Articles for tag: Leadership Development

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Preaching

Enlarging the Vision of Rural Preachers

By Jennifer Johnson “Small towns are getting smaller,” says Jim Hardy. “And the churches in these areas are getting smaller, as well.” Hardy founded the Center for Rural Church Advancement at Nebraska Christian College to encourage and equip the leaders of rural churches in Nebraska and beyond. The new initiative includes a series of two-day events in conjunction with The Barjona Company; Chad Hunt founded the company after growing Caveland Church from 150 to 750 people in the small town of Cave City, KY. A four-session series of these “strategic roundtables” is spread over two years, and groups are kept

May 26, 2014

The NFL Draft and Staff Leadership Development

By Mike Faherty One thing I admire about the National Football League is its draft process. The NFL always has a fresh crop of talent flowing into its league. Older players move on and new ones take over. I think the church could learn something from this talent development process. Not too long ago, we had some trouble in church. I couldn”t put my finger on the problem, but things were getting sloppy. Solid departments and initiatives were slowly going downhill, and quality standards were heading in the wrong direction. As the executive pastor, it is my job to make

May 16, 2014

Church & Ministry Church Growth

The Measure of a Church

By Will Thomas All churches count “noses” and “nickels.” That”s a good thing. Most of the time, attendance and finances provide a helpful barometer of what”s happening. But other factors also matter. Churches count what they do because they can. The harder-to-measure goals may too often remain hidden beneath the surface. Some churches look beyond the obvious. All churches could. In fact, looking beyond the obvious is probably one of the common characteristics of larger, growing churches. They know numbers for the sake of numbers seldom lead anywhere. Their leaders know a big church needs a big foundation. Churches that

March 8, 2014

Miscellaneous

Become a Better Leader with 50 Free Videos!

By Dick Alexander “¢ Encouragement “¢ Connecting “¢ Ideas “¢ Challenge “¢ Inner life “¢ Leadership And all in a few minutes each week. It sounds like a lot to promise, but Tim Harlow, 2014 North American Christian Convention president, makes and keeps big promises. Last year at a pastors” conference, Tim pulled together 50 outstanding Christian church leaders and asked each of them to share one thought, principle, or idea on leading churches that will reach the world. The result is a series of short videos being shared by the NACC, one each week via e-mail, with follow-up ideas

July 15, 2013

40 Under 40: Beth Jarvis Silliman

BETH JARVIS SILLIMAN Globalscope team leader, Christian Missionary Fellowship, TÃ¼bingen, Germany Unterwegs is a faith community in TÃ¼bingen, Germany, where students are embraced with love and acceptance, but it”s also a ministry that pushes them to consider the relevance of Christ and his church in today”s world. Beth Jarvis Silliman has led this CMF International Globalscope team and ministry since its inception in 2008 while her husband, Daniel, works on his PhD at the University of Heidelberg. Her role involves leadership development and discipleship of her team members and student leaders, teaching responsibilities, and helping to lead and organize all

June 16, 2013

Church & Ministry Small Groups

What Is a Small Group?

By Michael C. Mack The question keeps popping up. At conferences, in Internet discussion groups, whenever small group leaders get together, the question is asked, discussed, and sometimes even argued. You”d think we”d know the answer by now. A small group minister asked, “What exactly is a small group? There is a crucial advantage to having groups that are highly intentional about spiritual growth, external ministry, and living missionally””that is, reproducing both disciples and groups. At the same time, many people in the church are not ready to be part of such a group. Some people are just looking to

March 11, 2013

Colleges & Seminaries Organizations & Events

Semester in Ministry””a Unique Partnership

By Ethan Magness What is required to train the next generation of leaders for the church? How can you make a difference? Whom will you disciple for leadership? These are questions that drive the Semester in Ministry program partnership between Tennessee”s Milligan College and Mountain Christian Church in Joppa, Maryland. Here is what we have seen: “¢ A college sophomore preaches for the very first time to 100 squirming middle school students. She is nervous but she is ready. She has practiced a half-dozen times on her own and twice in front of a team of staff who gave her

January 29, 2013

How Do You Solve the Leadership Challenge?

By Kent E. Fillinger Quality leaders and effective leadership can make the difference in whether a local church or any organization succeeds or fails. So we asked a few dozen leaders from churches of all sizes to tell us how they develop leaders where they serve. (The 43 congregations surveyed have average attendances from 275 to 8,500.) Most of those surveyed (77 percent) said every staff member is responsible to train leaders and volunteers within each of their ministries. Four of the megachurches surveyed have a staff person focused solely on leadership development, yet these churches still rely on a

January 25, 2013

How Are We Growing Our Elders?

