Barnabas File

In a recent blog entitled “Low Wages, Student Debt, and 'The Call:' Financing Seminary Education,” LeAnn Snow Flesher put this entire ongoing discussion in context.  Flesher is not an outsider to theological education but serves as Academic Dean/CAO and Professor of Old Testament at American Baptist Seminary of the West at The Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif. I agree with Flesher that at the core of the issue is the changing concept of “church” and what people expect from a faith community.  From my perspective, this has not happened overnight and is the result of several factors. First, since the 1960s traditional forms of authority have been questioned.  Initially, politicians came under fire (often for good cause—think Richard Nixon), then it was corporations, and then religious leaders (plenty of scandals to go around here).  Second, the church growth emphasis helped to build a consumer mentality so that people became more concerned...

When we think of the work of the apostle Paul, we tend to focus on him alone. In reality, Paul was surrounded by a team of gifted individuals that was continually changing. We know the names of some of them—Barnabas, Luke, Timothy, John Mark, even Priscilla and Aquila. At various points, different individuals became part of the apostolic team led by Paul. The composition of the group evolved and changed over the years. Very often members came on board, made their contribution to the work of encouraging churches in an area, and then attached themselves to a particular church or churches to continue their work apart from Paul. Some were already mature and gifted persons when they joined the Pauline team, but others were nurtured by the apostle and the group.   The group experience was vital to the development of disciples and the spread of the Gospel. My own experience is that small groups of believers provide an opportunity for individual growth in a number of ways.  Thi...

Designed specifically for Christian coaches, don't miss this Online Mega Conference, the   IMPACT 2014 eSummit . Enjoy over 30 business and practice building sessions from top-notch experts. We kick off the conference with a pre-summit series on Sept 24th. The full conference runs Sept 29-Oct 3, 2014.  I will be leading a pre-session conference on "Creating a Coaching Culture in the Church." Industry Pioneers & Experts The conference will feature keynote presentations, panel discussions and sessions from pioneers and experts in the Christian Coaching field. For a full lineup of speakers, visit the Speakers page. Here are some names you may know: Jennifer Britton, MCC – an expert in the areas of Group Coaching and Team Development Gary Collins, PhD. – author of the landmark book, Christian Coaching Jane Creswell, MCC – an innovator and leader in internal corporate coaching Ben Koh, MCC – founder of I Am Life Coach, a leading coach academy in Asia ...

“I don’t have enough time.”  I have heard this often in coaching leaders.  In reality, everyone has the same amount of time.  How we chose to use it is up to each one of us but those choices are not always easy.  I have come to realize that when I consider the tasks before me, I have three choices. First, there are those things I need to do.  These are the things that are of primary importance.  One of these is my relationship with God.  Another is my relationship with family. Everything else is negotiable.  Those things that I need to do are usually those things that I am gifted to do.  This does not mean that they are easy to accomplish.  They may take work, but I have the skills to do them or I can acquire those skills.  These are usually the activities that bring me the most sense of fulfillment. For example, I have just finished the manuscript for my first e-book.  Since it is based on my experience, ideas, and ...

In Good to Great, Jim Collins and his team sought out companies that moved from being good at what they were doing to becoming truly great.  They pointed out that “Good is the enemy of the great.”  In other words, people will praise your organization for providing quality but not exceptional products (or programs or services).  People have been abused so long by organizations that they are satisfied with good but not exceptional service.   They don’t expect anything to be “great.”   Why take the risk to move to the next level when you already have acceptable results? I have thought recently about how many good churches there are.  These congregations provide solid preaching, well-planned worship, comprehensive Christian education, competent pastoral care, and helpful ministries, but they are not exceptional.  They are shackled by their own expectations of what church ought to be and limited in their Kingdom vision.  What keeps th...

Unfortunately, this mixed metaphor describes what we often do in church .   Naturally creative people come up with new ideas then those ideas are stifled in the implementation phase.   Why? There are many causes—a desire to control,   fear of the untried, failure to understand, satisfaction with the status quo, or lack of vision. Exactly what is the role of leaders and leadership groups (committees, deacons, elders, etc.) in a congregation?  Are these people gatekeepers or permission givers?  Do they seek to empower or control?  Do they build up the body of Christ or hold it captive? Certainly, there is a need to vet new ideas to make sure that they are moral, financially feasible, and comply with basic legal concerns.  Real leaders, however, find ways to bring creative ideas into compliance so that they can move ahead rather than be stopped in their tracks. One reason that young adults are disenchanted with the church is that they no...

