Four Incarnational Benefits of Bivocational Ministry
Steven Van Ostran challenges the common perception that bivocational ministers are second class or somehow “less than” those serving full time. He names four specific…
Browsing: Staffing
Articles
A Simple Approach to Creating a Culture of Accountability for Ministry Leaders
Kelly Brown says that creating a culture of accountability can be simple. SIMPLE is an acronym for remembering these six key principles: setting expectations, inviting…
Positioning Your Church for Growth in a New Season of Ministry
How can your church reach new people in today’s evolving ministry context? Ann Michel of the Lewis Center staff interviews Tony Morgan, chief strategist for…
“Positioning Your Church for Growth in a New Season of Ministry” featuring Tony Morgan
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.
Managing Congregations in a Virtual Age
Are virtual meetings and work-from-home staff part of the new normal in your church? In this in-depth interview John Wimberly shares best practices for working…
Episode 89: “Managing Congregations in a Virtual Age” featuring John Wimberly Jr.
Are virtual meetings and work-from-home staff part of the new normal in your church? John Wimberly discusses best practices for working with staff and volunteers in a hybrid era.
5 Key Lessons for Managing Congregations in a Virtual Age
Turning toward a hybrid future, churches have focused much attention on digital worship. John Wimberly says it’s just as important to consider how to work…
Keeping Church Staff Accountable to the Overall Mission
Evaluating church staff by measures related to their own individual performance can lead to ministry silos, says John Wimberly. When every staff person’s ultimate goal…
Staffing When You Can’t Afford to Staff
Dan Hotchkiss explains how congregations can build their staffs by “hiring” unpaid volunteers. He explains how this approach can make fuller use of a volunteer’s…
Acknowledging the Toll of the Pandemic on Ministry Leaders
Churches and their members may not fully appreciate the strain the pandemic has placed on their pastors and other ministry leaders. Mike Bonem urges congregations…
What Excuse Do You Have for Not Delegating More?
Mike Bonem says that the simple solution to ministry leaders feeling overloaded and overwhelmed is to delegate more. Our most common excuses for failing to…
8 Trends Impacting Church Leadership for 2021
In January, Doug Powe and Ann Michel of the Lewis Center identified eight notable trends in 2020’s swirl of change. Some trends have been underway…
Congregations That Thrive without Full-Time Clergy
Jeffrey MacDonald shares the story of a Massachusetts church on the brink of closing that turned itself around by embracing a new ministry model with…
Is It Time to Right-Size Your Staff?
This might be the time to have a conversation about right-sizing your staff, says Jim Kitchens. He outlines different ways to approach the task depending…
Episode 64: “Churches Thriving with Part-Time Pastors” featuring G. Jeffrey MacDonald
We don’t typically associate a thriving church with having a part-time pastor. Journalist and pastor Jeffrey MacDonald begs to differ as he discusses with us his new and provocative book, Part-time is Plenty: Thriving without Full-time Clergy.
Good Administration is Good Leadership
Bishop Will Willimon says competent, efficient, hands-on administration is just as important as the “big picture” leadership skills of inspiring a vision and nurturing theological…
5 Disciplines of Teams that Thrive
Ryan Hartwig and Warren Bird studied leadership teams in more than 2,500 churches to discover the distinctive features of thriving teams. They found that the…
5 Ways to Help Church Staff Succeed
How can your congregation help those in paid staff roles perform most effectively? Ann Michel of the Lewis Center staff outlines five ways to clarify…
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…
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…
8 Things Your Christian Educator Wants You to Know
The work of faith formation leaders in a congregation is expansive and vital, yet often undervalued and misunderstood. Virginia Callegary lifts up the need to…
6 Ways to Know If Your Church is Overstaffed
Ann Michel of the Lewis Center staff outlines six questions that can help reveal whether a particular staff role is likely to be fruitful or…
When Churches Hire Members
It is increasingly common for churches to hire their own members. Ann Michel of the Lewis Center suggests we need to consider how congregations and…
Episode 5: “Toward More Synergistic Leadership” featuring Ann Michel
What practices lead to synergistic leadership? Listen as Lewis Center Director Douglas Powe interviews Ann Michel about her book “Synergy: A Leadership Guide for Church Staff and Volunteers.”
7 Ways to Invest in Your Staff Culture
Phill Martin, a clergy coach and an executive with the National Association of Church Business Administrators, says a typical church invests half its operating budget…
Toward a Compelling Theology of Lay Ministry
Ann Michel of the Lewis Center Staff says that as the number of laypersons engaged in professional ministry grows, there is a need to articulate…
Deal with People
Lovett H. Weems, Jr., says rather than dealing with a problem person head-on, churches will instead try to resolve the difficulty by formulating a policy…
Synergy: A Leadership Guide for Church Staff and Volunteers
The landscape of ministry is rapidly evolving as more and more lay persons take on significant ministry roles. Part of this trend is a growth in…
Management by Wishful Thinking?
Personnel matters in ministry settings are almost always more complicated than in business, says church leadership expert Mike Bonem. He names the shifts in attitude…
Why Year-End Evaluations Rarely Help Leaders Grow
Lovett H. Weems, Jr., explains why year-end performance evaluations are insufficient to help people grow and improve. While year-end reviews are important, ongoing feedback that…