December 2, 2020
50 Things I’ve Learned in 50 Years of Preaching
Victor Knowles recommends you ask yourself these questions as you preach or prepare to preach.
Church Leadership
Church Leadership equips pastors, elders, ministry staff, and volunteer leaders to lead with biblical conviction, humility, and wisdom. Explore practical, Scripture-shaped guidance on leading teams, developing leaders, casting vision, making decisions, and building a healthy ministry culture. You’ll also find help for navigating conflict, communication, accountability, and the spiritual formation of leaders—so leadership flows from character, not just competence. Whether you’re stepping into leadership for the first time or carrying long-term responsibility, these resources aim to strengthen your leadership for the good of the church and the mission of Jesus.
November 22, 2020
Personal Obedience in the Life of an Elder
Among the many notable things about the Great Pyramid in Giza, Egypt, are the massive foundational stones that were carefully crafted and precisely positioned. The foundation for the Great Pyramid had to be formidable to support the weight that was to come. Foundations are key to the success or failure of a structure. As elders and church staff, it is critical we understand that the foundation for our leadership is our personal, growing relationship with Jesus. Our personal spiritual development forms the foundation for our service. This foundation is made up of several key “stones.” Paul mentions many of them
November 22, 2020
How to Lead a Peacekeeping Church
Practice These Three Crucial Habits to Live at Peace with Everyone and to Be an Example for Our Communities and Nation to Follow Never before has peacekeeping in the church been so difficult! This past summer in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis, I received two emails from people who were upset at how we were handling the situation. The first said she was leaving the church because we weren’t properly social distancing (although we thought we were) and we weren’t making people wear masks. The second said she was leaving the church because we were listening to the liberal
November 22, 2020
The Year That Was Supposed to Be (and Nine Action Steps for 2021)
The year 2020 and the new decade seemed a perfect opportunity for preachers to capitalize on the “20/20 vision” metaphor. The fanfare and excitement quickly turned from bright and crisp to blurry and cautious, however, as the coronavirus forced churches to turn off their lights and close their doors for weeks or even months. In January, when I surveyed over 400 churches, among the questions I asked was, “What is your church most looking forward to in 2020?” I planned to use the responses to generate potential articles detailing the exciting plans and ideas churches of all sizes had for
October 24, 2020
Giving Honor to Whom Honor Is Due
The chairman of the elders of our church called to invite me to join the elder team of our congregation. At the time, I was vice president for student services at Cincinnati Christian University and an active member at Mason Church of Christ (now Christ’s Church) in Mason, Ohio. I wound up accepting his invitation, which started an interesting chapter in my journey during which I was able to see the work of an elder from an altogether different viewpoint. For the previous 13 years, I had been in leadership ministry in the church or teaching at one of our
October 19, 2020
From Whom You Learned It (Oct. 25 Lesson Application)
This “Application” column goes with the Bible Lesson for Oct. 25, 2020: You’re Next (2 Timothy 1:13-14; 2:1-2; 3:10-17) ________ By David Faust Someone said that a diploma doesn’t prove you got an education; it means you had the opportunity to get an education. It’s good to go to high school or college, but it’s better to actually learn something along the way. I have diplomas on my office wall, but my ordination certificate hangs above the diplomas, because ministry means more to me than academic achievements. The witnesses who signed my ordination certificate stir fond memories. Their signatures are
September 22, 2020
The Pandemic’s Leadership Lessons
By Michael C. Mack Great leaders have a blend of humility—they know that they don’t know everything—and a curiosity to discover answers. They are constantly learning from a variety of sources, beginning with God’s Word, but also through books, mentors, failures, crises, and personal struggles, to name just a few. Perhaps John F. Kennedy summarized it best: “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” The pandemic and all of its interconnected effects have provided a wellspring of important learning opportunities for us. In this issue, our writers highlight many of these. Here are four I believe are especially worth
September 21, 2020
Who Is Worthy to Lead? (Sept. 27 Lesson Application)
This “Application“ column goes with the Bible Lesson for Sept. 27, 2020: Lead (1 Timothy 3:1-16; 5:17-22) ________ By David Faust I don’t measure up. That feeling stirs in my heart when I read the daunting biblical qualifications for church leaders. From one perspective, what the Lord asks of leaders isn’t very different from what he asks of every Christian. Who shouldn’t be gentle and hospitable? Who shouldn’t avoid the love of money? But “above reproach” is a tall order. God has high expectations of church leaders, and “we who teach will be judged more strictly” (James 3:1). Oversight of
August 18, 2020
My Counsel for Young Preachers
If I were counseling an aspiring young preacher fresh out of Bible college or seminary, champing at the bit to lead in the church, I would offer these three bits of advice.
