Once a month I try to take a reading day at the library, either at my local neighborhood library or the seminary library across campus. Most of my reading on that day consists of pulling journals and periodicals off the shelf to catch up on the most current writing and thinking on areas of interest.

Here are periodicals I’ve found worth consulting to keep up in the area of ministry:

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Previously we shared some thoughts from Lynn Turner, Associate Pastor of Youth, Career, and Discipleship at the First Baptist Church of Richmond, VA. We asked Lynn to share her thoughts about ministry to seminarians in my course on “Thriving and Succeeding as a Congregational Ministry Associate.” Here are her thoughts about “Five Hazards for Second Chair Leaders”:

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A recent guest lecturer in one of my courses was Lynn Turner, Associate Pastor of Youth, Career, and Discipleship at the First Baptist Church of Richmond, VA. Lynn was asked to share her thoughts about ministry with our seminarians. Here are her thoughts about “Growing Into Ministry: Nine Tips I Have Learned”:

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I’m teaching a new course titled “How to Thrive and Succeed as a Congregational Ministry Associate.” The course features a narrative component that consists of visits from “practitioners.” These are ministry associates, “second chair” leaders, currently in congregations. The visitors were at several stages in the trajectory of professional ministry. Some were just starting their first or second years in ministry and some were seasoned veterans with many years of experience. Each was asked to share about their calling and to tell the story of their professional ministry experience.

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Once a month I try to take a reading day at the library, either at my local neighborhood library or the seminary library across campus. Most of my reading on that day consists of pulling journals and periodicals off the shelf to catch up on the most current writing and thinking on areas of interest.

Here are periodicals I’ve found worth consulting to keep up in the field of education:

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Well into this side of the millennial threshold, wading through the deepening waters of change, the issue of reexamining the nature and future of the church is foremost on the minds of theologians, church educators, ministers, and denominational leaders. What will the church look like at the midpoint of the next century? Will the structure of the church require change to survive? Will the mission and functions of the church change? Will the institutional church survive its own success or succumb to a structure too rigid to adapt to the winds of change?

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I finally got around to doing a presentation on “Leadership Lessons from the Dog Whisperer.” It was a fun presentation and seemed well-received. As often happens in plenary presentations participants will focus on the immediate concepts as a frame of reference for discussions. So it was amusing to hear how many dog references were made during the course of the conference.

I started the presentation by framing my playful approach in using the dog whisperer as a corollary to thinking about leadership in congregations from a systems perspective.

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It has been ten years since my first book was published. It’s still in print and selling well. That’s a rare thing in today’s book publishing business. It’s not unusual to find that a very good book I use for a course text will be out of print the next time I want to use it. So I’m pleased that first book (I have since written fourteen others since, and the new one will be out in the fall) is still around. For its tenth year the publisher has given the book a facelift with a new cover. It’s different, but nice and colorful, though I’m rather fond of the original.

I’m never averse to a little shameless self-promotion, so here’s a review of the book by a former student.

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