The Siburt Institute’s values emerge from our commitment to faithfully embody the partnership in Jesus’s ministry to the Father by the Holy Spirit for the sake of the church’s witness to the world.
All in Carson Reed
Leadership Practices: Prayer
Such a path of discovery sits at odds with usual practice. Congregational leaders may be tempted to play out a hunch, try what some other church has done, or impose their own will on a congregation. Yet Paul’s prayer leads contemporary leaders to a different kind of practice.
Musings Over a Napkin
Such work—teaching, proclaiming, healing—is the work of Jesus’s ministry. And it is the work of Jesus’s people. Whether those believers are found in the ancient city of Antioch or in towns and cities across this land today, the work is the same.
Spirit of the Living God
The real reason we typically don’t acknowledge the Spirit’s presence in our congregations and in our lives is that if we really took that “potter and clay” stuff seriously, we would have to let go of our control. Our fear of letting go is often stronger than our desire for the presence of God’s Spirit in our lives.
Cultivating Culture in Your Leadership Team
So how do you cultivate a healthy culture? In a few conversations I had this past week, the answer to the dilemma that each leadership team presented either found some significant connection to the healthy aspects of the culture or demonstrated a significant area of “cultural” work for the leadership team.
Re-Centering our Faith
What do our churches believe? Obviously, I can’t speak for all churches across the country. However, I can speak to part of what my friend was asking. To do so means a little bit of history and a little bit of missiological theory—plus a good dose of theological imagination. Are you ready?
Gospel: God’s Power for Life
In these days, the gospel matters. And it matters when churches listen for the gospel and choose to repent. Churches that declare the truth of the gospel to the world matter. Such work is the work of Christian leaders today. The challenge in our world is not that the world has gone crazy; the challenge in our world is whether leaders will truly embrace the powerful word of gospel news for themselves, for their congregations, and for the world.
Good News and Why It Matters for Leadership
The arriving and present Jesus is the good news of God. That is why Paul will claim that it is the very power of God to save and deliver people (Rom 1:16). I will say more about good news as it is offered in Acts on another occasion. However, for the moment here, I want to make some clear and important claims about the good news that inform the life of the church and the practice of ministerial leadership.
What Matters?
So if you are simply curious about how to improve your leadership, or if you find yourself in some degree of stress about leadership, I encourage you to trust in the truth that God is actively being God. All seven of these principles point to the One that matters.
Reflections from the Past that Suggest a Future
When churches preach Jesus Christ, call people to discipleship, welcome all to community and shared life, practice hospitality and care for others, then churches continually find opportunities to live into a simple Christian witness.
Moving Beyond the Labels!
Story after story unfolds and it becomes so abundantly clear that what makes for health and vitality is that in every new moment there is the space to look for God’s arrival and to name it!
Don’t Glaze Over—It is Important!
Healthy, vibrant churches have a high degree of correlation between their declared theology and their practiced theology.
What If?
Yet if leaders remain in the world of present reality without the hope-engendering question of “What if?” then leaders falter in their leadership.
Trouble
When trouble comes—and it will come!—faith in the God who is at work in the world must be at the center of our attention.
Stop, Look, and Listen
Although we say we are practicing obedience to God’s voice, we may be practicing something else altogether.
Getting the Right Diagnosis
Congregational leaders can study congregational life, the decline of Christianity, and the aging of their church, yet they miss the most important thing of all.
Hope is the Thing
Hope is the thing. Not wishful thinking about a job raise or whether your football team will win, but Hope as the Christian vision for the living of our days.
Asking More, Not Less
Before we ask people to do more in our churches, we need to make sure that what we are asking them to do creates identity, community, meaning, and purpose.
A Path for Renewal
The sneaky thing about renewal is that it is not up to us—it is up to God. God cannot do the work God desires to do when communities of faith assume that they are the center of things.
The Particular Challenge of Older Congregations
Folk who study congregations speak of congregations having a “life cycle.” If you’re thinking that your church might be one of them, let’s take a deeper look.