August 17, 2020
Faith Follows (Aug. 23 Lesson Application)
By David Faust Judge Deborah gave General Barak a tall order. It would take considerable amounts of faith and courage for him to lead 10,000 soldiers and face a formidable enemy at Mount Tabor. But Deborah declared, “Has not the Lord gone ahead of you?” (Judges 4:14). In today’s troubled times, Deborah’s question can help us climb our mountains and face our battles, too. “Hasn’t the Lord gone ahead of you?” Yes, he has. He is ahead of us in time, for he knows the future. He is ahead of us in wisdom, for his ways are higher than our
August 15, 2020
Thinking Forward, Moving Forward
3 Church-Leader Challenges as We Merge onto the Virtual Highway By Gary L. Johnson Earlier this year, COVID-19 drove news reports. Every day, every media outlet reported on some aspect of the coronavirus and its impact on our lives. One news story caught my attention. It reported how teenagers had completed driver’s education training, but because of social distancing, their required road tests were waived. That story brought back memories of my driving test. After pulling out of the parking lot and into traffic, the examiner had me drive through busy streets and residential areas. I even had to parallel
August 15, 2020
Moving from Crisis to Renewal
What Leaders Do When Their Plans Are Reduced to Rubble By Austin Gohn I was 30 days into my “first 90 days” plan when I closed our church building indefinitely. After working at the church for seven years and completing a six-month interview process, I stepped into the role of lead pastor at the end of February—barely a month before something called the coronavirus went from a fringe news report to dominating the headlines (and my Twitter feed). I had read The First 90 Days, a Harvard Business Review book, and created a plan that involved dozens of trust-building conversations,
How to Become an Imperfect Mentor
By Megan Rawlings I was mentoring a new believer who was struggling to make good decisions and choices. As her mentor, I knew I had to personally address this issue with her. I thought the best approach to this uncomfortable conversation was to ask her to meet for lunch. When the day arrived, she sat across from me at the table, oblivious to the reason for my invitation. Our upcoming discussion had the potential to turn negative. But, through God’s grace and intervention, by the time lunch ended my mentee had a new outlook on Christlike living. Was it difficult?
Coaching Matters
By Kent Fillinger A lead minister serves as a sort of head coach of the church team and has a major influence on the church’s health and growth. There are many reasons for this influence, but surveys indicate much of it involves the minister’s communication skills and ability to explain Scripture. That said, a 2019 Lifeway survey found that more churchgoers say their minister preaches longer than they prefer (27 percent) than shorter than they prefer (13 percent). This article examines findings from our 2019 survey of 439 churches to explore several factors related to the lead minister’s impact on
10 Foundation Stones of the Church—No. 4: Preaching the Word
By Jerry Harris When I started this series of articles based on Acts 2:41-47 and titled it “Closed on Sunday,” I never imagined this phrase would also describe a new reality brought on by a pandemic. But with this new reality, and as we consider the future, the prescriptions in Acts 2 become all the more important. We began this series with baptism—just like the first-century church—and then proceeded into authority and the Word of God itself. This article will explore the God-designed and commissioned delivery system for his Word—preaching. Have you ever used Amazon? Perhaps you have Amazon Prime.
July 15, 2020
7 Practical Guidelines When Hiring a Young Leader
The late Donald McGavran, respected missiologist and founding dean of the School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary, identified five kinds of leaders the church must have to thrive locally and have impact globally: 1. Volunteer leaders who focus inward: unpaid leaders who focus their gifts for service on the internal health and growth of the local church body. (Biblical examples: Priscilla and Aquila, Dorcas) 2. Volunteer leaders who focus outward: unpaid leaders who focus their evangelistic passion on the lost and unchurched in the larger unreached community. (Stephen, Philip) 3. Bivocational: leaders who are mostly or entirely self-supporting in order to launch or
June 9, 2020
Ministry Training & Resource Site to Open Near Cincinnati in Fall
The Christian Church Leadership Center is slated to open this fall in Northern Kentucky. The CCL Center will serve as the hub of ministry education and church support in the Greater Cincinnati area through the work of the Russell School of Ministry and the CCL Network. The center will also house a library that provides biblical, ministry, and historical resources for churches and Christian leaders. Plus, it will be home to the Christian Church Leadership Foundation. The Russell School of Ministry and Central Christian College of the Bible, Moberly, Mo., will offer courses at the CCL Center, 8095 Connector Drive
May 17, 2020
The Tension: Theological Correctness or Cultural Relevance?
By Jim Estep In ministry, is it more important to be theologically correct or culturally relevant? Every congregation and Christian leader is confronted with this dilemma. Every theological tradition also is caught in the controversy. We all live in the tension between faithfulness to Scripture and relevance to the culture in which we minister . . . between being the church and doing the church’s mission. On one side we shout, “Theologically correct ministry!” As Christian leaders, we obviously need to side with being theologically correct and aligned with Scripture. If not, we fail to heed the warning of Anglican
Reentry: It May Be Harder Than We Think
When the COVID-19 crisis eases, I anticipate that reentry is going to be harder than some people think. Churches, especially, need to prepare for this.
Enough with the Four-Hour Elders Meetings!
The Key Elements to Making Your Time Together More Effective By David Roadcup Effective elders’ meetings are an important part of a healthy leadership culture. Our meetings should be organized times of fellowship, powerful prayer, communication, and decision-making. The focus of elders’ meetings should be on the shepherding of staff and the business matters of the congregation. Elders’ meetings can be extremely fruitful and enjoyable, or they can be hours of torment and wandering in the wilderness. It all depends on planning and on the leader of the meeting (the elder chairman) and lead minister working together for the best
