The Fine Art of Coaching Small Groups

Coaching appears to be the “next” big thing when it comes to church leadership. It seems almost everyone either (1) wants to be a coach, or (2) wants to be coached. The fact is, everyone needs a coach, but a great teacher doesn’t necessarily makes a good coach. Indeed, being a great practitioner of […]

The Future is Here

Recently, on Bloomberg TV, The Titans featured Bill Gates and Mike Bloomberg. Bloomberg said something that all churches should ponder for a week. He said, “Technology will advance more in the next couple of years than it has since the discovery of the light bulb.”  Now give that some thought.  What does it mean to […]

The Fine Art of Coaching Small Group Leaders

Coaching appears to be the “next” big thing when it comes to church leadership. It seems almost everyone either (1) wants to be a coach, or (2) wants to be coached. The fact is, everyone needs a coach, but a great teacher doesn’t necessarily makes a good coach. Indeed, being a great practitioner of […]

Thoughts on Innovation

The following is a personal story that sheds light on innovation.

Way back in 1982 (I know, ancient history) a member of my church staff decided to bring a dozen Apple 2e’s into the Sunday School and start writing curriculum for Bible studies. I was impressed by how quickly the kids took to the new […]

The Biggest Lesson I Ever Learned

One of the best things about getting older is the lessons learned along the way.  Let me share the biggest lesson I learned.  It’s so simple but it’s what makes life exciting and productive.  Here it is: “The more you risk, the greater the possible return.”

I’m convinced that the main reason so many churches are […]

Church Planters’ Heaven

One of the most valued pieces of church planting is often lost in the hustle and bustle of setting up and taking down, but when its discovered it’s like heaven on earth. I’m talking about visibility.  Nothing takes the place of visibility for a church planter’s success. A planter lives and dies on visibility.

Visibility […]

Radical Disciple Making: Creating Processes

“What I really need is more nuts and bolts on how to do disciple making. Obviously, what we’re doing isn’t working.” The pastor was exasperated because he had a church full of members instead of a church full of disciples. 

At the Radical Disciple Making Conference, we speak about the need to create “processes” in […]

Top Six Tacticle Mistakes a Church Makes

Almost twenty years of consulting with more than 30 denominations has allowed me to see some common tactical mistakes made by church leaders. Although I have seen many mistakes, six stand out as the most common tactical mistakes made by church leaders (I have ranked them according to the damage they can do to […]

Barriers to Effective Leadership Teams Part 1

For the week of March 07, 2005

Barriers to Effective Leadership Teams: Part 1: The Absence of Shared DNA

By: John Laster

There are three common, interrelated barriers to more effective leadership teams: the absence of a shared DNA, the presence of fear, and a lack of trust within the team itself.

The concept of “shared DNA” contains […]