Leading change is one of a pastor’s most important jobs. The changes pastors lead are spiritual, moral, and missional in nature. In other words, they help people come to Christ (spiritual), become like Christ (moral), and go out as witnesses … Continue reading Leading Congregational Change Collaboratively | Influence Podcast
How can pastors lead healthy, productive, and long-lasting change in their congregations? Mike Clarensau answers that question in Subject to Change. An ordained Assemblies of God minister, church consultant, and author, his advice comes from decades of ministry in local-church … Continue reading Subject to Change | Book Review
The Great Commission (Matthew 28:16–20) commands Christ’s followers to “make disciples of all nations.” That discipleship has at least two basic components:conversion, symbolized by baptism, and change, realized through ever-increasing obedience to Christ’s commandments. Notice also its multicultural shape. Christ … Continue reading Discipling in a Multicultural World | Book Review
“Every advance you make as a leader will require a leadershift that changes the way you think, act, and lead,” writes John C. Maxwell in Leadershift. He goes on to enumerate eleven specific changes, which he illustrates with stories from his own leadership journey. He also provides practical advice to help readers make necessary shifts in their own leadership practices. Maxwell defines leadershifting as “the ability and willingness to make a leadership change that will positively enhance organizational and personal growth.” Here are the specific changes he outlines: focus: from soloist to conductor, personal development: from goals to growth, cost: … Continue reading Leadershift | Book Review
As a young minister, I attended many leadership seminars with my pastor. These seminars were taught by well-known megachurch pastors and leading church-growth experts and gave us notebooks filled with detailed instructions about how to do church more effectively. After … Continue reading No Silver Bullets | Book Review
In today’s Influence Podcast, I talk to my friend Mike McCrary about how to navigate transitions in ministry jobs. Mike is director of Funding for the Church Multiplication Network, a role he began this year–on my birthday, no less!–after nearly … Continue reading When Ministers Change Jobs | Influence Podcast
Samuel R. Chand, Cracking Your Church’s Culture Code: Seven Keys to Unleashing Vision and Inspiration (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011). $24.95, 224 pages. According to Sam Chand, “Culture—not vision or strategy—is the most powerful factor in any organization.” Many churches formulate excellent vision statements and strategic goals for reaching their communities. But their success or failure depends on whether they have attended to “the personality of the church,” that is, its “organizational culture.” Chand arranges these churches on a spectrum from “inspiring” to “toxic.” What separates inspiring churches from toxic ones is how they deal with seven organizational issues, which Chand … Continue reading “Cracking Your Church’s Culture Code” by Samuel R. Chand
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