Blog
For a long time, clergy have taken credit when attendance rose and felt guilty when it fell. Most people assume that the best measure of a congregation’s spiritual vitality is the headcount at weekly worship. But some congregations have begun to think beyond that metric and focus more broadly about how their ministry transforms lives. […]
Read MorePayroll expense is the largest line item in the budget of most congregations. When the budget is tight we often turn to payroll expense to balance the budget because we simply don’t have many viable options. However, we have to ask ourselves if this annual payroll dance around budget time harms our employees. How does […]
Read MoreBarb shared her decision to end the day trip ministry. “I simply can’t organize these trips anymore. We began this ministry to address the loneliness and isolation of older adults. It’s been wildly successful in terms of participation. People love going on these day outings and enrollment fills up immediately. But our funding source is […]
Read MoreOur unstated and unexamined assumptions about supervision prevent us from being more effective in the role of supervisor. Myth #1: If I could just get the right people on my team, I wouldn’t have to spend so much time supervising them. The Truth: If you lead a congregation with more than 400 people in average […]
Read More“When we become utterly obsessed with outcomes and results, we keep taking on smaller and smaller tasks, because they are the only ones we can get [measurable] results with.”-Parker Palmer (on Effectiveness vs. Faithfulness) I worked this week with a group of 75 United Methodist leaders in Kansas. At one point our conversation turned towards […]
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