Barnabas File

Every church traditionally has some type of small group experience--Sunday School classes, study groups, mission groups, and others.   Today, small group experiences may be more important than ever.   In a recent article, Thom Rainer identified eight major changes in churches over the last decade. One of these was the vital importance of groups in the church. According to Rainer’s research, ten years ago churches had groups but they were of marginal importance.  Leaders “did not see how groups could enhance the health of the church in discipleship, evangelism, prayer, ministry, and fellowship.” On the other hand, he observes, “Healthy churches today make groups (community groups, home groups, Sunday school, life groups, etc.) a high priority.” We can identify several reasons why this is true. First, most people have a desire to connect.  Although we have become a society immersed in social media, most of us have few deep connecti...

As we consider the work of professional coaches during International Coaching Week, we have the opportunity to consider how coaching principles can also be applied by non-professionals in the life of the church. Reggie McNeal has pointed out in Missional Renaissance that “Genuine spirituality lives and flourishes only in cultures and relationships of accountability.”  Most faith communities, however, do not provide these accountability structures.  Perhaps we fear someone dictating behavior and standards that may be uncomfortable to us, but when we find ourselves in times of stress, the church is often the first place we go for help.  We need to provide accountability structures for individuals that will help them prepare for and overcome the stresses of life as well as opportunities for spiritual development and service. One way that a church can do this is by training their members in Disciple Development Coaching©.   Developed by Pinnacle Leadership ...

In an article on the exponential growth of knowledge, David Russell Schilling wrote: Buckminster Fuller created the “Knowledge Doubling Curve”; he noticed that until 1900 human knowledge doubled approximately every century. By the end of World War II knowledge was doubling every 25 years. Today things are not as simple as different types of knowledge have different rates of growth. For example, nanotechnology knowledge is doubling every two years and clinical knowledge every 18 months. But on average human knowledge is doubling every 13 months.  According to    IBM, the build out of the “internet of things” will lead to the doubling of knowledge every 12 hours. Of course, all knowledge is not of equal value.   There are some things that we can live without knowing but there is other information that can be invaluable to us.   How do we do about acquiring it? As you begin a new year, how will you go about acquiring the knowledge that will...

After the gift of the Holy Spirit, the primary resource that God has provided for the development of the church are the women and men who make up the people of God.   Each believer is a unique individual who has been called and gifted by God.   The challenge is to help each person discover how God has “wired them up” to serve. The writer of First Timothy provides this challenge: "Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.” (1 Timothy 4:14-15 , NIV) The role of ordained and lay leaders is to call out, encourage, and empower all believers to be part of the mission Dei (the mission of God).  This is disciple development and it can be done in many ways.  The church has used various processes for growing disciples through its long history, but I suggest three that are particula...

A man rushed up to a woman standing beside a road and asked, “Did a large group of people just pass by here?”  She replied, “Yes, they went that way,” as she pointed over her shoulder.  “Good.  I’m their leader.” We have heard some variation of this story many times.  One thing it teaches us is that people will often move ahead even if a leader is not involved.  Whether they are moving in the right direction is another matter. My experience tells me that staff teams—in churches, denominations, and not-for-profits—really do want leaders.  They expect the leader to identify a direction, set the pace, and provide the resources and encouragement needed to move forward.  If the leader fails to do these things, then the situation can become very chaotic. This is especially true of pastoral leaders or the person we identify as the “lead pastor” in a congregation.  Although the people that he or she works with may be more talented and experienc...