Subscribe free to "Leading Ideas" at churchleadership.com/leadingideas. Every Wednesday, "Leading Ideas" delivers information, resources, and strategies for forward-thinking church leaders.
How has the pandemic shaped the vitality and resiliency of congregations? Did it really prompt large numbers of pastors to leave ministry? Scott Thumma shares insights from ongoing research on the pandemic’s impact congregational life and health.
The pandemic taught us that church happens in powerful and meaningful ways outside our buildings. Dave Barnhart describes how small, home-centered worshiping communities can connect with people who may never cross the threshold of your church.
How can church leaders embrace rather that fear the future? Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe speaks with Olu Brown about how leaders can “normalize next” and begin living their future now by engaging innovative thinking, creative partnerships, and hybrid strategies to fulfill their mission.
How can your church reach new people in today’s evolving ministry context? Tony Morgan shares trends, perspectives, and strategies drawn from his work with scores of congregations across the country and abroad.
How can your congregation connect with new people in both physical and digital spaces? Jordana Wright shares creative strategies for transforming congregations into vibrant community hubs.
How can church leaders strive to be anti-racist? We speak with Sheila Beckford about strategies for equipping church leaders to do the hard work of anti-racism in order to work toward real change.
How can leaders respond to conflict in healthier, more productive ways? Brian Brown shares perspectives and practices that can help keep conflict from diverting too much energy from our churches.
What practices can help church leaders learn from failures and address conflict in ways that lead to fruitful ministry? We speak with Tyler Sit about centering marginalized voices, meeting the needs of the community, managing conflict, and other leadership lessons he has learned as a church planter.
What does it take to turn a congregation around? Ed Brandt, a long-serving pastor who recently retired as chief of chaplains for the U.S. National Guard, believes success in ministry is grounded in the hard but essential work of reaching out to the community, forging new connections, getting to know people, listening, earning trust, taking risks, and learning from mistakes.
What determines whether children will carry on the faith of their parents? Past research established that parents play the critical role. In this episode noted sociologist Christian Smith shares new research examining how parents shape their children’s faith and the critical factor of talking about religion in the context of day-to-day life.
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.
