pastoral leadership

Over at Ref21 , I have posted part four in my series on battered pastors. In this latest post I offer the first three of seven exhortations for battered pastors. All people experience hurt at the hands of others. But we are all also, without exception, the source of hurt. We are all simultaneously...

All people experience hurt at the hands of others. But we are all also, without exception, the source of hurt. We are all simultaneously receivers and inflictors of pain. This is true of pastors. What pastor believes that he can somehow be insulated from the sorts of pain we inflict upon each other...

Over at Ref21 I have posted part three of a series entitled "Battered Pastors." In this particular post I examine what happens when followers become toxic. Much ink has been spilt examining what happens when pastors fail to lead, lead poorly, or behave wickedly as leaders. So much has been made of...

In which I ask some questions of elders... Every organization has leaders and followers. While this structure is sometimes informal, normally it is a deliberate arrangement. Because of this, not everyone is or can be a leader. Organizations are as dependent upon good followers as they are upon good...

Thesaying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desiresa noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of onewife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a...

A little more than a year ago I read Handbook for Battered Leaders . It was written by husband and wife Wesley Balda and Janis Bragan Balda. Wesley is president of the Simeon Institute. In the past he has led the Ph.D. program at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management and was founding...

Though the month escapes me, every year Barnes and Noble features famous banned books in their stores. The collection includes such titles as The Catcher in the Rye , Candide , Lolita , and even the Bible. Many of the books are now ubiquitous in libraries and bookstores. But there was a time when...

I spent my early years in ministry immersed in the language of vision and mission. Somewhere along the way, it was decided that if a church was going to be successful then it must have both a mission and vision statement. If you were really good you had purpose, vision, and mission statements. It...