Entries Tagged 'Leadership' ↓

Lifelong learning is a core value for us (see my post called Lifelong Learning). While our doctor of ministry programs, which have been a major part of our lifelong learning for the last 4.5 years, are just about over, we will continue to seek out new growth opportunities.

Besides getting back to our reading pile, which has grown even bigger since my post last September (see Reading Pile), we will also seek out high quality growth opportunities. Right now, we’re in the process of making plans to go to Leadership Institute, a 2-day conference for leaders hosted by The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection (COR), which takes place October 2-3, 2008.

COR is an amazing church located in Leawood, Kansas (Kansas City metropolitan area). Started just 18 years ago, COR now has more than 14,000 members with 8,000 people in weekly attendance. Adam Hamilton is the founding and senior pastor of COR (check out Adam’s blog).

We have 3 books by Adam that we may try to read before we go to the event in October: Leading Beyond the Walls (Joleen has read this one), Selling Swimsuits In The Arctic, and Unleashing the Word.

Adam’s teaching at the upcoming event is called “Ten Great Ideas … Ten Leadership Principles,” representing 10 of COR’s newest leadership ideas from the past year. We look forward to his teaching.

We are also impressed with the wide selection of workshops. We only wish we could attend more than 2 of the 80+ workshops offered. To maximize our learning, though, we’ll go to different workshops and share what we learn with each other.

• I’m planning to go to “Building a Process of Discipleship” and Joleen plans to go to “Connections Ministry from Front to Back” (both are described on this page).
• Our second choices include “Equipping Volunteers to Care for the Congregation” for me (see this page) and “Missions – Across the Street” for Joleen (see description on this page).

There are also a few pre-institute intensive workshops available. We will each attend one …

• I’m signing up for “Leadership Essentials: Practical Tools for Leading in the Church.”
• Joleen is signing up for “Building Community, Making Disciples: Strategies for Launching and Growing a Life-Changing Small Group Ministry.”

We’re excited about learning from those whom God has used in a big way. The teaching looks to be very practical, stuff that can be applied and implemented in any context.

Of course, we will be blogging about the event, reflecting on what we learn, so be sure to check back in October!

Following up on what I wrote in Circuit Riders 1.0, I think what challenges and inspires me to be an effective leader is the early circuit riders’ sense of mission — they simply went wherever the people were!

Lovett H. Weems, Jr. describes the pioneering spirit of the early Methodists in his book, Leadership in the Wesleyan Spirit. He describes the early Methodist movement as “a ‘sent’ ministry” that “followed the movement of the people” (22). IOW, they were proactive and went where the people were.

I think one thing that happens as churches age is that they tend to lose their pioneering spirit and begin to take on the mission of maintaining and preserving the work of their forbears. But the mission of modern day circuit riders (and the church, in general) is *not* to maintain what our forbears built. Our mission is to lead with the same spirit in which they led!

But we honor our forbears, not by continuing what they started, but by living in the same pioneering spirit in which they led and operated!

A pioneering spirit is necessary simply because what worked to reach people in previous generations will not necessarily work in this generation. And pioneers are willing to do whatever it takes to connect with the people God calls them to reach in ways that bear fruit.

The early circuit riders modeled a pioneering spirit. It’s a spirit we must regain today if we’re going to transform the world for Jesus Christ!

Ilove history, especially the history of great Christ-following leaders who’ve gone before us. While reading about the UMC’s itinerant system for the previous post, I was once again challenged by the character and the courage of the early “circuit riders.”

The term “circuit riders” has stuck, even though it has evolved over time (e.g., the transition from horses to motor vehicles, smaller geographical areas, fewer churches on circuits in most cases). In fact, the United Methodist magazine for clergy continues to use the name Circuit Rider.

The General Commission on Archives and History has an article on The Circuit - Riders in Early American Methodism that briefly describes the practices of the early circuit riders. Basically, preachers were assigned to a number of churches that became the circuits they traveled. Often, the circuits covered a pretty large geographical area.

