As our culture shifts from modern to postmodern, pastors and church leaders are finding that old, rigid church leadership systems and structures no longer seem to work. Church leaders are searching for and discovering new, creative ways of leading--emphasizing intuition, creativity, narrative, and an embrace of the chaos and tension of our time.Tim Keel, pastor of a thriving emergent church and a rising leader in the emergent church movement, offers a thought-provoking yet practical...

A radically fresh interpretation of how we can best serve others from the bestselling author of The Return of the Prodigal Son, hailed as “one of the world’s greatest spiritual writers” by Christianity Today“In our own woundedness, we can become a source of life for others.”In this hope-filled and profoundly simple book, Henri Nouwen inspires devoted men and women who want to be of service in their church or community but who have...

The Christian world has been rocked by the number of prominent leaders, in both church and parachurch organizations, who have been compromised by moral, ethical, and theological failures. This pace-setting volume addresses this alarming problem and offers Christian leaders valuable guidance in dealing with the inherent risks of their work.Using biblical and current examples, the authors describe the characteristics of five types of leaders and the problems that are most likely to de...

A thoroughly revised and updated edition of one of the most trusted and authoritative strategic resources for church leadersIn this second edition of his groundbreaking book, Kennon Callahan identifies the twelve essential qualities of successful, growing churches and offers all congregations a way to unlock their potential for effective ministry. The Twelve Keys program balances practical planning with theological understanding to help churches function more effectively as they se...

You are your most important and most difficult leadership assignment. Leading Me will help you get traction on living a Christ-centered, holistic, sustainable and fruitful life of impact. Grounded in biblical truth, utilizing the latest research and drawing on the proven process of the Arrow Leadership Program, Leading Me provides practical next steps for your most important leadership assignment...you. "Imagine a treasure box for leaders with everything you could possibly need in it …” Fr...

Christ commanded the church to make disciples, to produce people who love and obey God, bear fruit, and live with joy. The crisis at the heart of the church is that we often pay lip service to making disciples, but we seldom put much effort behind doing it. For the pastor who is ready to put words into action, The Disciple-Making Pastor offers the inspiration and practical know-how to do so. Bill Hull shows pastors the obstacles they will face, what disciples really look like, the pastor's...

Creswell draws from her extensive corporate and ministry coaching experience to provide ministers and other church leaders a clear definition of what coaching is and the seven basic benefits an individual, church, or group can receive through a qualified coach. Solidly based in experience, each chapter is built upon an actual scenario growing out of Creswell's own coaching experience. Along with the illustration, she provides scriptural teaching, gives explicit information on the purpose a...

Seminaries generally are not very effective in equipping pastors to be ministers of reconciliation, says pastor and experienced mediator Alfred Poirier. The result is pastors trained in biblical exposition, well-ordered worship, and good theology, but with little practical know-how about one of the most important functions they will be expected to perform: conflict resolution.The Peacemaking Pastor provides a survey of the nature and kinds of conflict typical in the pastorate to br...

Over the past ten years, the North American mission field has experienced dramatic changes, which in turn have required congregations, middle judicatories, and denominations to adapt. Among these adaptations is an expectation for clear goals and quantified progress towards those goals. Church leaders who have never needed to measure their goals and progress with metrics may find this change daunting. The use of metrics-denominational and middle judicatory dashboards, and the tracking of co...

Many have heard of the emerging church, but few people feel like they have a handle on what the emerging church believes and represents. Is it a passing fad led by disenfranchised neo-evangelicals? Or is it the future of the church at large?Now available in trade paper, An Emergent Manifesto of Hope represents a coming together of divergent voices into a conversation that pastors, students, and thoughtful Christians can now learn from and engage in. This unprecedented colle...

Although 44 percent of all adults are unmarried, most churches are focused on marriage and families--and so miss many opportunities to reach out as well as to benefit from all that singles can offer to the church.Here at last is an up-to-date, comprehensive handbook to single adult ministry. Based on his over twenty-five years of experience, Dennis Franck offers church leaders guidance on all aspects of this often-overlooked ministry, including:-understanding singles' diver...

Most leadership in today’s churches comes from “solo practitioners”--individuals who bear the burden of providing all the direction the ministry they direct requires. Inevitably, this results not only in burned-out leaders, but underutilized lay people who merely attend and observe rather than becoming actively engaged in ministry, growing in discipleship, and freeing professional staff to focus on pastoral priorities.In The Power of Team Leadership, noted researcher George...