After six parts to the ‘because the cross was made of dogwood’ series I’ve racked up quite a few questions about what the whole dogwood thing has to do with evangelism. Well, today you find out. As many of you know, I have a company that I co-operate with fellow minister Randy Wray that we…
Category Archives: Leadership
Because The Cross Was Made Of Dogwood – Thoughts On Evangelism, Part 6
Sorry for the brief hiatus in this series. My oldest son graduated from high school this week, so my schedule was fairly full, as was my house. But we’re back at it now, so jump in the conversation. When I think about churches and their evangelism programs, I often find myself asking ‘what are we…
Because The Cross Was Made Of Dogwood – Thoughts On Evangelism, Part 5
Thanks for hanging on with us as we’ve covered some of the ramblings of my mind. The comments and feedback have been great. If you haven’t, please check out the other posts in this series and let us all know what you think. We’re going to turn the direction of this series a little and…
Learning Servant Leadership from a Dog
I had one of those epiphany moments this morning as I walked the dog. Of course, in Michigan at this time of year it is still more like sledding with the dog. Walking in early March adds a degree of difficulty as well since there will be some snow and ice melt during the day…
Redeeming Christianity
Is that a presumptuous title or what? For the last few years I’ve been engaged in some separate studies that have come together in a surprising way. One of the great benefits of being in full time ministry is the time I get to spend in study and research. The pressure to present it adequately…
Appropriate Levels of Complexity
Complexity is probably one the most important factors in church organization, yet it is one that is rarely talked about. A system that is too complex or is not complex enough will not meet the needs of the church. I was first introduced to the concept of organizational complexity by way of Mike Armour’s work…
Flexible Systems
Different churches need different types of organizational systems. I think most of us would agree to that. For example, a local church without elders for qualification reasons is no less of a church than the large church with dozens of elders. However, different organization systems are required for each one. One area of organization that…
The Makings of a Good System
There are nearly infinite versions of organizational systems that can be found to frame churches around. Some are traditional/pragmatic, such as having elders make decisions or using ‘men’s business meetings’. Some are progressive/research based and are introduced after serious study of culture and organization. Some are simply marketing tools generated to sell books or capitalize…
Jethro II
As a response to the development of Theory Y and the increased focus on individuals within society, Jethro II emerged as a new take on an organizational system designed by Moses’ father-in-law thousands of years ago. The difference was significant: The most important part of the system is the individual. Now, it is easy to…
Theory X and Theory Y
Some of you may have guessed that the failure with Jethro I was that it didn’t take into account the needs and value of the individual. Sure, Jethro’s original advice to Moses mentioned not wearing people out, but the focus of the system is on the benefits it provides to management/leaders and on getting the…