There are many great stories of character and courage of the early circuit riders. One of my favorite stories, from Methodist Heroes of Other Days (by Samuel Gardiner Ayres), is about George Harmon, a circuit rider in New York and Pennsylvania. He writes about an experience that took place in 1812 …

I held a quarterly meeting in the north part of the district [Susquehanna], my next being on the south part. I had to pass through the sixty miles of wilderness. I took what was called the Lycoming route. It was in the winter, the snow being two and three feet deep. I lodged all night at Spaulding’s tavern, near the head of the Towanda. I started early the next morning, and rode some eight miles to Brother Soper’s, on the Lycoming, and took breakfast. I then set out for Williamsport. When I came to what was considered the most dangerous crossing place on the route I found the river frozen over about one third of the way on each side. The snow, as above stated, was from two to three feet deep, and no one had passed to open the road. I paused but for a moment. I could not go back to Brother Soper’s, some ten or fifteen miles, the last house I had passed; the sun had gone down. If I could cross there was a log tavern within about a mile. I knew the greatest danger would be in getting on the ice on the other side, for should the ice break I and my horse would both go under. I must venture it. I saw no other course. I was on a very spirited and powerful horse. I urged him forward, and when his feet touched the bottom his head went under water. As he arose on his hind feet I put both spurs into his flanks and he at once bounded off into the river. The water was so deep that it ran over the tops of my boots as I sat upon his back. I got through without further difficulty. When I reached the tavern my first care was to have my horse attended to. But when I attempted to take off my boots they were frozen to my stockings. I bought half a pint of rum and bathed myself with it. I slept comfortably and took no cold. But my poor horse! The fatigue of worrying through the snow, and so often fording the river, so affected his limbs that I had to part with him at great sacrifice.

I am grateful for the pioneering circuit riders who have gone before us. Being a circuit rider in early Methodism was certainly not for the faint of heart.

But leading churches on God’s mission today is not for the faint of heart, either. In a future post (Circuit Riders 2.0), I’ll say more about how the mission and passion of the early circuit riders should challenge and inspire us today.

Not everyone may be aware of how pastoral appointments are made in the United Methodist Church (UMC), so we thought we’d share briefly a little bit about the process we’ve gone through in the last couple of weeks.

In the UMC, bishops (and district superintendents) have the responsibility of making pastoral appointments. In our conference, there are nine district superintendents who work with the bishop in setting the appointments for more than 800 churches throughout central Pennsylvania. (We’ll say more about the UMC’s itinerant ministry in a future post.)

Around November/December of each year, pastors and Staff Parish Relations Committees (SPRC) are given the opportunity to offer input in the pastoral appointment process. The Bishop and Cabinet then take all of that input into consideration as appointments are made for the next conference year.

A couple weeks ago, we received a surprise phone call from our district superintendent, Rev. David Norris, informing us that we would receive a call from another district superintendent. A few hours later, we received a call from Rev. Dr. Pam Ford, district superintendent of the State College District. We scheduled a meeting for the following day where we discussed the possible moves to West Side and Centre Grove.

As we understand it, because of our family transition we were given the opportunity to accept or decline the move. We took about 48 hours to pray and think about the decision. While it was a fairly difficult decision to make, we ultimately decided to accept the new appointments.

On Sunday, April 20, we spent the afternoon and evening in Clearfield. We met with the SPRC at West Side in the afternoon. Then, after a tour of the parsonage and dinner with Pam Ford and West Side’s current pastor and friend, Jay Jones, we met with the SPRC at Centre Grove.

SPRC members are asked to not share/discuss the news about the new pastor with anyone before the appointment is publicly announced in the respective churches at the same time. In our case, announcements were made at the churches we are leaving and at the churches we are going to on Sunday, April 27.

The SPRCs at Manor Hill and 12th Street/Hope met shortly after the announcements — Sunday afternoon at Manor Hill and Monday evening at 12th Street — in order to put together their church profiles, which will be used in the selection of their new pastors.

In the next few weeks, the district superintendent will meet again with the SPRCs to introduce them to their next pastor. Once again, SPRC members will need to hold the information in confidence until the official announcement is made the following Sunday.

We are always grateful for God’s leading in our lives (see Randy’s previous post, Prayers for the Journey). In our denomination, part of that leadership is expressed through our conference leaders. We are grateful for the manner in which they seek to spiritually discern God’s will in the setting of pastoral appointments. This sense of knowing and trusting God’s leadership gives us excitement about the next chapter of our journeys!

We’ve experienced a lot of change in recent weeks/months — bringing home a baby from Korea and becoming parents, and finishing our dissertations, and completing our doctor of ministry programs.

If that wasn’t enough transition for one year, we’re throwing in some more. As we announced this morning in our worship services, we are moving to new pastoral appointments.

We will be moving to Clearfield (in the State College District of the Central Pennsylvania Conference) in late June and the new appointments will take effect July 1, 2008. Joleen will serve West Side UMC and Randy will serve Centre Grove UMC.

While living in the village of Mooresville for the past 7 years, Joleen has served the Manor Hill Charge. During most of this time, Randy served the Petersburg Charge. After Alexandria and Barree (part of the Petersburg Charge) merged in 2006 to become Hope UMC, Randy continued to serve them as well as taking on 12th Street UMC as part of a realignment following Hope’s merger.

