We've talked a lot about increasing generosity at the end of the year. As we’ve posted elsewhere, the end of the year brings challenges. You’ve got this year’s budget gaps, next year’s budget planning, end-of-the-year appeal letters—it’s a lot. On top of that, Christmas is fast approaching. There are two temptations during seasons like this in ministry. Avoidance I’ve seen [...]
It's the time of year when church leaders are starting to see lots of red—and it isn't always early Christmas decorations! Lots of churches have deficits they need to close by year's end. I have been there many (MANY) times. Sometimes, these gaps are relatively small. All you need is to remember to 'double December' and take a breath. (If [...]
The Church is a tended vine. The metaphor runs through all of scripture, from Isaiah 5 to John 15. It's our model for making disciples. But have we taken a moment to ask what we know about the plants themselves? Consider: Vines offer less to look at than perhaps any other plant. There's just no other way to say it: [...]
Though we love talking about 'casting vision', but often our 'vision' is just too big for anyone to grasp. It's too wide to take in and leaves people feeling overwhelmed and even paralyzed by possibilities. Barry Schwartz has some remarkable (and terrifying!) research about "the paradox of choice." When we are confronted by too many options, we become anxious and [...]
Writing an Appeal Letter is about saying "will you" and then "thank you". A few years ago I had to do what every Rector or Sr. Pastor should do about this time of year: write a year-end appeal letter. (If you need convincing that you should, read here.) My church was in the red for the year. Again. I've [...]
It is that time of year again. Budget time! As pastors, leaders, vestries, and boards are wringing their hands about the close of this year, plans for next year are being drawn up. Over the years I developed a few ‘hacks’ for church leaders. I’ve collected a few of these tips, tricks, and rules of thumb that have proven useful [...]
Every week or so, we will post about one of the sites on our upcoming Israel tours for pastors and everyone. The stories of these people and places in the Bible have the power to form us, first as humans made in the image of God, but also as servant leaders who have been called to join the work of [...]
The mission of LeaderWorks is to help church leaders do their work. In that effort, James K.A. Smith and Tim Keller have blessed us richly with their recent conversation in Comment Magazine. Church leaders who have just begun their ministries, whether planting a church or leading a small congregation, often feel frustrated by a lack of growth. No matter how [...]
It’s Ready After years of gathering ideas, studying Scripture, preaching “The Money Talk”, collecting three decades worth of wisdom...and months of writing and re-writing, the book is finished. We took our final pass at it with our red pens and now it lives with the publisher and then onto the printer...and then I hope...to you! It should be available for [...]
Thanks to a generous supporter of LeaderWorks, we would like to announce our new Assistant Director, the Rev. Kolby Kerr. Kolby is a fantastic young priest in our ACNA and will add greatly to what LeaderWorks is able to offer. You’ll be hearing a lot from him on the blog, so I wanted to give him a chance to introduce himself. [...]
Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, The Rev. Dr. Jensen, The Rev. Dr. John Yates, III, Dr. Ashley Null, and Bishop Ben Kwashi--these are the modern-day Anglican scholars and bishops that are teaming together to write a 6-volume work on Reformation Anglicanism. The first edition is out (The Reformation Anglicanism Essential Library, Volume 1). And it is great! An Interview with an Editor [...]
Christ Church March marks the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the transition process at Christ Church. I remember it well. I had asked the Vestry 9 months earlier to begin a search process for a new Rector. I was so thankful for their diligence and care throughout the process. Fran and I were very excited to see the process narrow [...]
A week ago I added a blog post featuring Shawn McCain and his church plant in Austin. He spoke about the vision he has for RezAustin and what it is like to work in a start-up church plant. As I mentioned in the post, Shawn is a great thinker. He is also, humble and clear in his views. Part 2: I [...]
A week or so ago I had the chance to sit with one of the church planters in our diocese (C4SO) from the Austin area. Shawn is one of a growing number of young leaders that have sensed a strong call to ministry in the Anglican Church in North America. However, he's done more than that; he has answered a [...]
As a 'lame duck' rector of the church I'd pastored for decades, I had an unusual experience writing my last year-end appeal letter. I had announced my resignation six months earlier. The entire congregation was waiting for some good news from the Search Committee. And we had a significant financial need. HUGE! We needed to raise about 15% of our [...]
A few thoughts about the election and the solemn duty we have as citizens of our country. Vote: Voting (as we know it) is not mandated or commanded in the Bible. However, we are called to 'render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God, the things that are God's.' (Mark 12:17) This is a remarkable admonition from [...]
In the United States, we are enduring one of the longest (it seems) and mean-spirited (it is sure) election seasons imaginable. Politics is on everyone's mind. I listened to a news story about a Dallas firm that had asked its employees to NOT discuss politics anymore around the 'water cooler'. They were not trying to infringe on freedom of speech; [...]
Thanks to my friend and colleague, The Rev. Dr. Tony Baron, for this insightful and sobering article. BREAKING BAD: HOW GAINING POWER CAN MAKE YOU LOSE YOUR SOUL by Tony Baron, Psy.D., D.Min., Director Breaking Bad, is a universally acclaimed award-winning drama built on chemistry, cancer, and crime. It’s also the story of the erosion of a man’s soul as [...]
I decided to gather these 'greatest hits' in a single Stewardship digest. These posts distill some of the most practical applications of the issues raised in Giving Up. Here they are...up-to-date. Stewardship, Giving, & the Third Rail Even though money and giving empowers and enables so much good to happen, many church leaders don’t feel comfortable talking about it. For some, the [...]
Foley Beach, the Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America has called us to prayer over the racial tensions in our communities. He includes these wise observations: “the events in Tulsa and Charlotte continue to foster and deepen fear, mistrust, anxiety, and a simmering frustration in our cities here in the States. African-Americans are becoming more and more fearful of [...]
On Ash Wednesday, clergy around the world will draw a cross-shaped smudge of dark black ashes on the foreheads of millions of people. It is the ancient rite of The Imposition of Ashes which signals the start of Lent. The words that accompany the ‘imposition’ on Ash Wednesday are simple, sober, and true. Over the years I have said them to thousands [...]
In just a few days time I will leave for my annual Covenant Group Meeting. There are a few more than a dozen of us, give or take, that have been meeting for nearly three decades. We were all Episcopal priests and rectors of multi-staff congregations. We came from different cities across the US and Canada; no two of us came [...]
by Winfield Bevins. With the rise of persecution against Christians in the Middle East, we are reminded that we live in a world full of pain and suffering. In the midst of a bad economy, natural disasters, and the growing risk of international terrorism people are seeking real answers to tough questions. Many people feel alone and unable to handle [...]
