Barnabas File

In keeping with my recent blogs about teams, you might want to check out this presentation onf "Developing Effective Staff Teams" on Slideshare: Developing An Effective Staff Team View more presentations from Pinnacle Leadership Associates .

We have all been part of groups, but how many us of have been part of a team? How can we tell the difference? Groups are made up of individuals. Although they may be working on a common task, they still tend to think of themselves as individuals. Each person brings his or her gifts and skills to the enterprise, but they are careful in how they share them, providing only what is absolutely necessary to “do their part.” One reason is that rewards in a group are usually given to certain individuals—the designated leader or the high performers. Interpersonal relationships are guarded and cautious. A team on the other hand not only has a common purpose, but the persons involved often have a role in shaping that purpose and how it will be achieved. The gifts and skills of each person are not only utilized, they are recognized and encouraged. Teams tend to be more than the sum of their parts because something happens when team members are invested in the outcome of the team’s e...

In team-building workshops, I often ask participants to identify the most memorable team of which they have been a member. This can be an athletic team, a church committee, a work task force, a service group—whatever rises to the top in your experience of working with other people. The one that I think of most often was work-related. The organization of which I was a part was involved in the implementation of Total Quality Management. We had spent a good bit of time and money on TQM and several of us had been trained as facilitators. I was asked to lead a team to work on a personal performance review process for the organization. Not very exciting, you say? Actually, it was a great experience. Our team was made up of people from several departments. We had support staff, program consultants, and a couple of department directors. We worked hard at the task, despite our busy schedules and other commitments. We made some small but significant breakthroughs. For example, we decided ...

Yesterday afternoon I had the opportunity to make a brief presentation about peer coaching to the deacon body of our church.   Last spring, we used Tony Stoltzfus’ peer coach training material to help eight participants develop skills to help each other grow.   Half of those continue to meet as peers for coaching.   We are planning to offer this training again in the coming weeks. I explained to the group that the basic concepts of life coaching overlap with what we seek to do in disciple development. Coaching is a complex process, but it basically involves four things.   First, coaching affirms a person’s ability to make changes in his or her life.   Second, coaching identifies a person’s strengths and areas for development.   Third, coaching helps a person set goals and plan action steps to reach those goals.   Finally, coaching provides accountability as a person seeks to achieve his or her goals. In the process of developing Christian d...

Theologian Marcus Borg is one of the most original thinkers of our time. His nonfiction books are popular and the writing generally accessible even to the non-technical reader. Borg branches out into a new type of writing in Putting Away Childish Things : A Tale of Modern Faith , a short novel that attempts to communicate some of his understanding of the nature of the Bible, revelation, and faith. The result is not completely satisfactory. The primary thrust of the novel seems to be that theologians are not only smart and articulate but also sexy and sophisticated. He tries to develop some tension by presenting characters going through times of decision—an attractive woman professor at a liberal arts college, an accomplished theologian at a prestigious divinity school (with whom the woman once had an affair), and a female college student facing a crisis of faith. Quite honestly, I wanted them to be interesting, but they didn’t really come alive. Most people who have read Borg or ot...

When I was actively involved in the Southern Baptist Convention a couple of decades ago, the worst thing you could say about a church or its pastor was that they were “independent.” Although we proclaimed that every local congregation was autonomous, we were “cooperative” Baptists and not “independents.” Let’s fast forward to 2010 when “independent” and “congregational autonomy” have very different meanings. According to Associated Baptist Press , David Hankins, executive director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist) notified trustees of the North American Mission Board, SBC, in an e-mail that their proposed candidate for the position of NAMB president--Kevin Ezell, pastor of Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky--is not acceptable. He stated, “Dr. Ezell’s excellent credentials in areas such as character, family, leadership and theology do not compensate for [his] demonstrated lack of support for the mission of NAMB.” Hankins further expressed concern th...

