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.

June 14, 2015

Christian Standard

Church Leadership

Why We Decided to Plant Churches Instead of Create Multisites

By Jim Putman Our facilities were jammed. Our leaders were overextended. Our growth was stymied. We had three choices: Build larger. Create multisites. Or plant new churches. This is why we chose the third option. Eight years ago the church I lead, Real Life Ministries, was averaging 8,500 people in five weekend services. We were far past the 80 percent rule in our main services (i.e., our auditorium was beyond 80 percent full; we wouldn”t grow any larger in those services). And the times of the other services were not convenient enough to be attractive to newcomers. Our staff and

June 5, 2015

Christian Standard

Church Leadership

Jesus: The Middleman

By Rubel Shelly No irreverence intended, so please don”t hear it as anything other than what is intended. Jesus of Nazareth is the ideal middleman. As proof of my thesis, I quote Paul: “There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity””the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone” (1 Timothy 2:5, 6, New Living Translation). The notion of mediation involves standing between parties for the sake of communication. The ultimate hope in most of these situations is for more than communication; the mediator seeks understanding and reconciliation. A mediator seeks

June 4, 2015

Christian Standard

Church Leadership

Shades of Gray: Pursuing the Radical Center

By Ben Cachiaras If you want people to buy your book, read your blog, or retweet your thoughts, try to say something extreme. To be considered edgy, you must sit on the edge. Take a bold stance that sounds radical. To accomplish this, do your best to cleverly discredit the opposing view so as to create a clear divide between its inferiority and your brilliant, better way. Newspeople understand this. That”s why our screens are often filled with controversial “experts” from polarized positions who appear in little boxes like they”re on Hollywood Squares. Via satellite feed, they take turns talking

June 1, 2015

Christian Standard

Church Leadership

Missed Turns

By Eddie Lowen Three college buddies and I decided to attend a conference that was 1,200 miles away. Inadequate budgets didn”t allow us to book a hotel along the way. Inadequate brains didn”t allow us to consider anything other than a 24-hour marathon drive. During the early morning hours of our journey, as three of us napped, our on-duty driver missed a turn. About an hour later, I awoke and asked, “Where are we?” The answer: 50 miles off course. That”s how missed turns are discovered. Someone wakes up and says, “Hey, this is not where we intended to be.”

May 30, 2015

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Ministry Training & Education

Acting My Age

By Jennifer Johnson A new thing for me is being one of the older people in situations where I used to be young and cool. Most recently I experienced this in my preaching class at Emmanuel Christian Seminary; when Dr. Aaron Wymer discussed the various generations currently alive in the church and surveyed our class, I sheepishly raised my hand as a Gen Xer. The millennials who made up most of the class peered at me with curiosity. (“Look, she can use a computer!”) I realize that at not-yet-40 (you didn”t think I”d give you my real age, did you?),

May 21, 2015

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Church Leadership

Let”s Fight!

By Shan Caldwell It is time for the church to begin taking part in MORE conflict””to the glory of God. Growing up, I used to listen to a song by Kenny Rogers called “The Coward of the County.” In it, a young man”s courage is called into question because of a promise he”d made as a 10-year-old to his dying father that he would always “walk away from trouble.” However, when the girl he loves is attacked, the “coward” doesn”t walk away””he stands his ground for her sake. Now, I don”t generally live my life according to the ethical codes

May 20, 2015

Christian Standard

Church Leadership

The Myth of the Supreme Leader

By Jim Tune In 2007 a Southern California woman named Jacqueline Gagne claimed she made 16 holes in one””10 of them in less than a four-month period. A statistician determined the odds of that occurring to be 12 septillion to 1. As far-fetched as that sounds, Gagne holds nothing on Kim Jong-il, the former “Supreme Leader” of North Korea. During his reign as the unchallenged leader of the secretive nation, Kim, according to official North Korean state media reports, routinely shot three or four holes in one per round of golf. But Kim”s greatest feat occurred the very first day

May 16, 2015

Michael C. Mack

Church & Ministry Church Leadership

We Need to Change . . . But What?

By Michael C. Mack Elders and other church leaders often sense the need to change, to move out of entrenchment and inaction, but are unsure of what needs to change first. Where can one turn for new ideas and direction? Dr. James Estep, dean of the School of Undergraduate Studies at Lincoln (IL) Christian University, listed nine ideas on e2elders.org: 1. Visit other churches to see what they are doing. Ask their leaders to spend some time with you answering your questions. 2. Subscribe to Christian leadership magazines, such as the Christian Standard, to glean a broader perspective on church

May 11, 2015

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Leadership Development

Measure Up

By Dave Ferguson Church leaders are being more creative than ever before in measuring ministry and stats that are significant for accomplishing the mission. Here is a long list of just some of the stats that are now being incorporated into churches” scoreboards. These came from dozens of churches just like yours who are trying to figure out how to make sure they are winning: “¢ The number of people who attend a worship service “¢ The number of people who are in a small group “¢ The number of people who are serving both within the church and outside

May 1, 2015

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Leadership Development

The Most Consequential Church Trend in 2015 . . . and What to Do About It

One trend is having a monumental impact on churches across the United States, says Will Mancini, founder of Auxano, a consulting ministry that focuses on vision clarity. On his blog at ChurchCentral.com, Mancini said: “Your most committed people will attend worship services less frequently than ever in 2015.” Churchgoers who once attended four times a month may now attend only twice a month. Those who attended every other week may now be showing up only once a month. Mancini points to several reasons, including increased involvement in multiple kids” activities, greater mobility, rise of the virtual workplace, and access to

