Duncan Macleod of Postkiwi.com re-posted a short excerpt from a “Seed Story” conversation I had with Spencer Burke of The Ooze. In the interview I offer a glimpse into my leadership struggle of dying to my “vision,” in hope of
Here is a rather famous and Worthy leadership article by Dee Hock; the founder and CEO emeritus of Visa (the credit card company). Hock, Dee “The Art of Chaordic Leadership” Leader to Leader. 15 (Winter 2000): 20-26. Peace, dwight
Here is Alan Roxburgh’s report on the report on “Forming Leaders for the Missional/emerging Church consultation which took place in April. The event was sponsored by Fuller/Allelon and brought together 40 leaders from USA, Canada, UK, New Zealand and Australia.
Leadership is an Art, by Max DePree The Tale of Three Kings, by Gene Edwards The Emergence of Leadership, by Douglas Griffin Connective Leadership, Jean Lipman-Blumen Complexity and Management, by Ralph D. Stacey The Paradox of Control in Organizations, by
After sitting with the question of “the nature of leadership” for some time, I find myself moving toward a very simple understanding. Is leadership is about conversation. Leadership has less to do with the clarity of vision, and much more
I’ve been giving some more thought to the connections of Cellular Mitosis with church growth and church planting. The body of Christ appears to be a not unlike a multi-cellular living organism. Multi-cellular living organisms contain more than one cell
Many avant-church leaders/hosts/facilitators/curates/etc. are serving in bi-vocational ways; meaning they earn their living working a “regular” job in order to support their community habit. Some have made this a conscious decision, others have been forced into this bi-vo-role by slower
This week in Seattle there is a gathering of Emerging Women’s Leadership. This initiative is one of the most important to be born of the avant-church conversation to date. The “emergent” conversation I’ve been most familiar with, appeared to begin
Today’s entry is intended for use by those who proactively shape the ethos of Quest by participating as our hosting forum. Quest’s “Hosting Forum” is the gathering of participants from our spiritual community who intentionally & collectively discern on behalf
A few years ago I asked a few people to help me see myself as “pastor” and “leader”. Through the process of that three month conversation I made a number of commitments that I revisit often and fail even frequently.
This morning I had the privilege of interacting with the Mars Hill Graduate School student leadership. I’ve got to say that they are an impressive group. In all of my schooling I have never seen a student led group so
I was rereading The Web of Life and The Hidden Connections by Capra this morning (he may be best known for his book The Tao of Physics). These thoughts come from his work: A living social system of any sort, be
The return of the parish appears to be an ecclesial movement sweeping Western Christ-communities. I’ve been thinking of it as the parish corrective. I would characterize this corrective as a local church move to embody “full life” or embody the
I finished my “unleadership” essay for my doctoral program. I titled it, “Hubbing: The “Being” and “Act” of Leadership within Dynamic Christ-Clusters.” I hope to take some of the main ideas from the essay and turning it into shorter and
Over the past few months I elicited a small group of friends to help me evaluate my person and leadership. This small group comprised of three men and two women have known me for an average of three and one-half
I’m in the process of writing an essay on the concept of leadership as a communal ethos (I talked a little about this on 3/25). This is a constructivist position arguing in favor of a self-emptying, relationally connective form of
Do leaders exist ontologically? I know that some church traditions claim an ontological ordination but that just seems to set us up for abuse of power, (of course the church would never abuse its power). Most leadership literature speaks more
In the words of Olivia Newton John – almost – “Let’s get metaphysical, metaphysical, we wanna get metaphysical, let us hear Christ’s body talk…” (or something like that). I’m in the process of writing a short paper on leadership. I
One of the tools I have come to find quite helpful when I’m in the process of discerning which path to take, or question to explore, or practice to engage… basically when my way doesn’t seem clear I often spend
The modern epistemological project assumed that systems could be objective, thus making neutrality possible. A more pomo approach might suggest that no system, construct, ideology, etc can be neutral. Semiotically speaking, all systems are a type of language. The systems
I just returned from a denominational conference and was shocked by the “us” verses “them” conversation representing the clergy verses the laity. As though “we” clergy (or whatever we are) have an experience of God that we need to lead
Wow, I’m tired. This bi-vocational thing has a way of wearing a person out. I guess we all feel this way from time-to-time, huh? Trying to juggle life as a husband, dad, pastor, community member, employee, doctoral student, let alone
I have been appreciating some of the recent “leadership” literature emphasizing that leaders are not made nor born as much as they are situationally called into existence. I’ve been telling my community for years that the clearer the sense of
Ever since I posted yesterday’s blog I’ve been wondering whether I should have. Lynette read it and asked me whether I had intended to make, even a subtle connection to the controversy of the last few months, about gay men
What does it mean to proclaim Christ? This fall I will be guiding/teaching a coarse for a college on public speaking in ministry – preaching. One of my personal challenges is I don’t preach in “that way” any more. Should
Thoughts regarding ordination: I understand ordination to be a human recognition of God’s calling on a person’s life. Yet in practice it is a gatekeeping practice to ensure that those in power have a means of controlling who is let
I have a working document, that I began as a seminarian, outlining my current understanding of the process of discipleship as seen through a church or community of faith. I was heavily influenced in the creation of this by a
On Friday l have the opportunity to join Trinity Lutheran College and speak in their chapel. I’ve been asked to speak to the kinds of leaders I sense that the church needs now and into the future. I’m titling my
Recently I helped facilitate an “Emerging Leaders” conference sponsored by a modernist-mission denomination. All of the presenters/facilitators were asked the following questions, my responses are listed: Ministry Title? pastor / mystic / friend / artist / missionary / husband /