When the word “hospitality” is mentioned, I immediately think about how I am going to make someone else feel welcome in my home. I was reminded recently, however, that there is another side to hospitality. My friend Mike Young was the guest preacher at our church yesterday. His text was from Luke 10. Here is the portion that particularly caught my attention: "When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you.” (Luke 10:5-8, NIV) Mike went on to talk about establishing a relationship with someone who is a stranger or who differs from us by accepting that which is set before us. In so doing, you are not only accepting the hospitality of that person, but you are accepting...

At some point I heard the observation, “Every strength carried to the extreme becomes a weakness.” I was reminded of that statement in my relationships with technology today. Our digital connectedness can be a blessing, but we shouldn’t “put all our eggs in that basket.” To do so is to limit ourselves. This morning, I used a telephone bridge line to facilitate a peer group made up of pastors from six states. We are discussing Will Mancini’s book, Church Unique. We miss a lot in not being able to look each other in the face, but their observations and insights always inspire me. We meet every other week, and I always look forward to it. I then spent an hour working on two classes I am teaching this semester for Central Seminary. One is an online class with monthly telephone conference calls and a weekly online forum. The other is a class I teach in Murfreesboro, but there is an online component with weekly online discussion. The Moodle platform is very robust with a lot of options...

Up to this point in my life, I have been a member of ten different churches in five different states. They had much in common but significant differences as well. Each had its own culture. For the sake of clarity, perhaps a definition of “culture” would be helpful. The one that applies here is “the attitudes and behavior that are characteristic of a particular social group or organization” ( Visual Thesaurus ). Although all were Baptist churches, they differed in the way they worshipped, studied the Bible, made decisions, spent “their” (the Lord’s) money, and assimilated people into their fellowship. I am talking here about the actual ways that these things happened and not the “official” way of doing things. There is always a disconnect between the “official” way that things are done and the “actual” way they are done. The leadership structures were often very different from what was printed in the church constitution and bylaws. Most of the time, the procedures were fair and Chr...

Every day we make choices—what will we do, with whom will we spend our time, what we will purchase. We have a tendency to prioritize these decisions, seeing some as more important than others. In this motivational book, author Andy Andrews challenges the reader to consider that everything matters. He writes, “When you know that everything matters—that every move counts as much as any other—you will begin living a life of permanent purpose.” Andrews goes on to provide brief accounts of individuals who made a decision—large or small—that had significant and beneficial consequences. The stories are well told and inspiring. Of course, Andrews makes a number of assumptions and sees some actions as “the” turning point in history, but even he acknowledges that each decision is the consequence of any number of prior decisions. We assume the importance of some events, but we are not omniscient, so we are really only speculating. I found the book an interesting and quick read with an encour...

When I attended the Central Seminary faculty retreat at Conception Abbey a couple of weeks ago, I found myself in the bookstore on a rainy Friday afternoon. My plan to walk around the grounds was not practical, so I began browsing the book shelves for something to read until dinner. Labyrinths: Walking Toward the Center by Gernot Candolini caught my attention. I bought the book and spent the next hour in a comfortable chair and gaining a new appreciation for the power of the labyrinth through the eyes of an articulate and impassioned practitioner. Candolini is an author, photographer, and designer of labyrinths and gardens who lives in Innsbruck, Austria. He pulls the reader into the book by sharing his unfolding love affair with the labyrinth and the practice of pilgrimage. To Candolini, “[t]he labyrinth is a sacred tool for knowing; an image that connects us to God, the world, and ourselves.” Although of ancient origin, it has proven adaptable to many traditions including Christian...

Phyllis Tickle has emerged (no pun intended) as a key participant-observer on contemporary matters of faith. Her book The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why is interesting, insightful, and a bit incomplete. You may not agree with all of her conclusions, but she makes informed observations that provoke dialogue. In a recent interview posted on the Faith and Leadership site (sponsored by Leadership Education at Duke University), she was asked to share her ideas about the future of denominations. Her statements are both provocative and informative: People under 40 right now have been born right smack-dab into a fully matured emergence, the Great Emergence. They can’t change their sensibilities any more than they can change the color of their eyes. They’re going to be non-hierarchal. They’re going to be afraid of institutions. They’re going to want to spread out horizontally. They want to be communal. They’re going to be actively involved in social justice as they...