Marriage and Ministry, Part 1: Island of Exile or Island of Escape? Kevin’s desk lamp burns late into the night. But he is not working on this week’s sermon. He is studying scriptures about marriage. Kevin is beginning to wonder if he should ever been married in the first place. Most difficult of all is…
Read MoreBy the Book or Out of the Box? Two Ways to Face Risk Every ministry adopts rules that are unique to its culture. Members of your team follow those procedures differently. Some embrace risk and break rules to press forward. Others showbox for android naturally follow established procedures. Facing risk – along with processing information,…
Read MoreOne-on-One Coaching: Self-Discovery Leads to New Purpose As Christian life coach Deb Mertin works with leaders she draws on a unique personal perspective, having herself transitioned to professional ministry leadership after 25+ years in the health care field. “Some clients are new to leadership and are seeking to clarify their vision for ministry,” Deb says.…
Read MoreRace or Slow Pace? Two Ways to go about Managing Change Change is a constant for your team. Like other transitions a team faces (such as processing information and solving problems), your team members manage change in radically different ways. As a team conducts ministry, it passes through four inescapable transitions – movements or changes…
Read MorePush or Pull – Which Is the Best Way to Solve Problems? Every day your team is bombarded with new problems it must solve, both big and small. Solving problems is an important transition (like processing information) that each member of your team approaches in a unique way. As a team conducts ministry, it passes…
Read MoreProcessing Information: Which Is Best – To Trust or to Verify? How do your team members trust others and the information they receive? Chances are good that people on your team process information in different ways. As a team conducts ministry, it passes through four inescapable transitions – movements or changes that take the team…
Read MoreA Team’s Tone Can Be Constructive or Destructive! I know which kind of team I prefer. I’m sure you do, too. If you’ve worked or volunteered at any level in a church, ministry, or organization, you have experienced one, the other, or both firsthand. This is part 1 of a 5-part series where we will…
Read MoreUnderstanding Others’ Strengths: Do You Have a Good View? Learning to value differences in others is a lot like looking at skyscrapers in the city. Imagine you can only view buildings from the sidewalks, looking up. But one day you are able to stand on the twentieth story of a skyscraper and look out the…
Read MoreHow To Avoid “The Unimportance Trap” Charlie underwent cardiac surgery to correct a problem in his heart, but in the process, his vocal cords were paralyzed. While the procedure fixed Charlie’s cardiac issue, the vocal cord nerve damage did not resolve. The cords could not move and Charlie was unable to breathe on his own.…
Read MoreWhy God’s Appointments Are “A Good Fit” This three-part series looks at what the Bible has to say about placing people on your team or joining a team yourself. In this series, we have seen that positions on God’s organizational chart are not only needed (Part 1) but also indispensable to building the Body of…
Read More