A healthy team is an important part of ministry success. Let me illustrate. Teaming... Generates new ideas.Pools resources.Boosts moral.Minimizes personal faults. Furthermore, the team approach to ministry also seems to best embody the Pauline imperatives for the church. Paul urges the church to live in unity and use one another's gifts and abilities. So if … [Read more...] about Characteristics of High-Impact Teams
ministry
The Ironic Secret to Progress
The secret to progress may not be seeing your desired future but seeing your current cycles. Let me explain. In The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge argues for systems thinking. We must change from thinking in lines to thinking in circles. In other words, we must stop thinking in simple terms of linear cause and effect. Rather, we must begin to see the larger cycles or … [Read more...] about The Ironic Secret to Progress
God Is Enough
At our student ministry's recent fall retreat, one simple moment stands out to me. It was Saturday night, following the final session. We had planned a time of outdoor worship on the shore of the lake under the night sky. We were scrambling to put together the final tech details, fastening together the outdoor screen, running power cords, and connecting A/V equipment. But … [Read more...] about God Is Enough
Three Simple Ways to Prepare for a Retreat
Our student ministry leaves for our annual Fall Retreat this week. I look forward to this weekend every year. It is a weekend filled with fun and community, creation and spiritual renewal. But not everything that happens IN this weekend happens ON this weekend. Some of the most important elements of the retreat will actually happen before the weekend. Preparation is key. We … [Read more...] about Three Simple Ways to Prepare for a Retreat
Big Church, Little Church
I've had a question in my head lately. What is the difference between a healthy large church and a healthy small church? If all things were relatively equal, what would be the difference? Do we lose anything or gain anything as we move from one size to the other? So far, I have thought of two major distinctions. When we move from a small church to a large church, two … [Read more...] about Big Church, Little Church