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The Value of a Fresh Perspective   We’ve all had the experience: We’ve walked into a store, a restaurant or a church and were very quickly frustrated. We couldn’t find the Hispanic foods section, or the men’s socks or the rest rooms.  Everything seemed to be designed for the people who are already there.  You weren’t […]

Those of us who serve Jesus as pastors deeply long to lead churches which are powerfully used by God to make real disciples – devoted followers – of our Savior.  We want to lead disciple-making, transformational churches and we don’t want to just “spin our wheels” until it’s time to retire. But how do we […]

By Peter Steinke I have worked with troubled churches for 20 years. I never cease to learn from these experiences. The list below includes some of what I have learned about congregations in times of conflict: 1. Most people are interested in relieving their own anxiety rather than managing the crisis or planning for a […]

Help for SOLO and SENIOR PASTORS: Monthly, leadership-oriented coaching sessions via phone or Zoom “Listening ear” coaching/counseling sessions Revitalization leadership training, by way of Becoming Effective Leaders (BEL) groups of 3-8 pastors. BEL group participants meet monthly for nine months and gain leadership and church revitalization skills in the context of personal coaching and great […]

  Don’t go away mad. Seek a trusted advisor and work through your anger issues.  Resign because God is leading you to resign, not because your emotions are leading you to resign (Ephesians 4:25-31).  If God is leading you to resign, don’t equivocate or expect to be talked into staying.  Make it clear and firm […]

A Worksheet For Individual Or Group Use 1. What is a healthy church? Why do we have differing opinions on this? Because it’s a theological (ecclesiological) question.  Your theology of the church determines your definition of a healthy church. Common views from a couple of decades ago: “A healthy church is a church that’s getting […]

The term and the concept of “Sticky” pastor/board relationships has been borrowed from Pastor Larry Osborne’s iconic book, Sticky Teams. Describing Sticky – Here’s what we mean by a Sticky church leadership team: 1.The senior (or solo) pastor is a godly and loving man who truly cares about each member of the church board and […]

  When it comes to church structure (constitutions, by-laws, policies, flow-charts, etc.): What works? What kind of structure is conducive to disciple-making effectiveness? The following are 30 “bullet point” sized suggestions. 1. Mission and vision driven – (or purpose driven) – What is your church for? Who is it for?  What is it supposed to […]

  Increasing numbers of evangelical church leaders believe in “intentional disciple-making.”  This means having a plan, a system, a process for bringing new believers to maturity in Christ.  We encourage every church to decide on a discipleship pathway for their own congregation.  It may be very imperfect, but an imperfect discipleship pathway is far better than none […]

  You may know the name Marcus Buckingham as the creator of the Strengths Finder inventory and the author of the popular book Strengths Finder 2.0.    We recently had the chance to see Buckingham’s 2017 presentation from the Global Leadership Summit entitled “Reinventing Performance Management.”  The talk was so practical that we want to […]

The relationships between church boards and senior or solo pastors are challenging.  In most congregations, the board and pastor have a complex, not-easily-negotiated relationship: All board members, including the pastor, are brothers in Christ, and equals before God. The board, in most cases, was involved in the hiring of the pastor and the writing or […]

Based on the paper, “The Pastoral Performance Review: An Opportunity to Empower” Contact Rev. Scott Roen for the complete document – scottdavidroen@gmail.com PERSONAL MATTERS: (As far as the board is able to determine the following…) How did the pastor take care of himself physically? How did the pastor take care of himself emotionally? How did […]