For decades, the institutional church operated on a transactional currency. Outreach meant running a quarterly food drive or handing out backpacks – acts done for people, often with subtle, unspoken expectations. Education meant sitting in a class, listening to...
The Lens of the Leader: Why Your Hermeneutics Matter for Church Culture When you hear the word hermeneutics, your mind might instantly drift to dry seminary lectures, heavy textbooks, and the meticulous parsing of Greek verbs. However, Hermeneutics isn’t just an...
The Power of Contemplative Action Most leaders feel a heavy weight on their shoulders: the pressure to make things happen. Whether it’s growing a congregation, fixing a budget, or launching a new ministry, the burden of “doing” can quickly lead to burnout....
The Soul of the Cultural Architect: Why Your Interior Life is Your Primary Building Material We often think of church leadership in terms of strategy. We talk about vision casting, budget management, and programming. But as the saying goes, “Culture eats...
As a pastor or ministry leader, you surely have experienced times where the constant demands and difficult decisions begin to weigh you down. Or when you have the God-filled opportunity to walk alongside suffering people, yet begin to feel crushed by the pain being...
Let me tell you about a tree. Years ago, our staff was on a spiritual retreat in the Colorado mountains. Our guide, Matt Sertall, a Presbyterian author and pastor, invited us to walk into the forest with a strange challenge: “Go find a place that feels right. Say...
