Pulling the Trigger – Part Three
Leaders Must Manage Their Teams For our purpose we will define a team as “a small group of people with complementary skills who have affinity for one another and who are invited, not elected, by an individual to do the following: achieve a common goal and place that goal before their individual interests, integrate their […]
Curing Congregational Low Self-Esteem
Many churches I work with suffer from low self-esteem and a sense of hopelessness. There are many reasons for this malaise, a common one being that the congregation has come to believe their circumstances are insurmountable (they’re not, but that’s a post for another time). I’m working on a recommendation report from a consultation with a church […]
Pulling the Trigger – Part Two
Yesterday we looked at why it is so hard for pastors to pull the trigger and institute something new. Today we are going to look at what pastors need to do in order to pull the trigger. Leaders Must Manage Themselves Pastors or executive pastors have to be flexible on non-essentials and stubborn on the […]
Pulling the Trigger
Two Axioms for Pulling the Trigger Why is it so hard for pastors to pull the trigger and institute something new? Why do so many resist doing what they know needs done? Let me take a stab at responding to these questions. I think there are two prime reasons. 1. Distractions dilute desire. Don’t kid […]
An Example of Communion Instructions
[fvplayer src=’https://s3.amazonaws.com/MiscVideo/CommunionInstructionsLow.mp4′ splash=”http://21stcenturystrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CommunionPlayButton.png”] Click Image to Play Video This is one of the best guest-friendly introductions to communion I’ve seen. Notice that Pastor Ted tells the congregation virtually every detail of how to receive communion. It’s also a good example of a lightened version of the Lutheran Liturgy for the Eucharist. Exceptional Practices of Note: Virtually […]
To Tech or Not to Tech? That’s Not Even a Question Anymore
The latest blog post by Bill Easum sparked a number of lively conversations on both our LinkedIn and Facebook accounts. I started to reply there, but as my response grew, it seemed more appropriate to bring it here to the public forum. The responses mostly included assertions that the church has become too focused or […]