This transition impacts a lot of people — the congregations we’re leaving, the congregations we’re going to, the pastors we will follow, as well as the ones who will follow us.

In the coming weeks, we will write about the experience — leaving people we’ve come to know and love, moving on to new places of ministry and dreaming new dreams, and doing all of this with a baby we’ve only recently brought home from Korea.

No one can accuse us of doing things the easy way!

It’s our first day back to work (after parental leave). As we get back to the cause of leading our churches in mission, I’m thinking about an image I saw while we were in Korea.

During our tour of Kwanglim Methodist Church, I saw a large wall poster of John Wesley on horseback, which included the phrase (in English and in Korean): “The world is my parish.”

I saw the poster as we walked by it in the hallway. A couple minutes later, I went back to take a picture of it because it had really caught my attention. Here was this incredible church (70,000+ members) — plus all of the other Methodist churches in Korea — that was the fruit of John Wesley’s amazing ministry.

It’s a good reminder that what we do for God can make an impact on the world — in our lifetimes and beyond. It’s also a good reminder as Joleen and I get back to the mission of leading our churches in the work of God’s kingdom.

I just finished reading another book by Bill Hybels, Holy Discontent (see product info at Zondervan.com). Last week I finished When Leadership and Discipleship Collide, which I wrote about here. I wanted to include both books in my dissertation, at the last minute.

As I said before, Hybels is one of my favorite writers/leaders. Not only is Holy Discontent an excellent book, but I strongly consider it worthwhile reading for every Christ-follower (especially every Christ-following leader) who wants to make a difference in the world!

This book, Hybels states, began with the question, “Why do people do what they do?” (13).

Hybels reflected on this question for a couple years, then concludes …

I believe the motivating reason why millions of people choose to do good in the world around them is because there is something wrong in that world. In fact, there is something so wrong that they just can’t stand it (23).

That’s what Hybels refers to as “holy discontent.” Hybels writes, “Once that frustration and anger is understood as being your holy discontent … it’s as if an enormous wave of positive energy gets released inside you” (26).

Hybels shares the stories of some people who were driven by holy discontent, including, Mother Teresa, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Bob Pierce, among others.

All of this leads Hybels to ask: “What can’t you stand?” (34).

I hope this question grabs your heart, as it has mine, and that it won’t let you go until you’re able to answer it, because we must change the world around us!

Hybels argues that there’s “a danger in opting out of your holy discontent pursuit” (51). He writes that in opting out, “you also opt out of tackling the good works God has wired you up to accomplish” (51).

This is a matter of growth and maturity. Hybels asserts …

… over time, Christ-followers should in fact begin to look less like themselves and more like Christ. Therefore, on an ever-increasing basis, Christ-followers should be abandoning their self-seeking viewpoints and taking on an heaven’s perspective. They should be loosening the grip on self-centeredness and instead be looking for ways to serve others (52).

Hybels encourages readers to constantly “be on the lookout for that one cause or purpose or problem that grabs you by the throat and just won’t let go” (53).

In Holy Discontent, Hybels suggests feeding your frustration (i.e. don’t isolate yourself from your holy discontent): “the best thing you can do,” Hybels writes, “is move toward your area of holy discontent until you have clear direction from God as to what action you should take to resolve it” (67-68).

If we don’t feed our holy discontent, Hybels warns …

The fuel will dry up. The firestorm will fizzle out. No matter how amped up we are about something that wrecks us, time and repetition take a toll … Determine now that you will never insulate yourself from what wrecks you. Instead, increase your exposure … and then hang onto your hat, because real living is going to rock your world when you begin to share space with your holy discontent! (74)

Hybels also talks about “magnetic living.”

“If you are full of darkness and despair,” Hybels contends, “then the only type of ‘magnetic living’ you will be doing is the kind that sucks people into your black hole of despondency” (126).

If you still believe that with God all things really are possible, you owe it to yourself and to the people in your sphere of influence to determine each and every day to keep your level of faith-based optimism high. In other words, you simply cannot allow what ‘wrecks’ you to wreck you (132-133).

And that, according to Hybels, is an area of self-leadership. “… only you can keep your hope meter high” (133). Further, “This area of self-leadership, Hybels states, “is absolutely critical because everyone you lead … takes their cue from you” (134-135).

Holy Discontent is making an impact on me. It’s also going to impact the opening section of my dissertation which lays out my “holy discontent.” As I wrap up my defense draft in the next week (mostly technical revisions, at this point), and as I prepare to continue advancing God’s kingdom in my part of the world, I need to wrestle with the question (which will probably someday be the topic of another post) …

What can’t I stand?

