Stop telling them what you believe… Tell them why you believe by N. Graham Standish I was knee-deep into listening on the phone to a potential church visitor when I had a sudden insight: We keep telling people WHAT we believe. What we really need to do is tell them WHY we believe. The man… Read more »
Sabotaging with hope by N. Graham Standish “Tim, will you please stop sabotaging this meeting with hope?!” I couldn’t stifle my guffaw as a clergy client shared his recent finance committee experience. Incredibly, it’s what a committee member yelled at him before walking out of the meeting. Tim has been leading his church through revitalization… Read more »
Transforming worship from third person to first person Do we care what people are experiencing in worship? by N. Graham Standish What’s the most taboo topic in ministry, that one topic that neither pastors nor members like to talk about? Transforming worship. Failing to transform our worship is the main cause for our decline…. Read more »
Are we leading with our whole brains? Overcoming half-brained leadership by N. Graham Standish Is your leadership whole-brained or merely half-brained? Even more, is the mainline church decline really a matter of our being a bit too half-brained? Back when I was in high school there was a book that was the rage for a… Read more »
Are We Undone by Our Expectations? by N. Graham Standish Years ago I worked with a deeply frustrated pastor. We’ll call him Wes. He couldn’t get his church to engage in almost any meaningful ministry or mission. A dinner to support a missionary? Too few signed up. Being more involved in the local food cupboard?… Read more »
Does our leadership heal . . . or inflict pain? by N. Graham Standish I recently talked with a frustrated and disappointed pastor who was in tremendous pain over her struggling church. As I listened to her story, I suddenly had an insight: Perhaps everyone who comes to church is in pain. Perhaps everyone who… Read more »
Building on a Blessed Community Recognizing the Church’s True Center by Graham Standish Years ago I read a quote by the Quaker mystic, Thomas Kelly, that changed my ministry: “Yet ever within that Society, and ever within the Christian church, has existed the Holy Fellowship, the Blessed Community, an ekklesiola in ekklesia, a little church… Read more »
Church leadership bedrocks Are we leading out of expectations or principles? by N. Graham Standish I’ve been working with a pastor for a number of years, helping him invigorate a somewhat stagnant church. We’ve talked about a lot in the process, and the results of our conversations are showing signs of breathing new… Read more »
Is Our Leadership Stuck on Chapter 5? … or are we stuck writing the same church story? By Graham Standish How are you at writing gripping stories? Are you like me? Do you get author envy when you read great stories? While reading certain authors such as C.S. Lewis,J.R.R. Tolkien and J. K. Rowling I’ve… Read more »
Leading Like Water, not Like Lava: Is our church leadership fluid or frozen? by N. Graham Standish For a number of years I’ve been advising people to “lead more like water and less like lava.” Whenever I do people often look at me as dogs do when they hear a funny noise — ears… Read more »
