Leadership Reflections

One of the research findings from my dissertation on church-agency relations is that many Christian agency leaders do not have formal theological training.  The pastors said this is a problem.  Since agencies are Christian ministries, I recommend that at least the senior leader of a Christian agency get some formal theological training, not just to please pastors [...]

Before I left on my sabbatical trip, someone said to be curious and to enjoy the moments. On Thursday I drove up the coast north of Sydney intending to visit Waratahpark Earth Sanctuary, where I could see samples of Australian wildlife in their natural habitats. I plugged the name into my GPS, found it in [...]

Your faith is seen by what you do (James 2:18), so what are you preaching through your ministry’s deeds?  In How Christian is my ministry?, I dealt with the same issue in terms of the employment relationship, but now I want to approach it from a different angle:  What do your programs and practices say about your theology?  How can you ensure [...]

I’ve just delivered a seminar called Ministry Employment Practices across Canada, and many people shared stories from their workplaces.  The ones that stood out involved a few pastors who were fired with no notice and no pay in lieu of notice.  I don’t want to identify the people, so I’ll just say that the worst case by far had these words associated [...]

Last week’s post was about my favourite non-Christian leadership book.  This week I’ll feature my favourite Christian leadership book, Shepherds After My Own Heart: Pastoral Traditions And Leadership In The Bible by Dr. Tim Laniak.  The book helped me understand what God desires of those who lead his people.  It is a thoughtful, biblical and theological [...]