Mark Mellen was 26 years old and a homeless drug addict when God called him out of misery into a life of purpose. After finishing college with a degree in finance, he went to Bethel Seminary and graduated with a master’s of arts in theological studies.
The best learnings, however, came from ministry experiences and mentorship from church leaders who, Mellen says, “took a shot on me.”
Read More >In HR and management circles, there is a raging debate over whether or not to do annual reviews.
staffmanagementAll of Christ Community Church’s 120-plus employees are currently at the end of our fiscal year annual review season. Between now and June 30, each employee will receive a year-end review that takes place once a year at this time. It is a very systematic and organized process.
So, you can guess from our process that I am a believer in annual reviews. Well, I am — but you might be surprised at my answer to the annual review debate. Should an organization, business or church conduct annual reviews?
My answer is a resounding “maybe”. Let me explain.
Read More >When I started my career in church facility development in 19XX (you venture a guess), the foyer/lobby/narthex (for my liturgical friends) was generally sized to be 1- to 2-square-feet per seat in the main worship space. In those days, this space was intended to be used as a place to funnel people from the worship space to the outside or down a series of narrow corridors that led to the education, administration or fellowship areas. There was often a small table for giving / tithing envelopes or general information, along with one or two uncomfortable high-back chairs … usually not ones you would enjoy sitting in for any length of time, nor were they arranged in a manner to encourage conversation or community.
For all practicality, the foyer was nothing more than a well-appointed cattle chute. (MOO)
Not any more.
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Churches are more like organisms than they are organizations. Like an organism, when church health declines, it typically does so slowly. But there are cases when an otherwise healthy person experiences a sudden deterioration. Healthy churches can also experience a sharp decline in health. There are cases of healthy churches quickly becoming dysfunctional. Below are five ways I’ve seen churches spiral downward quickly, almost overnight.
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Every leader has different skills that make that leader unique. However, at the core of every leader — a coach, a parent, a boss and a project manager — are at least 10 necessary foundational skills needed to thrive.
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For most of my professional career, I have been anti-performance and payment bond-oriented. To me, they seem like such a waste of money. In short, they’re just an insurance policy (although the Surety industry would say they are not “insurance” but rather a “guarantee” — semantics!) in the unlikely event the general contractor on a job is unable to complete the project (usually due to a bankruptcy or other major catastrophe related to the contractor). In theory, that sounds great. It almost feels like the proverbial “Get Out Of Jail” card. But is it really?
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As a big fan of Major League Baseball and Christianity, I like to keep my ears open to hearing of Christian ballplayers. It’s not that their statistics are going to be any different or that they run faster or slower. I watch them to see how they live.
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In this series installment, Paul Gage spotlights the public phase of the process: the Campaign itself. It’s a critical time — and it requires plenty of prep work to get right.
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My earliest memories of Sunday school involve walking (in very uncomfortable shoes) into an old, dimly lit gymnasium and turning down a white-painted corridor. There, I entered a white-painted classroom. There were no windows and a hodgepodge of furniture.
The most memorable thing about my Sunday school room was a small, white plastic bank shaped like a church that sat on a table by the door. Here, everyone dropped in their nickel offerings as they entered class each week.
Today, that same church has an entire building devoted to children’s ministry.
The difference between commentary and leadership
Posted by admin
Church leadership, church management, church pastors, church sermon, church speaking, commentaryBoth commentary and leadership are needed. Sometimes they overlap — a commentator may also be a leader. But here is how they are different.
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