Leading someone without offering feedback is cruel because you their hamper development. Feedback is like steroids for development. Over fifteen years ago I began the discipline of giving staff reviews to those who report directly to me. I have learned and grown a lot in that time. This insight from Vanderbloemen Search Group is very…
Church Leadership
3 Reasons Church Complexity Hurts Engagement
Too many programs. Too many events. Too many announcements. Too many things on the calendar. For those who bemoan complexity, these are common statements. If you serve on a church staff you have surely heard or offered these statements. You have likely wrestled with the tension of wanting to meet a need in a way…
3 Lessons for Church Leaders From Yahoo! & The Peanut Butter Manifesto
In 2016 Verizon Communications bought Yahoo! In case you are wondering, I did not mean for the exclamation point to communicate that I was overly excited about the acquisition or the demise of the former web giant. The exclamation point is part of their name…Yahoo! Most who have analyzed what went wrong with the company…
Unfinished Ministry and the Lord’s Finishing
Ministry is never done. You never really “clock out,” because ministry never ends. The work of the church is never going to be over. These are phrases all of us in ministry have heard. And all of us have found them to be true. A mentor once told me to enjoy cutting my grass because…
5 Lessons in Seven Years of Serving the “Capital C” Church
Nearly seven years ago I stepped out of serving one local church and into a role designed to serve the broader Church, as one of the vice-presidents at LifeWay Christian Resources. Each year we serve 60,000 plus churches with some type of resource. It has been a deep honor to be in this role and…
6 Important Reminders for Leaders from Proverbs
The Bible is not a self-help book given to us to help us become better people, better leaders, or better at whatever it is we attempt. If it is about leadership, it is about God’s rule and reign and His relentless pursuit of people. At the same time, the Bible is incredibly practical and offers…
Two Views: Severance and Financial Support for a Fallen Leader
I have enjoyed and benefited from the theological books that present multiple views on important theological vantage points. They have helped provide clarity on differing positions and caused me to research further and even challenge my own viewpoints. Today I want to offer two different views on severance or financial support for a fallen ministry…
4 Ways a Church Should Respond with Grace When a Leader Falls
The central message of the Christian faith is the gospel, the good news that Christ exchanged our sin for His righteousness and forgiveness. Those of us who have been rescued by His grace have been called out of the kingdom of this world and into His kingdom. We are “the called-out ones,” the Church. Therefore,…
3 Negative Implications of Shrinking Pastoral Honeymoons
After Kaye and I announced we were getting married nearly 22 years ago, a common question was “Where are you going on your honeymoon?” It was a common question because people believe it is important for a couple to enjoy some time together and not just jump into the fast pace of life immediately after…
4 Reasons Why Pastoral Honeymoons Are Shrinking
In the last several years, I have had many conversations with pastors who have expressed surprise over how short “the honeymoon” period was at their new church. At first I thought that maybe it was a few isolated cases, but I have been hearing it continually for several years. All of these pastors had served…