Too busy to create a vision?

In a recent Time Magazine interview, Barack Obama was asked what advice he had received from previous US Presidents as he faced being President himself; the common bit of advice from them was: make sure you set aside time to think.  This points to not only one of the most significant roles facing a leader, but also the most neglected:  providing a vision, a framework for the future.  And this can only be achieved by a leader setting aside time from the operational work to think, to read, to write. Continue reading »

My Hope for the Church

One of the great things about holidays is that I get plenty of space to think.  And what has been on my mind today is the state of the church.  I am really bothered by the slowly eroding influence of the church in the West.  Our message is still as fresh and as deeply relevant today as it was thousands of years ago.  And without a doubt we continue to have something important to offer society.  So it is with this conviction that I share my hopes for the church.  Continue reading »

I Am Hanging Out With Me and God

I am reading Peter Maiden’s excellent book Discipleship, and he shares that in the midst of his busy life as International Director of OM, having a daily time of solitude is essential. He notes that his time alone gives him the space to, ‘reflect on the day so far, reminding myself who I am living for and who has called me to the work that I am doing.‘

And yesterday I came across a very interesting article written by Paul Wieand, Jan Birchfield and M. Carl Johnson III, in which they state,

The critical component of effective leadership today is the ability to see reality as clearly and as objectively as possible. This is a far more complex process than most leaders realize. Only those who have a stable and authentic sense of self, who know their blind spots, fears, and shortcomings, can view the unfolding of the world around them with equanimity and objectivity, and thus enable themselves to see the opportunities - and challenges - that arise.

So here are four quick reasons why a time of solitude and reflection are important: Continue reading »

Sharing that ‘ahhhha!’ moment

I have to say that I am most happy with a blog post when I am able to be challenging, informative, provide a fresh perspective and achieve this with as few words as possible! And yet as I share this I am aware that the most popular post by far this year is actually one of my indepth papers, Christian Mission to a Virtual World,  which you can check out by clicking here: Christian Mission to a Virtual World (1569)  The most popular non article blog post is actually Web Resources for Bible Engagement which you can check out by clicking here.  My inspiration for blog posts comes from reading widely.. leadership and organisational stuff, theology and church stuff, technology, in particular the digital revolution, and so on. And while reading I often have these ‘ahhhha!’ moments where a quote or idea leaps out at me and demands to become a blog post.  And just today one such quote triggered the blog siren. Continue reading »

10 Tips For Starting a New Ministry

One of the things I have discovered I like doing is ministry start-ups.  In the past couple of years I have started a couple of significant ministries including paid government school Chaplaincy in New Zealand, administered by the LifeWalk trust.  This sees committed and compassionate Christians serving a school community a minimum of three days a week.  They have an office in the school and are treated as part of the staff team as they offer prayer support and pastoral care to students and staff.  Another ministry I started was the Anglican Cathedral in Second Life church plant which founded nearly two years ago, now offers 5 services, a Bible Study and a very lively discussion group each week as well as numerous informal pastoral conversations.  It has very quickly become a legitimate experience of church.

So from the hard slog of experience here are my 10 tips for starting a new ministry… Continue reading »

The old and the new: shifting the church’s culture to stay in touch

My last few posts have focused on change which is a favorite topic of mine and I think about it a lot. I also think about how society is shifting and how best we in the church can position ourselves to remain relevant and effective. Actually you cannot do one without the other!  To remain relevant requires change and it is our natural aversion to change that quite often holds us back.  A good example of this is our church culture.  Culture is the personality of the organisation, it is, ‘the way we do things around here.’ It how the staff interact and how they view their roles, what is considered right and wrong, how to dress, how decisions are made and so on…  And in my experience many church cultures are way out of date, which risks alienating staff and volunteers and quite possibly losing touch with the community they are trying to influence or impact.  In my thinking there needs to be a shift from the old style of church and para-church culture to a new culture which looks like: Continue reading »

A bit of crisis now and then is a good thing

There is no true change without crisis. Developmental psychologist, Erik Erikson states that we move through stages of development and that maturity comes from moving through the various stages. To mature to the next stage we need to experience a crisis, something that challenges our usual approach to life. With this understanding crisis = opportunity. Opportunity to improve, to mature. But it doesn’t comes easily. We might need to let go of something cherished, a security, a comfort, so as to move on.