Hybels writes …

I assure you there is a holy discontent with your name on it. There is something out there that God is waiting for you to grab on to so that he can use you to help solve it. It wrecks you, it wrecks him, and he is ready for you both to do something about it (54).

In the context of talking about David’s stirring against Goliath, Hybels offered the following prayer, which is a good prayer for us to pray, as well …

What you care about, God, is what I want to care about too. What stirs your spirit, God, stirs my spirit too. And however you want to use me to help solve the problem that we both see … I’m in (70).

I’m in. Are you?

One of my favorite writers/leaders is Bill Hybels, founding/senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church (South Barrington, IL). Hybels has more than 30 years of leadership experience, and I am always inspired and challenged when I read his stuff.

It’s no different after reading When Leadership and Discipleship Collide, a brief book with about 57 pages of text from start to finish (see product info at Zondervan.com).

In this short book, Hybels addresses a great question — “What do you do when the laws of leadership collide with the teachings of Christ?”

Hybels begins with the claim that Jesus “was the greatest leader ever” (12). Even so, Hybels writes that he noticed after reading through the gospel of Mark, that Jesus, on a number of occasions, broke conventional leadership laws, including …

• Build a team of highly qualified leaders
• Keep up the momentum
• Propagate good press
• Avoid unnecessary controversy
• Leverage time and influence
• Don’t bite the hand that feeds you
• Avoid sensational exploits
• Demonstrate unshakable courage

After sharing some of his own experiences of breaking leadership laws at times, Hybels asks the question, “What will be my response when the laws of leadership and discipleship collide?” (43)

Hybels writes that he has come to understand leadership laws as simply “descriptions of hard-learned lessons that, for hundreds of years, leaders have come to view as valuable guides toward mission fulfillment” (45). (For more on leadership laws, check out John Maxwell’s book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, which Hybels also refers to.)

Of course, anyone who is familiar with Hybels knows that he believes in the value of leadership. Hybels contends, “collisions between leadership and discipleship are actually quite uncommon” (47). In fact, “Jesus consistently manifested what we might consider ‘leadership laws’ throughout his ministry” (49).

Hybels writes …

It has been my strong bias for the last thirty-plus years that Christian leaders must take full advantage of the accumulated teachings of every leadership generation that has gone before them. What we work for in ministry leadership is the single most important endeavor on planet Earth–the building of the kingdom of God (48).

So, Hybels is by no means devaluing leadership. But he is saying that there will be times when what God calls you to do will collide with known/trusted leadership laws. Hybels writes …

In those rare cases when the humans laws of leadership and the scriptural demands of discipleship do collide, decide on the side of discipleship every time (50).

Further, Hybels challenges leaders …

to be the Christ-follower who really does seek God’s kingdom first. Be Jesus’ disciple in whatever arena you lead and conform yourself to his image in whatever situation you find yourself. Keep Christ first whenever the laws of leadership and discipleship collide (57).

Toward the end of the book, Hybels discusses the ministry of the Holy Spirit, writing, “the ministry of the Holy Spirit is a very real, very accessible gift to be opened by every Christ-follower” (57). Hybels continues …

Christian leaders cannot afford to wield influence apart from the direction of the Holy Spirit. It takes more than human-crafted leadership laws to be effective; the role of Scripture and of the ministry of the Holy Spirit can never be overestimated (58).

I think what I loved most about the book is this seasoned leader, through his own life experiences, has grown in his dependence on God. It’s all too easy for leaders to gain confidence in their own ability to lead and to subsequently depend on God less. Leaders must never forget, as Hybels writes, “the power of the Holy Spirit is the leader’s best friend” (64).

Hybels leaves readers with a great challenge …

If you know the laws of leadership and follow them when they should be followed, if you love God and readily follow the prompting of his Spirit when you sense he is guiding, then you will make it. And when there’s a collision, if you say, ‘I’m going to decide on the side of discipleship and the clear teachings of Scripture every time. I’m going to put my hand in the Holy Spirit’s hand all day, every day, and allow him to be my guide and my strength,’ then you will make it. In fact, you won’t just ‘make it’–you will thrive. You won’t just thrive–you will prevail! And you will be able to overcome whatever the forces of darkness throw at you, guaranteed (66).

In our dissertation work (at Asbury Theological Seminary), Joleen and I chose Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as the strategy for our field research (at the suggestion of our mentor, Dr. Russell West).