By Don Green Churches of all sizes need to establish a process for disciple and leader development that can equip future elders to function as Christlike leaders (Luke 6:40). To be healthy and effective, every church must ensure that mature disciples are being prepared to function as shepherding, overseeing, and leading elders and equippers (Acts 20:28; Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Peter 5:1-4). Although adopting a disciple development process in a local congregation is no guarantee that effective leaders will be developed, it is an essential pathway to kingdom leadership development. During church consultations over the past 30 years I have often

January 11, 2013

How Do You Define Your Leadership? Melissa Sandel

By Melissa Sandel My role is to serve as the chief architect of staff culture. I find high-capacity leaders who are determined to grow, and equip them to hit the ball out of the park in their respective roles. Crafting the environment in which this process unfolds is one of my most vital assignments. Several principles define our staff culture and have shaped the way I lead. Require development. We don”t believe anyone is so sharp or devoted that he or she can play a productive role on our team without growing. To model this, I invite our lead pastor

January 5, 2013

Church & Ministry Small Groups

How Small Is a Small Group?

By Michael C. Mack QUESTION: What size should a healthy small group be? ANSWER: This is one of the most frequently asked questions about small groups, and as with many questions, the answer is, “It all depends.” Here are three factors to consider when determining group size. Group Types Small groups come in a variety of types with different purposes and needs. An accountability group, for example, works best with about 2 to 4 members. A serving group, and some more socially oriented groups, can be quite large, in the 20s or 30s. Holistic groups, discussion-based groups, and a

November 19, 2012

Mission & Evangelism

From Missionary Kids to Mission Veterans

By Paul Boatman David Filbeck, a second-generation missionary to Thailand, is president of Christian Mission to the Orient. Tim Doggett, a second-generation missionary to the Republic of the Congo, is executive director of the Alliance of Christian Missions International (ACM International). Tell us about your early life as a missionary kid (MK). DAVID FILBECK: I was born in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1961, just before my family moved to a remote tribal village in northern Thailand. Dad was a linguist doing Bible translation. Most of my memories up through eighth grade were about my childhood on the mission field. In

October 27, 2012

The 3 R”s to Launching & Landing in Ministry

By Susan Lawrence It”s a great idea! You know it can have an impact on people. You”re excited to get it started. Others sense your excitement as you share with them, and they get excited, too. You”re ready to blast off with the power of a space shuttle. You”re in your comfort zone. Dream big, and shoot for the moon! You make a few plans, share what you imagine the beauty of the view will be once in flight, and press the LAUNCH button. The problem is what gets launched must also land. Without a plan for the journey, the

July 28, 2012

Don”t Lead Alone!

By Michael C. Mack How many people can you effectively lead, shepherd, and disciple? Let me ask the questionÂ another way: If you want to see true transformation of people”s lives, into how many peopleÂ can you invest your life? How about Jesus? How many people did he disciple? Three of his four disciples, Peter, James, and John, became Jesus” inner circle or what could be called his core team. Jesus poured his life into these three men, investing into them and modeling a life surrendered to the Father. He took these three away with him to pray and heal, as well

July 10, 2012

Willing to Lead

By Mark A. Taylor Several myths about leadership were exposed at the 2012 Leadercast sponsored by Chick-fil-A, May 4. About 125,000 viewers gathered for the satellite-uplinked daylong session in key sites across the United States, including several thousand who attended the event live in Atlanta. All of them could have found at least one take-away for the leadership roles they fill at home or on the job. One of the demolished myths is “I am not a leader.” Anyone listening to Tim Tebow might think of a hundred other professional athletes with no impact or only a negative example.

May 29, 2012

Church Life

You Can Go Home Again

By Kent E. Fillinger Eric Keller grew up in Enid, Oklahoma, and attended Oakwood Christian Church. He returned to his home church for two summer internships during Bible college, and in 2003 he became the church”s student minister. Then, in 2008, Keller became senior minister at Oakwood. Some would say you can”t go back home to serve a church you attended as a child. They would point to the experience of Jesus. When he returned to his hometown to teach, some of the locals took offense, and Jesus responded, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town

May 22, 2012

Church & Ministry Church Growth

Center Creek: Serving Christ in the Heartland

By Kent E. Fillinger Mike Johnson”s passion and focus was student ministry when he arrived at Center Creek Christian Church. He previously had enjoyed a decade of student ministry at a medium-size church, where he started fresh out of Bible college. Mike had seen his student ministry grow during this time, but the church remained stagnant overall. Mike searched for a new opportunity with a church that had the desire and potential to grow. He soon found Center Creek; it was similar in size to his first ministry, but he felt a positive connection with the senior minister, who expressed

May 18, 2012

Church & Ministry Church Growth

Multisites & Mergers

By Kent E. Fillinger Multisites are being created and church mergers are happening everywhere. Are they a certain path to church growth? Can they help a church evangelize better than it could from a single campus? What must a church do to successfully launch a second site? Multisites now outnumber megachurches, and the number of multisite churches is growing faster than the number of megachurches, according to a Leadership Network survey.1 One factor driving the increase is church mergers. The same Leadership Network survey found that one in three multisite campuses is the result of a church merger. One notable

April 6, 2012