"...our staff decided to commit together to be spiritually grounded during this time. We resisted the temptation to go into hyperactive overdrive mode. We decided that, in this season, what we really need is to keep it simple—to share stories and delight in them together.”
Read MoreEveryone knows the narrative. Seen and unseen forces in the world are pulling us apart. Red versus blue. Conservative versus progressive. White versus black or brown. Rich versus poor. Education versus no education. Pick your faction or fraction. So how does one lead a church in this kind of culture?
Read MoreWhat kind of leadership fits this moment? How should we lead toward resurrection and new life? Indeed, these questions raise a quandary. How do we lead into something new when we don’t really know what “new” looks like? Or, rather, how do we lead when “new” could take many viable forms, including some that retain core elements of the old? Ultimately, how do we lead in ways that call for new ways of being, particularly at a time in which assumptions and typical ways of doing must be reexamined. How do we lead when we don’t know the way?…
Read MoreEach time Jesus asked Peter, and Peter affirmed his love, Jesus asked again. It was not enough for Peter to proclaim his love. It was not enough for Peter to express the emotion. Jesus called Peter to an expression of love beyond emotion. What Jesus wanted of Peter was action—or perhaps more than action. Jesus wanted of Peter a complete orientation of his life to service in the name of Christ. So, Jesus essentially gives the same direction three times, “Feed my lambs. Take care of my sheep. Feed my sheep.”…
Read MoreA key failure of leadership is the inability or unwillingness to recognize and deal with woundedness and loss. The hurry to “do something” or feelings of guilt and responsibility sometimes result in impatience at hearing and touching the woundedness of the church.
Read MoreJesus is inviting us as leaders to face squarely this woundedness—to face the grief, anger and pain of our own woundedness, and to face loss. Heifetz has noted, “What people resist is not change per se, but loss. ” Indeed, many change efforts fail because the leaders trying to bring about change fail to recognize and deal with loss. It is the same with the church. We cannot hold space for divinely inspired resurrection unless we hold space in the church and within ourselves for divinely inspired loss…
Read MoreThe truth be told, we don’t know where The United Methodist Church is heading. We don’t know the solution to our dilemmas. When we think we do, we are in danger of repeating old patterns, patterns and solutions that exclude and push people away, destroy trust, and have long contributed to the difficulties we face. In other words, our best thinking got us here…
Read MoreThe coming decades will present all churches with challenges beyond their current leadership capabilities. This may be especially the case for well-established traditions such as the United Methodist Church that thrived in more stable eras. Leadership skills from the past may not fit the disruptive challenges of an utterly changed social, cultural, and demographic landscape. We offer these five competencies needed by church leaders of the future…
