How to say no to ministry

Monday, June 27, 2011

One of the more difficult tasks to accomplish in leadership is to relentlessly guard the vision of the organization. As they grow organizations, including churches, naturally drift towards complexity. People have good ideas that require action, development, project management, resource allocation, and organization that at surface level seem to enhance and strengthen the organization. These structures, while well meaning, often times actually slow down, detract from, and often prevent the organization from moving forward. I’m not saying that systems are the enemy, however the worship of systems. Remember systems aren’t the vision, the vision is the vision, and effective systems simply become the pathway for the organization to easily move along towards the vision. The single greatest word you can ever use to relentlessly guard the vision is to learn to say no to what detracts from it.

Below are 5 evaluative questions designed to help you narrow the focus and say no to opportunities that will cause you to subtly drift away from the vision.

Posted in Leadership

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Leadership Lessons I learned from my dad

Monday, June 20, 2011

Father’s Day always provides a great opportunity to reflect on the kind of Father you had growing up and of course the kind of Father you would like to be yourself. In thinking about my Dad this weekend there were so many lessons that he taught me that came to mind, and fortunately, many things I still have to learn from my Dad. And while every father and man has their deficiencies to be sure, my dad has been an accelerator in my life and leadership by consistently allowing me to stand on his shoulders. Dad, I love you, and I’m so grateful that you’re in my life! So here are a handful of leadership principles that I learned from my Dad.

Posted in Family, Leadership

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moving is a lot like leading a church

Sunday, June 12, 2011

After spending the last 4 days in a minivan with 3 kids, a dog, and a guinea pig I’ve decided that moving is a lot like leading a Church.

#1 Things never go according to plan

The military says it this way: no plan ever survives contact with the enemy. In our case I planned how much time we would spend on the road each day, what city we would stop and eat in, and I even made hotel reservations ahead of time. But after setting a world record for the amount of potty breaks in a single day…well let’s just say my plans got thwarted. There will be obstacles, detours, closed roads, and things generally won’t go according to plan. Regardless, stay on course. If God has given you a vision and a direction to go in, then keep going in that direction. Great leaders are not only tenaciously committed to the direction the organization is going they’re adaptable.

Posted in Family, Leadership

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starting right

Monday, May 23, 2011

Starting right isn’t everything. But the way you start dramatically influences the trajectory of the rest of your life. This is also true in ministry. That’s why Craig Jutila and Joe McGinnis have teamed up to do a new project together. Craig and Joe are two Children’s and Family Ministry veterans, who between the two of them have over 40 years of ministry experience. Craig served as the Children’s Pastor at Saddleback Community Church located in Southern California and now runs an organization called Empowering Kids Joe currently serves as the Children’s Pastor at Northview Church located just outside of Indianapolis and is the author of “The Family Roadmap – A Step by Step Guide for planning the Purpose and Direction of your Family” I recently had the opportunity to catch up with Joe and talk about the new project.

Posted in Leadership, Staffing

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A couple of statements about spiritual maturity that will mess with you Part -2

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Alright, so here’s the rest of the list I started the other day. Here’s to hoping some of this stuff causes as much internal discomfort and wrestling for you as it did for me.

Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation