Fundamentals of Church Leadership: Three Articles

What an Effective Leader Looks Like

“When leaders do their job, God’s people begin to excel. His glory spills out everywhere.”

Question: From your experiences, good and bad, what does it take to become a genuinely effective leader in the local church?

First, I’m glad that you included both my “good” and “bad” experiences in your question. After all, there is no effective leadership without “bad” experiences. Though a simple truth, I admit that in my early leadership days I was surprised by, tried to avoid and even thought there was something wrong when I found myself in a “bad” experience. I have since learned that these experiences are an inescapable part of effective leadership. It doesn’t mean that I like them, but it does mean that I make better use of them. Some of my most significant personal lessons, transformative moments and positive seasons of ministry have resulted from the “bad” experiences. Keep reading

7 Statements Every Leader Needs To Use Often

Recently, I shared 7 questions every leader should use often. It also made me think there was a similar set of phrases leaders should consider using frequently. These are not questions, but statements.

One of the goals of a leader should be to encourage, strengthen and challenge a team to continually improve. Almost as a cheerleader rousing the crowd at a game, the leader uses his or her influence to bring out the best in others.

How do leaders do that? Keep reading

Six Questions on Men and Women Serving Together

I gather on a monthly basis with all the managers in the division that I lead for a time of training. A few months ago I asked Faith Whatley, our director of adult ministry, to train and offer insights on men and women serving alongside one another. Faith has been serving at LifeWay for 20+ years and is well respected as a godly woman and an extremely effective leader.

I heard Faith give a similar talk when both she and I were speaking at a group/discipleship gathering. After she shared, there were lots of questions from those in attendance, so much so that an impromptu panel discussion emerged. So I thought it would be helpful to interview Faith. Here are six questions with Faith Whatley.... Keep reading