Leading Voices: “Leaders Observe, Follow, and Equip”
“Leaders Observe, Follow, and Equip” is presented by Rev. Motoe Yamada Foor, Director of Adult Discipleship at Discipleship Ministries. In celebration of the 20th anniversary…
Browsing: Teams
Articles
Leading Voices: “Leadership is Always about a Group”
“Leadership is Always about a Group” is presented by Rev. Dr. Lovett H. Weems Jr., Senior Consultant, Lewis Center for Church Leadership. In celebration of…
The Divine Logic of Delegation
Ann Michel of the Lewis Center staff explains that delegation and collaboration are more than effective leadership strategies. They are acts of faith that imitate…
Leading Voices: “Leadership is the Key to Success”
“Leadership is the Key to Success” is presented by Dr. G. Douglass Lewis, former President of Wesley Theological Seminary. In celebration of the 20th anniversary…
Leading Voices: “All God’s People are Leaders”
“All God’s People are Leaders” is presented by Dr. Ann A. Michel, Senior Consultant, Lewis Center for Church Leadership. In celebration of the 20th anniversary…
5 Characteristics of Effective Ministry Teams
To celebrate the Lewis Center’s anniversary, we are highlighting Leading Articles — some of our most popular posts of the past 20 years. We are…
Leading Voices: “People Support What They Help to Create”
“People Support What They Help to Create” is presented by Rev. Dr. David McAllister-Wilson, President of Wesley Theological Seminary. In celebration of the 20th anniversary…
10 Dos and Don’ts for Handling Difficult Conversations
No one looks forward to dealing with difficult issues, but confronting problems is an essential part of being an effective leader. Chris Sonksen outlines four…
5 Tips for Building True Spiritual Community
When you move from being “in church” to being “in community,” your vision of others changes. Rebekah Simon-Peter offers five tips for daring to go…
5 Good Questions to Assess Your Volunteer Teams
Are your ministry teams reaching their full potential? Dan Reiland shares five good questions for assessing the health and productivity of volunteer teams. If…
Fruitful Meetings Are About the Right Questions
Blake Bradford describes how framing meeting agendas around critical questions promotes engagement, innovation, and discernment. Excellent questions focus the power of the group’s gathered wisdom,…
Keeping Your Meetings from Getting Stuck in the Weeds
Blake Bradford outlines strategies to make sure your meetings stay focused and productive. They include practicing mutual accountability, managing time carefully, and having a clear…
People Support What They Help to Create
David McAllister-Wilson describes how a style of leadership that engages others not only engenders support and buy-in but also promotes better decision making and more…
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…
The Art of Forging a Meaningful Consensus
Ann Michel of the Lewis Center staff says that unanimity is not required for a group to move forward. Good leaders drive consensus by extracting…
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…
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…
3 Ways to Lead More Collaboratively
Justin Irving and Mark Strauss write that collaboration is an important factor contributing to effective leadership. Leading with humility, celebrating the contributions of others, and…
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…
3 Unhelpful Postures on a Leadership Team
Eric Geiger says a church leadership team’s effectiveness is hampered when members act as consultants, critics, or senators. Each of these postures distances members from…
Meet with a Purpose
Leadership Consultant Mike Bonem suggests strategies for making meetings more productive. The first step is to be clear about the purpose for convening a meeting.…
7 Things Bad Leaders Tell Themselves and Their Teams
Carey Nieuwhof explains that ineffective leaders tend to lay the blame on seven common excuses. Successful leaders are aware of these traps and lead people…
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…
Leaders Learn to Work with Difficult People
When confronted with a difficult person, do you try to work around them or just complain behind their back? Lewis Center staffer Ann Michel says…
5 Key Practices for Building a High-Trust Culture
Amy Valdez Barker says that the church should be a training center in the development of trust. She names practices that leaders can employ when…
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 Strategies to Master Meetings
Ann Michel of the Lewis Center staff says church meetings should be holy ground where the Spirit can act because the people of God are…
Relationships Are Important to Vitality
Bonnie Marden explores the importance of relationships to congregational vitality, and she suggests key questions for assessing the strength of relationships that undergird a congregation’s…