Barnabas File

One of the processes we provide through Pinnacle Leadership Associates is called  Making the Shift.   As we talk about the shift from being a church member to being a disciple, we encourage congregations to consider developing a rule of life to challenge participants in their discipleship.   A key theme in Jesus’ teaching was the Kingdom or Reign of God.  His hearers often asked him, “When will this come to be?”  N. T. Wright observes, “The crucial question is not so much that of the kingdom’s  timing  as of its  content .”   One point where Jesus addressed the content of the Kingdom as well as the conduct of the life of the believer is found in that portion of the Sermon on the Mount that we call the Beatitudes.  This might well be seen as a prototypical rule of life for believers.  Speaking of the Beatitudes in his book  Living the Sermon on the Mount , Glen H. Stassen writes, “All of these are rewards of participating in God’s reign. This experience is already beginning in Jesus.”  

We lead busy lives.  Often the important loses out to the urgent.  Important things are those that reflect our personal, emotional, professional, and spiritual values.  They become our “north star” to guide our lives.  The urgent is often what happens when we don’t attend to the important.  As Christians, we seek clarity about those things that are essential for our growth as disciples.   When someone says to me, “I don’t feel that I am growing as a Christian. My life seems to be going nowhere.”  My response is, “Are you practicing the things that are important to you, the things that give your life meaning and purpose?  How’s your prayer life?  Your devotional reading?  Your fellowship with other believers?”  Often, my friend is neglecting those basic practices of life and the results are clear.   This has been a challenge for believers since the time of Christ.  How does one stay focused on and practice those things that produce personal and spiritual growth?   One approach is to pra

You’ve heard the old joke: “How many ­­­­­______ (name your denomination) does it take to change a light bulb?” Answer: “None. ________ don’t believe in change.”  Funny but points out the biggest challenge for the church—being willing to accept not only change but the necessity of transformation in order to be the church that the world needs today.   In a recent presentation, Peter Hawkins highlighted five keys to organizational transformation in the 21 st century.  Think about them and how they apply to the church.   First, Purpose led.  Purpose is clearly stated, and stakeholders are aligned behind it.  What can we uniquely do that the world of today and tomorrow needs?  Are we spending too much time on peripheral ideas and not addressing the major needs of our time?  We can keep rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic or change the course of the ship before it is too late.   Second, Stakeholder-centeric.  We not talking simply about those within the walls of church.  Who are the stak

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that a number of the habits we picked up during the Pandemic appear to have become habitual—online ordering, food deliveries, remote work, and virtual meetings, for example.    The big picture, however, is that the Pandemic accelerated the adoption of new tech by five or ten years and many of the changes appear to be lasting. This is certainly true in our churches.  Congregations that were considering upgrading the broadcast or livestreaming of their services were suddenly forced into doing it.  Most have continued the practice and invested additional resources into equipment, internet access, and personnel to make it happen. Most of us have readily accepted the convenience of virtual committee meetings.  Rather than dressing up, driving twenty minutes or more to the church campus for a meeting, we now connect online for an hour or so and get back to home activities. To assure sustainability, giving processes also moved online.  More churches p

Rick Warren has been one of the most influential pastors in Baptist life for the past forty years.     Under his leadership Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, became a flagship for many evangelicals including a number pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention, the tribe with which Saddleback chose to align itself.     I would say that he was a major influence on a generation of pastoral leaders.   There is much to admire about Warren and his leadership.  Although he identifies as a conservative theologically, in recent years he has been criticized as not being conservative enough, especially on the role of women in church leadership.   Warren chose to take a major role in the recent Southern Baptist Convention meeting in New Orleans, seeking to overturn the decision to expel Saddleback from the SBC because its ordination of women leaders showed that it was not in “friendly cooperation” with the SBC.  He was also a vocal proponent for women leaders in that meeting.   My init

A friend and I meet for lunch every few months.     We were both raised in a large denomination where most of the churches are in the southern US.     We also were colleagues at a denominational entity.     As we talked about the denomination we once served, it was clear that he no longer considered himself or his church part of that denomination.     We both had chosen to distance ourselves from that denomination for different reasons.     One thing we agreed on was the fact that this denomination no longer placed the local church at the center of its mission.     It had become more concerned about control of institutions and political influence.   In the 21 st  century, the denominational brand is not as important as it once was.  Certainly, there are still those who, if they choose to be part of a local congregation, select one related to the denomination of their childhood tradition.  More often, the choice is based on other considerations—worship style, core emphasis, mission invo

  Here’s a new word to add to your vocabulary:  permacrisis.  It refers to “an extended period of instability and insecurity, especially one resulting from a series of catastrophic events.”  The Collins Dictionary added it to their files in 2022 and declared it the word of the year. The word represents the compounding crises we have seen in recent years including inflation, the cost-of-living crisis, the pandemic, disastrous climate change, the war in Ukraine, and ongoing racial tensions.   Permacrisis may well take the place of the VUCA acronym—volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous—to describe our present-day situation. Although it has been used in economic, social, and political contexts, the word might appropriately be applied to where we find the church in North America today.  It appears that several crises are coming to a head for our churches.  All denominations report that their congregants are aging, resulting in declining financial gifts.  Post-pandemic surveys indicate

In a recent coaching webinar, a presenter was talking about different levels of listening.    In defining “global” listening, she said, “Listen for the song within the words spoken.”   Although not a musician, this statement clicked with me.  Very often I cannot remember the lyrics of a song, but I can remember the melody.  Of course, some of our most inspiring music has no words at all.   So, what does this mean in coaching?  It does not mean to ignore the words that the client is saying, but to listen for the intent. Word choice and vocal inflections are important, but what is the song or story the client is creating for herself or himself?  What values, beliefs, or longings are being communicated?   I repeat what I have said before, coaching is more than a skill—it is an art.  We perfect our art or craft by practicing it. As you practice your coaching, listen for the unique song that each person is composing.

In these challenging times for the church, a staff leader must step up and recognize the importance of investing in their staff team.  This is something that we did not learn in seminary but can learn.  Dean Phillips, who has served with the  U.S. Air Force and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has written a helpful article on developing high performance teams.  There are insights here for working with a church staff team. CREATE A SHARED SENSE OF PURPOSE Although identifying a sense of purpose to achieve a common goal is important for high-performing teams, a critical step is providing clarity and context around each team member’s role. Everyone brings something unique to the team, but how does that skill base contribute to the overall mission of the church?   We can no longer work in silos in our roles as church staff leaders. Not only must we share our gifts to enrich each other’s work, we can dig deeper and discover ways that we can fill the gaps in a volatile, changing context