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.

August 6, 2014

Christian Standard

Racehorses, Plodders, and Mules

By Jim Tune The words of James Denney ring true to me: “No man can give at once the impression that he himself is clever, and that Christ is mighty to save.” You can impress people with your cleverness or you can impress them with Jesus, but you can”t do both. It”s a common practice in church planting circles to search for a particular “type” of church planter. Competence, calling, giftedness””these characteristics matter when it comes to selecting a lead planter. The organization I lead uses a thorough assessment process to screen candidates for attributes that are useful in predicting

August 1, 2014

Michael C. Mack

The Sunday Night Shift

By Michael C. Mack Sunday night service attendance is plummeting in many churches. One option, of course, is simply to discontinue this longtime tradition. Other churches are finding new ways of using Sunday evenings effectively. Bobby Ross Jr., chief correspondent for The Christian Chronicle, provided five ideas for reforming Sunday nights: 1. Small group meetings. Meet in homes or other locations in smaller groups. Some churches have found that more people are involved in small groups on Sunday nights than previously attended services at the church building. 2. Sunday school on Sunday night. One church found that Sunday evening attendance

July 27, 2014

Christian Standard

Intimacy and Influence

By Vince Antonucci (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I”ve Ever Received.”) The best advice I”ve received is from one of my spiritual mentors, Dean Trune. In fact, you can find this advice in every e-mail Dean sends out. The advice is that the most essential thing I can do today is spend quality time with God. Jesus said we can accomplish nothing apart from him. He said as we stay connected to him, we will produce much fruit. Intimacy with God leads to influence in the world. Dean lives that, and I want to. Vince Antonucci serves

July 24, 2014

Christian Standard

Hire, Fire, Decide, Defer

By Gary Weedman (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I”ve Ever Received.”) I have received three pieces of advice that have been of equal value to me in the latter part of my professional career.  When I went to Milligan College, Dave Rose, a retired insurance executive and alumnus of Milligan, said to me in his cantankerous way, “Weedman, if you”re going to be a successful administrator, you need to learn what I had to learn”””˜hire slowly and fire fast.”” Take your time, attend to due diligence with the first; when you”ve made a mistake, don”t let it

July 23, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

A Conversation with Caleb Kaltenbach

  Caleb Kaltenbach grew up as an agnostic with two homosexual parents. Now the lead pastor with Discovery Church in Simi, California, he challenged North American Christian Convention attendees to “Preach the Truth in Love.” Hear his thoughts about how to balance grace and truth, especially with homosexuals, in this exclusive interview here.

July 23, 2014

Christian Standard

Hidden in a Field

By Jim Tune In 1989, the movie Field of Dreams was a blockbuster hit. Kevin Costner played Ray Kinsella, a 37-year-old man who always played it safe. He had never done a spontaneous thing in his life until hearing a voice one day that said, “If you build it, he will come.” After hearing the phrase several more times, he asked other farmers if they heard similar voices. Eventually Ray saw a vision of “Shoeless” Joe Jackson walking out of his cornfield. In the vision, Ray”s cornfield was transformed into a baseball diamond. When he actually “builds” a baseball field,

July 21, 2014

Christian Standard

Put It in Print

By Rick Jett (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I”ve Ever Received.”) The best advice I ever received was from Alan Ahlgrim, former senior minister of Rocky Mountain Christian Church in Colorado. About 20 years ago, Alan was teaching one of the graduate classes I was taking at Cincinnati Christian University. One lesson was about personal growth of a leader. He said good leaders are constantly growing. They will read, take classes, attend conferences, and interview other leaders. He explained that growing leaders will set goals. He walked us through an exercise of writing goals and action steps

July 19, 2014

Christian Standard

Their Prison, My Freedom

By Dick Alexander (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I”ve Ever Received.”) I was in the middle of a long period of what seemed like relentless attack from people in a church I served, when a friend advised me my critics were not the enemy, but prisoners of the enemy. It set me free””free from we-they polarization. Free from choosing sides. Free to see them with compassion. The harshest critics were prisoners. In general, they didn”t enjoy life. They were prisoners of bitterness, anger, and unresolved past hurts. His advice, the best advice I”ve received, set me free

July 17, 2014

Christian Standard

Would a Belly Have Been Better?

