and most powerful tools. Even though effective communication is known to be vital, it is frequently overlooked or poorly executed.…

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Leading Ideas
0 11 Provocative Thoughts and Questions About What’s Next

Bill Wilson shares 11 provocative thoughts and questions regarding how the future of the church will be shaped by the implications of the cornonavirus pandemic. He says this crisis catapulted the church forward and we cannot ignore the lessons learned. What’s on the horizon for congregations and parishes as we transition from the crisis of the moment to the long-term…

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Leading Ideas
0 Digital Church Is Here to Stay

Carey Nieuwhof says the post-COVID-19 world will be a different place. The move to digital worship is here to stay, he predicts. Putting it back on the shelf in the new normal would ignore the greatest opportunity the church today has to reach people. By now you’ve realized that the COVID-19 pandemic is not an interruption nearly as much as…

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Leading Ideas
0 How Should Leaders Respond to an External Shock?

Leaders need to focus on core mission and values in the face of a powerful external shock says Meredith McNabb of the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving. Addressing this crisis with integrity, confidence, and hope requires knowing your congregation and its purpose. COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus, has upended the lives of congregations’ members, overturned patterns of life…

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Leading Ideas
0 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, and canal can reveal the challenges and opportunities impacting your church’s vitality says F. Douglas Powe, Jr., Director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership, and James C. Logan, Chair of Evangelism (an E. Stanley…

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Leading Ideas
0 Becoming a Church Without Walls

Andrew Ponder Williams says that these trying times provide an opportunity to advance a new way of being church. He offers ideas on how digital connections can help us reach people not previously connected to our congregations. For my whole life, I have dreamed about a church without walls. Well here we are! Most churches sadly cannot meet within their…

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Leading Ideas
0 Resurrection Hope and the Response to COVID-19

Resurrection involves transformation, and to proclaim resurrection hope is to affirm the possibility of change. Ann Michel of the Lewis Center staff sees resurrection hope in the willingness of so many churches to embrace new and innovative approaches to ministry in this time of uncertainty and travail. Our Lenten journey this year has been dominated by fear and anxiety, disruption…

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Leading Ideas
0 Choosing Joy in the Face of Disruption and Loss

We can choose to dwell on the loss and change COVID-19 has brought to our lives, or we can shift our focus and choose joy. American University’s Bryan Champion says during this time of isolation we have received the precious gift of time to spend with those most dear to us, advance goals, and improve our own leadership. I know…

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Leading Ideas
0 Preaching to an Empty Room

How can preachers maintain a sense of presence and engage their audience when COVID-19 has their congregants viewing worship via livestream? Read these tips on preaching to an empty room by Alyce McKenzie, Le Van Professor of Preaching and Worship, Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor and Director of the Center for Preaching Excellence at Perkins School of Theology. Our current situation…

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Leading Ideas
0 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 to stay in touch with those who are isolated and maintain an ongoing spiritual presence says F. Douglas Powe Jr., Director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership, and James C. Logan, Chair of Evangelism…

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This article is reprinted by permission from Leading Ideas, a free e-newsletter from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary available at churchleadership.com.