The same applies to the church and to ministries: to change requires a crisis of sorts.

For very understandable reasons those in ministry establish methods and approaches and stick to them. Any change is minimal and carefully managed. It is rare to see major shifts. Most churches continue to use the same approach on a sunday that has been used for decades. Each denomination has their version and each church their local interpretation, but most churches all basically follow what they are used to.  The question is, Is it still relevant? Continue reading »

Ministry in the not too distant future

Recently I discovered that visitors to my blog came from 103 countries, including such countries as Panama, Saudi Arabia, Rwanda, Faroe Islands, Iran, Russia and China. (Yes I had no idea either, the Faroe Islands are located northwest of Scotland and halfway between Iceland and Norway.)

Seeing this visitor diversity reminded me of the huge shift presently happening in society: moving from relating geographically to relating through networks or interests. This is being driven by the massive growth of the internet. In the not too distant future where you live will mean very little to whom you relate to and the context of your work.

Your workplace may well be wherever you want it to be, your ministry field perhaps on the other side of the world. The most obvious positive is that we potentially can reach huge numbers of people for a fraction of the cost (no travel expenses, venue set up costs etc..) And the negative is that we won’t have as much face to face contact. And for most of us this is the biggest struggle : the idea that we relate without meeting face to face. To quote Hugh Mackay, no longer do we need to be physically present to be in community.

The massive challenge facing us in the church and church organisations is that we are all deeply invested in the geographic model. Parishes are located in suburbs, with autonomous Christian organisations, one to each country. So as this shift away from geography builds momentum we are in for quite a shock.

It is essential that leaders start to wrestle with this otherwise we may well be left wondering where all the people went.. wait isn’t that happening already?

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(In my next post I will share practically how this new virtual ministry interaction might happen.)

A massive challenge

One of the biggest challenges facing ministry leaders is Continue reading »

Mistaking Achievement as Being Free of Mistakes

Recently I heard an interview with Bill Hybels the trainer of leaders and Senior Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. The bit that really stood out for me was when he started talking about churches being on autopilot, not prepared to try different things. Hybels was at his most passionate when he exclaimed how doing things differently will lead to making mistakes, which in his view is an essential part of finding success.

This reminds my of the creation process around one of the great office resources : the Post-It Note created by 3M. In 1970, Spencer Silver, a researcher for 3M, had been trying to formulate a strong adhesive, but ended up only managing to create a very weak glue that could be removed easily. He promoted his invention within 3M, but nobody was interested. Four years later, Arthur Fry, a 3M colleague and member of his church choir, was irritated by the fact that the slips of paper he placed in his hymn book to mark the pages would usually fall out when the book was opened. Whilst he was participating in a church service, he recalled the work of Spencer Silver, leading to an epiphany which led to him later appling some of Silver’s weak yet non-damaging adhesive to his bookmarks. He found that the little sticky markers worked perfectly, and sold the idea to 3M. Trial marketing began in 1977, and today it is a standard part of most offices. (Check the latest Post-It Digital notes.)

Obviously we don’t start our day thinking, ‘wow I hope I really stuff up today!’ But we do need to give ourselves the latitude to make mistakes, we need to encourage the attitude that sees mistakes as an essential part of the process. And this involves allowing time to explore, to try different approaches. So we don’t aim to make mistakes, but rather we aim to find solutions; and when we mess up, we see that as an important part of the refinement process.

As a leader, I much prefer those I am working with to try and fail and then try again, than not have a go at all.