All tagged elders
I want to share some encouragement and guidance for how I am trying to maintain and develop healthy relationships with my current shepherds. I am by no means the expert on this dynamic, but I will share what little I have learned in over a decade of congregational ministry, serving in various roles for those churches.
Throughout the holiday season I’ve been in the learner’s seat for a very practical lesson, but one that has large implications. It’s time I had some classmates.
There are various methods that churches can use to search for and hire ministry staff. Regardless of which process is used, all of us in the kingdom of heaven benefit when we share our best practices for hiring.
Don’t miss out on the best things because you won’t get in there and deal with difficult things. Sometimes, if people will just stay in the room, it will be enough.
Many elders are frustrated because all they do is act as a board of directors. Instead of being in the lives of their flock, they’re spending time in meeting after meeting.
As leaders in our communities of faith, we need to make sure that our people know the resources available to them when they are in spiritual need.
As we prepare for our first ElderLink of 2022, we wanted to whet your appetite for our time together. We recently sat down for virtual conversations with our speakers and host.
Many of us talk to churches about how to rethink our approach coming out of the pandemic. This is a chance to do things differently.
Where does prayer fit in? Is it simply the customary thing we do at the beginning or end of a meeting? Or is prayer something more?
Of all the challenges and crises that exist in congregations today, the one that I want to name here resides with leaders themselves.
Unity with God means moving through the world in constant communion: every bit of news, each conversation, every gaze met, offered up in prayer.
A truly multiethnic, multigenerational, and multi-perspective church values, discusses, encourages, supports, and implements ideas and dreams that flow from all echelons of the congregation.
I commend these three core beliefs to all leader teams. Hope in God’s preferred future, practice non-anxious courage, and exercise prayerful imagination.
Sometimes, a health crisis hits a church squarely in the face. If the church possesses enough self-awareness, it then faces the choice to either make dramatic changes or else permanently lose health and vitality.
As more things open up, many hospitals are once again allowing visitors. But some Christians are not sure how to visit the sick. They feel a little intimidated.
Sometimes being faithful is the order of the day. And for those of us who practice leadership in congregations, we may need some different practices.
I am convinced that, for most church leaders, optics simply reinforce the truth that we care. That we do show up. Optics reflect our hearts.
Many of the necessary components in addressing guilt are implicit in Christian community. Acceptance, forgiveness, compassion, and perspective are all necessary companions for this topic.
At some point your church will split. It may not be official, but it will happen. Leaders decide not to change certain things and people leave. Or you decide to change things and people leave.
These four fears stifle creativity and appear so commonly in congregations that I want to share them with you and offer a theological response.
