Category Archives: leadership

Thoughts on leadership

Feeling like a skunk lately?

I just learned that my friend Susannah Smith will soon have her website blog up and running. I’m looking forward to her blog. Currently she sends out a monthly reflection via email titled “Inspirited Leadership: A monthly reflection for religious/spiritual … Continue reading

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A basic BFST reading list

Every once in a while I get a request for a basic reading list for studying Bowen Family Systems Theory (BFST). The good news is that I find I need to update that basic list as more good resources become … Continue reading

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What your mother said

Most of us carry a little tape in our heads of things our mothers said repeatedly. And sometimes we repeat those things, often unintentionally mimicking mom’s voice. One of those things your mother probably said, especially if you had siblings, … Continue reading

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Possibility and potentiality

I had an interesting conversation with a local church minister who expressed frustration about his congregation’s failure to live fully into its possibility. That’s not an uncommon frustration for pastors and local church leaders. But I’ve found it helpful to … Continue reading

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Will or willfulness?

A reader on Margaret Marcuson’s blog, The Leadership Circle blog, asked a good question that comes up every now and again. He asked about the difference between having a will and willfulness. It’s a point of misunderstanding I hear now … Continue reading

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Kudos to Meg Hess in CC

I was gratified to read a fine article by Margaret “Meg” Hess in the current issue of the Christian Century magazine. Meg is a participant in the Leadership in Ministry Workshops (LIM) and has written a couple of articles for … Continue reading

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What’s in a name?

A colleague is making a change in his church staff position. He’s struggling with coming up with a new ministry job title. He says, “While I realize the main thing is how one functions, job titles are suggestive and important.” … Continue reading

Posted in administration, Christian Education, congregational life, leadership | 2 Comments

Enlisting Leaders by Functions and/or Qualities?

I discovered the book, Becoming A Community of Salt and Light, by Peggy Prevoznik Heins (Ava Maria Press, Notre Dame, Indiana) while I was researching our (Galindo and Canaday) soon-to-be-published book, Organizing for Christian Education Formation: A Faith Community Approach. … Continue reading

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Should I take the money?

Over the past several months I’ve talked with various church staff about some money issues. One interesting aspect of these conversations is how they parallel. All of them involved a variation on: (1) a church member wanting to give money … Continue reading

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Anam Cara

There has been a resurgence in clergy peer learning groups of late. A significant contribution to this has been the funding from the Lilly Foundation that has challenged and enabled denominations to bring about external impetus to the creation of … Continue reading

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