Teaching Sunday school is always a learning experience for me.  Whether I am the designated teacher or one of the participants, I find it beneficial to hear another’s understanding of the text.  Each of us brings our own life experience and needs to the text.   I am becoming more committed to the idea that the study of Scripture is incomplete unless it takes place in community. Sunday school classes are called various things now, but whatever they are called, they are small groups of people who learn and grow together. Small groups have been important to the life of the church for years, finding expression in various forms--the “holy clubs” of John Wesley, the modern Sunday school movement, home Bible studies, and recovery support groups among other examples.  Even in the age of the megachurch, small groups are an important strategy for growth and discipleship. Scott Thumma and Warren Bird’s study  for Leadership Network of 25,000 megachurch atte...

I want to take this space to share a great opportunity for those who are interested in learning coaching skills: Once accessible only to key executive and business leaders, the demand for coaching is growing among individuals in all areas of life.  Whether it is called life coaching, leadership coaching, or discipleship coaching, churches and church leaders are seeking to develop skills in this people development process. With a new coaching concentration, Central Baptist Theological Seminary is seeking to meet that need. In the fall of 2014, Central will begin offering three elective courses online that will assist seminary students in acquiring skills as coaches.  “Introduction to Mentoring, Coaching, and Learning Communities” (MP513e) is a fall semester course for those who wish to add mentoring and coaching to their skill sets as they work with individuals in churches, not for profits, and missional faith communities.  For students who are interested in...

On July 20, we marked the 45 th anniversary of the first human landing on the Moon.   Like most people, I was pinned to the television to watch the grainy pictures of the first steps by Apollo 11 astronauts on an alien world.   Once Apollo was over, human exploration of the Moon ended.   In fact, we retreated to near Earth orbit and left exploration farther out to automated probes and instrumented landers.   I must admit that I am disappointed when I realize that my grandchildren have never seen a real live person walk on the Moon.   Apollo is ancient history for them. In addition, the United States no longer has an active crewed spacecraft capable of achieving orbit.  With the end of the Space Shuttle program, Americans are dependent on Russians to take American astronauts into space.  NASA talks about human missions to Mars, but I would not hold my breath about the possibilities.  The United States Air Force seems more interested in dron...

In coaching, I know that I have asked a good question when the person I am coaching pauses and says, “That is a good question.”  This means that we have moved into an area or found a perspective that the person has not considered before.  The client is standing in a different place and considering their challenge in a new way. I was reminded of this when I heard a podcast by Keith Webb recently.  Keith is a coach and coach educator with Creative Results Management .  In the recording, he pointed out that the coach’s role is not to help people get things done but to look at things in a new way.  This requires powerful questions. Often, the tendency in coaching is to move quickly toward the solution—identify an objective, set goals, and design the action steps to get there.  This may work, but the danger in this approach is failing to identify the client’s real objective.  We have “missed the mark.” The gift that the coach gives to the p...

Several years ago, someone contacted me about auditing a class at our seminary site.  She was upset when I quoted her the fee to do this even though the fee was only a third of the cost for taking the class for full credit.  I was surprised because I knew she did not seem to mind paying a much larger amount for a session ticket for her favorite college basketball team. Good theological education is not cheap.  Of course, you can find unaccredited schools that will give you a degree with a minimum amount of effort or cost, but I don’t consider that theological education, much less good theological education.  The result of this relationship is a piece of paper rather than an education. Most of us, including theological students, don’t realize that the individual student does not carry the full cost of his or her education.  Even though students may borrow money to go to seminary, the total cost would be prohibitive if the student had to bear it complet...

Being a denominational executive at any level has never been an easy job and it certainly has not improved in the early decades of the 21 st century.  In addition to dealing with financial and social issues, individual congregations even in denominations with a hierarchical polity are exerting their individuality. Because of this, one wonders why a competent denominational leader would attempt to identify priorities for churches for the next ten years.  In a recent article in a denominational publication, a well meaning state Baptist leader outlined goals for “bringing people to salvation,” “revitalizing churches,” and “planting new churches” among other things.  These would seem to be things that churches do rather than denominations. On a personal level, I cannot motivate another person to do something unless he or she wants to. In like manner, a church will only become “revitalized” or “bring people to salvation” if its members choose that path.  I...

When I attended the CBF General Assembly at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Atlanta last week, I realized that the last time I had been in the hotel was December 1969 when I attended Mission 70, a program put together by six Southern Baptist Convention agencies that attracted 5000 college students and young adults. With music written especially for the event, original drama, and speakers like Coretta Scott King and NBC commentator John Chancellor, meeting planners sought to engage a young adult generation that included both those immersed in social activism and those who were just on the periphery.  We were challenged as Christians to take up the tasks of justice and reconciliation in order to make a difference in the world. As a Vietnam veteran and a student in his final year of seminary, I was a bit on the edge of the action.  I had a wife, one child and one on the way, and I was looking for a place to do collegiate ministry (what we called Baptist Student Union at tha...