January 1, 2026
If you’ve spent your career walking with Jesus, your last days should be your best days, not your worst. Jesus’ last moments before his death were spent pouring himself completely out for us.
September 3, 2025
When a vision is communicated effectively, people are drawn to the vision and not just the leader. In the long term, this gets far more traction for the church and for the kingdom of God.
People need to experience purpose in their relationship with Christ and effective leaders must set goals that reflect their vision for the church in creating that purpose.
November 2, 2018
E2: Effective Elders Blog Editor’s Note: Each Friday we publish a new blog post from our partners in ministry, E2: Effective Elders. We publish it here simultaneous to E2’s posting on their site. The leaders of E2 write an article for our print and online magazine every month as well. Those articles are full of wisdom and practical help for elders. Please check them out! _____ By David Roadcup The ability to craft and utilize a useful, compelling vision is one of the cornerstones in the life of an effective church. What is vision? It is developing the ability to see what is not
August 15, 2016
By Michael C. Mack Many new small groups and classes are beginning this time of year. Jim Egli, author, along with Vicki and Melissa Egli, of 333 Amazing Icebreaker Questions, says when he launches a new group, he likes to ask seven questions that also cast vision and outline expectations for the group: “¢ Where did you go to school for the first grade? “¢ Whom were you closest to when you were 10 years old? “¢ What is something you are very good at? “¢ When did God become more than a word to you? “¢ Besides your coming
By Jim Tune In his acclaimed book Why Smart Executives Fail, Sydney Finkelstein describes a fictional situation about a meticulously planned military operation. In his scenario, a special forces unit moves in with devastating efficiency and successfully accomplishes every objective; the forces kill or capture everyone in the base they were attacking. The unit suffered very few casualties. There was only one problem. The target they had attacked and captured belonged to friendly forces. Central command launched a massive investigation to figure out what went wrong. Several missteps were eventually identified. Operational protocols were reviewed, changed, and corrected. The only
September 29, 2015
By Mark A. Taylor Every August and September, I was gripped by panic. As part-time education minister with a smaller church (now it”s mega), I was responsible to recruit Sunday school workers for every age level and to staff a fully graded program on Wednesday nights. When kids choirs took a break on Sunday evenings (we had Sunday-night church back in those days), my job was to create and find workers for kids” classes then too. In a church of a few hundred, that was a lot of volunteers, and we never seemed to have quite enough. We encouraged people
January 28, 2015
By Jim Tune I”ve heard the axiom “Love everyone, but move with the movers!” shared by speakers at leadership conferences. There”s truth in this counsel. I”ve had to encourage people to find another church when they became obtusely stuck on some element of vision or direction. At some point, I”ve had to weigh the value of giving disproportionate amounts of energy to people who refuse to change or compromise. So yeah, there”s some wisdom in moving with the movers. That said, I”m not entirely comfortable with this approach. Sometimes in order to truly love someone like Jesus did, you just
September 4, 2014
By Jennifer Johnson I looked forward to speaking with Robert Bess because of the similarities between his church and ours. (See Related Article.) Â Like Robert”s church in Tennessee, Levittown (PA) Christian Church, where my husband, Matt, serves as pastor, has grown from just a few families to about 100 people. And like Robert, Matt is not content for LCC to stay so small when so many thousands in our community still need Jesus. He spent much of this summer meeting with other local pastors, casting vision with the influencers and leaders in our own congregation, and reading widely to see
June 22, 2014
By Eddie Lowen I would not trade””for anything””the experience of seeing what happened with our team when we united around the words of our vision and mission. For a long time, I was a skeptic and contrarian regarding church mission statements. To my eye, nearly all were synonymous, so why bother? Besides, isn”t the church”s mission already expressed in Scripture? Jesus said he came to seek and save the lost. He commissioned his followers to preach the good news to everyone. His words are clear and compelling. Best of all, using the words of Jesus does not require several days
January 6, 2013
By Gene Appel Others tell me that I”m a visionary pastor whose personal leadership style is collaborative, empowering, and team-oriented. I love to get the right people and right systems working right. I believe that with God”s touch, great things can happen. Several years ago a leadership consultant studied me and defined me as a “catalyzing leader.” I am motivated by problems and love to build teams, cast vision, and solve problems that have kingdom implications. I like to pull key leaders and influencers together to prayerfully dream and consider what God is calling our church to do and be.
October 27, 2012
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
March 2, 2012
By Rick Chromey Leadership happens when we move people toward desired insights, attitudes, and behaviors. We all lead somebody, but in the church our skill to enact change, instill confidence, and reduce conflict often spells the difference between success or failure, promotion or termination, trust or skepticism. Naturally, the real question is how will you lead and flex your leadership style? Tom enjoys the spotlight. His winsome charisma captures his congregation”s heart. He enjoys risks, but Tom”s hasty decisions betray trust and create insecurity. His lack of discipline keeps Tom unfocused and unproductive. Rob also enjoys risk and change, but
January 17, 2011
By Karen Wingate “Growing, dynamic churches are rooted in a powerful philosophy that recognizes kids matter to God,” says Rick Chromey, author of Energizing Children”s Ministry in the Smaller Church. Those are discouraging words to a church that sees the population of its children”s department slipping into oblivion. Struggling churches know that without the next generation, their congregation”s future is in jeopardy. Is it possible to revitalize a dying children”s ministry? “Yes,” says Teri Lewis, director of the Son Harbor children”s ministry program at Plymouth Avenue Christian Church, a congregation of 250 in Deland, Florida. In 2003, a “good” Sunday
September 20, 2010
By Brad Dupray In August 2007, Jay Akin was called to serve as senior pastor at Elberton Christian Church, a midsize church in a small town in rural Georgia, after having served in youth and associate ministries and as a campus minister. ECC, which averages 260 in attendance in a town of 4,700, makes a big impact in its local community. Jay and his wife, Cristal, love the people of the church. As Jay says, “My family has never been treated better by a church. These people have done so much to minister to my family. They treat us like
March 24, 2010
By Brad Dupray In his 11 years as senior pastor at The Crossing, a five-campus church with a home base in Quincy, Illinois, Jerry Harris has seen the church grow from 230 to more than 4,000. That growth did not come without challenges, but The Crossing is “clicking on all cylinders” and a year ago was listed as the fastest-growing megachurch in the United States among those in Christian Standard”s megachurch issue. A large part of The Crossing”s success can be attributed to the relationship Jerry has established with his elders. Jerry, along with Rodney Roberts, an elder at The
November 16, 2008
By Darrel Rowland With apologies to Judy Collins, we could say that Ernie Graf and Jim Sloderbeck have looked at church from both sides now. Their unique perspective comes because both were veteran elders and both now serve on their church”s ministerial staff. Graf is minister of administration for Northside Christian Church near Akron, Ohio. He majored in accounting and has a degree in business administration, which he used for 35 years in the private sector. When Northside created the administrative post in 2003, he took early retirement and joined the staff. Sloderbeck has been executive pastor of Heritage Christian
September 25, 2005
Youth ministers want more than assumptions and stereotypes. Mike Andrews explains what they hope for from congregations and senior pastors—shared discipleship, intergenerational relationships, and ministry that integrates students into the whole church.
April 14, 2026
James Thompson
April 14, 2026
David Faust
April 14, 2026
Sandy Mayle