Congregational Leadership in Difficult Times
What would your congregation’s worship service look like next Sunday if your sanctuary burned to the ground tomorrow, if a beloved pastor announced that he…
Browsing: Conflict
Articles
10 Tips for Handling Criticism in Ministry
Dealing with criticism and complaints is an issue in almost every area of ministry. Church leaders have had to deal with complaints from the beginning.…
When Church People Swarm
Margaret Marcuson says that when anxiety is high, church people often function reactively rather than thoughtfully, and band together like locusts. As a young seminarian,…
Leaders Stay Connected
Margaret Marcuson discusses the tension between individuality and togetherness for church leaders using the metaphor of a string quartet. Leaders straddle the tension between togetherness…
Building Healthy Conflict Practices into Membership Vows
Jonathan Arnpriester helps avoid church conflict by including positive conflict values in new membership training and membership vows. I have always struggled with the presence…
Working with a Volunteer Treasurer
A pastor in her first year at a congregation tells of a lesson learned the hard way in working with a volunteer treasurer. Last fall…
Orchestrating Conflict
A pastor talks about practicing leadership theory learned from reading Leadership on the Line by Ronald A. Heifetz and Marty Linsky, who advocate the role…