AI, which grew out of Dr. David Cooperrider’s Ph.D. work in the 1980s, is a response to more traditional approaches that tend to focus on problems. Rather than focusing on problems, AI focuses on discovering and building on the life-giving forces within an organization. A core belief of AI is that in every organization, something works.

AI has flourished as an organizational development strategy and has been used in many organizations, including Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR), World Vision, American Red Cross, and United Way of America (check out “The Art of Appreciative Inquiry” to read more on GMCR’s experience with AI).

The Framework
AI is a process and is commonly described with the 4-Ds (discover, dream, design, and deliver) or the 4-Is (initiate, inquire, imagine, and innovate). I prefer the 4-Is, myself.

• Initiate involves laying the groundwork for the AI process, including the selection of the topics that will be addressed. A core belief in AI is that what is focused on will determine the direction of the organization.
• Inquire centers around interviews which seek to draw out positive stories about times when interviewees have seen things working at their best.
• Imagine brings the stories (collected in the interviews) together so that themes can be identified.
• Innovate involves developing practical steps to turn vision into reality.

Implications for Transformational Leaders
We believe AI has tremendous implications and possibilities for leaders who seek transformation in their organizations, because …

• AI is collaborative. AI involves many people (potentially everyone in the organization) in the process, giving everyone a chance to contribute to the direction of the organization.
• AI gathers stories. These stories not only provide insight into the life-giving forces of an organization, they also serve as resources in casting vision to keep the organization moving forward.
• AI focuses on what’s right, not what’s wrong. Whereas focusing on what’s wrong (what’s not working) is de-motivating, focusing on what’s right (what’s working) is motivating and energizing. (This is not to say that problems are ignored; rather, they must be reframed.
• AI generates positive action. The point of AI is not simply to learn what the life-giving forces of an organization are. Rather, the point is to maximize those life-giving forces and create positive action.

We plan to incorporate AI into our own work of transformational leadership in the churches we lead.

To learn more about AI …
Here are some books and Web sites we’ve found helpful …

• Appreciative Inquiry Commons
• The Taos Institute
• OvationNet
• Clergy Leadership Institute
• What is Appreciative Inquiry? (Andy Smith’s overview of AI)
• Appreciative Inquiry: Change at the Speed of Imagination (Watkins and Mohr)
• The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: A Practical Guide to Positive Change (Whitney and Trosten-Bloom)
• Memories, Hopes, and Conversations: Appreciative Inquiry and Congregational Change (Branson)
• Appreciative Inquiry: Research for Change (Reed)

I’m sure we’ll write more about AI in the future as we further integrate it into our leadership. We may also share the experiences/results of AI processes from our dissertation work. In the meantime, feel free to discuss AI in the comments section and/or to suggest other must-see AI resources.

Christ-followers are servants!

We want to raise Ethan in a culture where serving God and others is part of the DNA. A culture where serving God/others is part of the DNA is a culture which says …

It’s not about me!

Rick Warren begins his book, The Purpose-Driven Life, with the words, “It’s not about you.”

“We want to raise Ethan in a culture where serving God and others is part of the DNA.”

We all come into the world, it seems, thinking everything revolves around us. And it first, maybe it does. In fact, for the first 8+ weeks of our time with Ethan, we will both be on parental leave. During this time, we will very much be focused on Ethan! And we can hardly wait!

But as Ethan grows, we want his world to expand beyond himself. It’s an unhealthy attitude for any of us to have that believes, “it’s all about me.”

To help instill a servant culture in our home, we will need to find ways, as a family, to serve — God, each other, others in our church family, and others in the world.

A servant’s heart is a surrendered heart. Jesus demonstrated total surrender like no one else. Perhaps it was because Jesus was reared in a home with a servant culture. He had a mother and father who showed him what surrendered lives look like. As a young (betrothed) wife, Mary was approached by an angel with a mind-boggling opportunity to raise God’s Son. (See Luke 1.26-38.)

Mary, more than a little confused, tried to figure out what it meant. In end, she demonstrated total surrender, saying …

I am the Lord’s servant! Let it happen as you have said.

Now, that’s the kind of attitude we want to help Ethan develop! Of course, that means *we* will need to model that kind of surrender. IOW, shaping a servant culture, a culture where serving God/others is part of the DNA, comes with a pretty big price tag!

This is the fifth part in a series of reflections on the kind of culture we want to create in our home, especially for Ethan. Previously, we’ve written about shaping a Leadership Culture, a God-centered culture, a learning culture, and a high AQ culture. I have a couple other ideas on my list. I’ll try to write about those in the next few days as we prepare to bring Ethan home.