By Tim Harlow (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I”ve Ever Received.”) The best and worst advice I ever received was from Sky Allen, the previous minister at Parkview (then the Tinley Park Church of Christ). I got the same advice from my friend Haydn Shaw, who was a minister in the area. When I asked them whether I should accept the senior minister position here in 1989, both of them very strongly said “NO.” The place was a divided, leaderless, and visionless church that was being held together with duct tape by the area church planting organization.

July 17, 2014

Christian Standard

Things Will Get Better . . . or Worse!

By Cal Jernigan (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I”ve Ever Received.”) The best ministry advice I have ever received has to do with putting things in perspective. The simple advice was captured in one little sentence: “Things are never as good as you think they are, and things are never as bad as you think they are.”Â  While it might initially sound a tad pessimistic, it”s anything but. When things are good, it”s easy to be euphoric and to exaggerate the significance and impact of what you”re celebrating. It feels so good and it feels so right.Â

July 16, 2014

Christian Standard

Where’s Jesus?

By Ben Cachiaras (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I”ve Ever Received.”) As a fledgling minister in my first senior ministry, I worked hard on my preaching. I don”t recall the biblical text I was working from, but I do remember feeling especially satisfied with the way the sermon came together one particular Sunday. It had three cleverly worded points, a couple of new insights pulled from “deep” commentaries, a funny illustration that was sure to get some yuks, and a moving conclusion drawn from an incident with my young son””people always like to hear about your kids,

July 16, 2014

Christian Standard

The Discipline to Discipline

By Jim Tune The words church discipline can conjure up vivid imagery that seemingly affirms the world”s worst perceptions of church. Nathaniel Hawthorne”s The Scarlet Letter serves up a twisted picture of the ostracizing of an adulteress by both church and community. Is this what we mean by church discipline””visions of Hester Prynne skulking around her nightmarish New England town? A solidly biblical approach to church discipline is the only way to heal fractures, restore right relationships, and ensure the health of the church. Discipline is not simply the unhappy task of ordering troublemakers out of the church. Indeed, discipline

July 14, 2014

Christian Standard

Don”t Touch””Think Straight

By Don Hinkle (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I”ve Ever Received.”) “Don”t touch the girls. Don”t touch the gold. Don”t touch the glory”””from a retired minister/author to a group of preachers after chapel at San Jose Bible College””was perhaps the most succinct and insightful counsel about ministry I ever heard. I”ve also found that the saying “it all depends on whose ox is being gored” is illustrated every day. When I was a student at Midwest Christian College, Darrell Terry (Project Challenge, I think) told me to never put people in boxes. I only had two obligations

July 13, 2014

Christian Standard

Example, and a Few Words

By Bill Greer (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I’ve Ever Received.”) Few people have had as much impact on me as my predecessor, friend, and mentor, Dr. Don Jeanes. With Don, it wasn”t so much that he shared advice verbally. Instead, he shared most of his advice through example. As the 14th president of Milligan College, he was consistent in his treatment of people, steadfast in his faith, and persistent in his quest for excellence.  But as he turned the presidency of Milligan over to me, I will always be grateful that he took the time to

July 12, 2014

Christian Standard

Quality First

By Gayla Congdon (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I’ve Ever Received.”) Some of our best advice came from the late, great Mike Yaconelli (Scott and I received this advice from him when he was a member of the Amor Ministries board): “Focus on quality and quantity will come.”Â  Mike”s advice was based on his belief we were measuring our effectiveness based on the number of participants coming on trips. We took his advice and shifted our mind-set to creating a quality mission trip that was relationship-based versus numbers-based. The result was that growth came in significant numbers.Â

July 12, 2014

Christian Standard

Even Leaders Need Forgiveness

By Ken Idleman (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I’ve Ever Received.”) The worst leadership advice I ever received was during the second year of my presidency at Ozark Christian College. It was unsolicited, from a member of the teaching faculty. At age 32, I was still just getting oriented to my new role. One day I sent out an impulsive written communication to the staff. After sleeping on it that night, I realized I had made a mistake. The very next day I distributed a follow-up letter, explaining and apologizing in print. My former colleague came rushing

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