Leadership
The High Cost of Faith (Hillsong)
(Note from Rowland: I have no problem with Hillsong as a highly effective modern Pentecostal expression of the Christian faith. Recently I watched a re-run of Hillsong’s annual conference and enjoyed listening to Rick Warren. The conference hosts people like Rick and Bill Hybells and others who would not fully share the Hillsong ethos. But […]
Ministry and Management
MEASURING AND MANAGING CLERGY EFFECTIVENESS One of the most frequent questions I get is, “You say that we must do a better job of evaluating clergy effectiveness. How is it possible to define ‘effectiveness’” I believe that those of us who are charged with the ministry of administration must get better at evaluating and rewarding […]
It
Two weeks ago, I mentioned a book that the Cabinet and I read together last year, Marcus Burkingham and Curt Coffman, First, Break All the Rules, (Simon and Schuster, 1999, the Gallup Organization). The Cabinet is charged with the deployment and development of our pastoral leaders. First, Break All the Rules makes the rather surprising […]
Veggie Tales: What happened?
http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2007/002/9.15.html No More Big Ideas Six years ago, Phil Vischer revolutionized Christian family entertainment by selling 30 million Veggie Tales videos. He was running the largest animation studio between the coasts, and had dreams that his empire, known as Big Idea Productions, would become the next Disney. But by 2003 his dream was over. After […]
Reactivity in Ministry
original source: http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2007/002/11.121.html Our Allergic Reactions Some react to churches doing things cheap and sloppy, others to doing things “with excellence.” Either way, a bad reaction can be deadly. by Brian McLaren A friend said it well: “You’re only as sick as your reactivity.” The more things you’re reacting against, like allergens, and the stronger […]
The Main Thing
“The Main Thing is to keep your eye on The Main Thing.” That’s what I heard a distinguished business leader say awhile back. It is so easy, when you are in a leadership position, to be overcome, swamped with trivialities and distractions and to lose sight of “the main thing.” How do we keep at […]
Chasing Down a Rumour: The Death of Mainline Denominations
Robert Bacher and Kenneth Inskeep Augsburg Books 2005 Here’s one for those of you fed up with trendy, post-denominationalist doom merchants. This book purports to show that, while mainline Protestantism has fallen on hard times, the glass is half full rather than half empty. The American denominations labelled mainline, the authors say, were once “up […]
Mainline Churches
Sightings 6/4/07 Mainline Mission — Martin E. Marty When asked, as I often am, “Whatever happened to the mainline Protestant churches?” I respond by saying that “mainline decline” is a tired ol’ story — but “mainliners’ mission” is urgent. How are they recovering? They went local to turn global. Philosopher Stephen Toulmin has written on […]
Discernment Process in a church
(From Marva Dawn’s ‘Joy in Divine Wisdom’ pp. 129-130: She applied to become a member of a Mennonite church, but had not been baptized by immersion as an adult): ‘On the morning of the discernment process, I was asked to make a brief presentation of the importance to me of my infant baptism and of […]
Megachurches: Some Personal Reflections
Please attack, critique, tear apart where necessary. I have been deliberately provocative at some places – who, me? – and would like feedback. ~~~ By Rowland Croucher I was told that at some point in the 1970s we at Blackburn Baptist Church (Melbourne) were one of three ‘Megachurch Congregations’ in Australia. The other two were […]
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