April 28, 2015

Church & Ministry Leadership Development

Listening to Lead

By Mark A. Taylor Maybe you”ve seen this happen at your company. The business has been sold. The new bosses arrive, and they”re very confident they know how to run the show. If they didn”t think they could do it better than the last guys they wouldn”t have forked over all that money to buy the operation. So they wade in with firm goals and bold plans to take the business forward. In the process, these new managers announce “new ideas” with the explanation, “This has never been tried here before.” But even though the long-timers watching from the shadows

April 26, 2015

Christian Standard

Church Leadership

Enough Is Enough

By Jay Engelbrecht Jacob never won a “Father of the Year” trophy. When his boys were young, he was scheming, acquiring. Enough was never enough. You know the story, the tragic news, weeping for his beloved Joseph. By the time he was an old, old man, he had learned. Told that Joseph was back from the dead, Jacob said, “It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die” (Genesis 45:28, World English Bible). Quality time. Fast-forward thousands of years. Bitterness and grief poured out of the preacher”s daughter, who loves her

April 24, 2015

Christian Standard

Church Leadership

Super-size Your Volunteer Base

By Eddie Lowen In August 2014, our church raised up 700-plus brand-new volunteers and commissioned our entire volunteer force for a new era of volunteer ministry. Below are excerpts of the talk I delivered at Volunteer Bootcamp 2014. Readers are welcome to adapt and use it. When Marshall Faulk played college football at San Diego State, he entered training camp as the team”s fifth-string tailback, eventually working his way up to second-string. Early one game, the starting tailback was injured, so the coach gave Faulk the nod. The rest is football history. In the remaining three and one-half quarters, Faulk

April 21, 2015

Church & Ministry Leadership Development

Heartfelt Leadership

By Mark A. Taylor When you go to a conference for church leaders, you expect to come home with a folder full of methods, strategies, and tactics for growing your church. This is especially true when a megachurch minister is the keynote speaker. What secrets does he know about growing a church? What”s working in today”s culture? What approaches are guaranteed to bring success? What techniques have been most effective where he serves? But when Aaron Brockett kicked off the Intentional Church Conference at First Christian Church, Decatur, Illinois, last week, he didn”t talk about methods at all. Or numbers.

April 16, 2015

Christian Standard

Church Leadership

19 Ways to Recognize a Hero

By Jennifer Johnson Real heroes don”t wear capes. They can”t fly or leap tall buildings or breathe underwater. Real heroes wear khakis and polo shirts. The younger ones wear jeans and untucked Diesel button-downs with pockets on both pecs. On good days they wear waders in a baptistery. Heroes answer the phone at midnight and change back into the jeans before driving across town to sit with a grieving family. Heroes still get up early the next morning to have breakfast with their kids. Heroes are strong enough to unite opinionated volunteers and gentle enough to dedicate new babies. Heroes

April 13, 2015

Christian Standard

Church Leadership

What Is Hospice?

By Karen Diefendorf The first modern hospice began in England in 1967. It was introduced in the United States by its British founder, who came to Yale University in 1974 to speak about its benefits at a medical symposium. In 1982, Congress included a provision to create a Medicare hospice benefit. Here is some basic information: Hospice . . . “¢ is not a place, but a concept of care; “¢ can be given anywhere . . . home, nursing home, assisted living, hospital, hospice house, etc.; “¢ is for those with a terminal illness that no longer responds to

April 13, 2015

Christian Standard

Church Leadership

Life Lessons Among the Dying

By Karen Diefendorf I”ve served as a chaplain with Hospice Care of South Carolina for almost a year now. I”ve been privileged to be invited into the lives of patients and their families. I”m not a novice in pastoral care, but I”m still learning from my patients. I have been surprised at why people who are eligible for hospice care never take advantage of it, and I have learned that all hospices are not the same. I have also learned some very important life lessons. Pain Is a Given,Â Suffering Is Optional Most of the people I serve know about Job,

April 11, 2015

Christian Standard

Church Leadership

Way Better

By Steve Wyatt You probably wouldn”t have liked the man I once was””though you might”ve been impressed by my rÃ©sumÃ©. I certainly was! I sang my first solo at 6, taught a seventh-grade Bible class at 15, preached my first sermon at 16, and was a youth pastor at 19. I served as senior pastor of a multistaff church at 23, and wrote two books by my early 30s while leading a church of 200 to more than 3,500! And all God”s people said . . . ? Big whoop. Back in my former life, I was on most short

April 1, 2015

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Leadership Development

How Healthy Is Your Team, Really?

How healthy is your elder, staff, or ministry team? “Healthy organizations engage in honest conversations,” says David Staal, president of Kids Hope USA. “This requires leaders who are willing to encourage discussions about topics that can cause a culture to capsize if ignored too long.” Stall suggests engaging your team in a discussion around the following if-then statements. While each of these may at first seem like ridiculous statements, discuss whether they are at all true on your team, in your group, or in your organization. Tailor each of these to your team or situation. “¢ If someone is an

April 1, 2015

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Preaching

Preaching from the Bible and the Heart

By Jim Tune Many debate the level of vulnerability preachers should exercise from the pulpit. If you share too much, you risk sounding self-absorbed. If you never share any personal stories, you may appear inauthentic or aloof. My experience is that most audiences embrace people who are willing to share their story, particularly those parts that reveal the preacher as an imperfect person, with whom others can identify. To be clear, I”m not suggesting this as an “approach” to preaching. Nor should it be considered a public speaking “method.” If vulnerability in the pulpit is contrived, a perceptive congregation will