Church Leadership

We are living in historic times. Not since the Civil Rights Movement of the '60s has our country been as vigorously engaged in the reconciliation conversation. There is a great opportunity right now for culture to change, to be a more perfect union. However, it cannot be done without the church, because the faith of the people is more powerful than any law government can enact.

For every person who has felt lonely or isolated, The Sacred Us explores a new way of living through the practice of biblical community. In a world that celebrates individuality and autonomy, too many of us struggle to form deep, meaningful relationships. Loneliness is the norm, rich friendships are rare, and the church is no exception. We long for real community but often don’t know how to get there. What will it take to develop healthy friendships?

Why are homosexual clergymen the biggest homophobes? Why do they hide sexual offenders behind clerical collars? Why do they hate Pope Francis so much? The answers to these and many other questions are what French sociologist F. Martel, looks for in his interviews with the clergymen. His book is a result of an investigation conducted in 30 countries. He finds that the Church has the biggest community of homosexuals in the world.

Mark DeYmaz presents seven common obstacles to building a healthy multi-ethnic church, taking the reader beyond merely understanding the need for diversity, to the practical challenges and ramifications of day-to-day leadership within a diverse congregation of faith.

Spirit and Sacrament by pastor and author Andrew Wilson is an impassioned call to join together two traditions that are frequently and unnecessarily kept separate. It is an invitation to pursue the best of both worlds in worship, the Eucharistic and the charismatic, with the grace of God at the center. Wilson envisions church services in which healing testimonies, creeds, exuberant praise, and ancient liturgy coexist, and in doing so, deepen our worship and increase our joy.

In Pressure Points, J. D. Payne gets to the heart of 12 of the most important challenges we face today, raising awareness of realities that will influence the church for decades to come. J. D. helps us understand how we can prevent these global issues from pushing the church off her biblical moorings. Pressure Points gives us the tools to absorb the pressures of society while responding in a way that remains faithful to the church’s calling and mission.

What if everything you've heard about leadership is wrong? Secular models of leadership rooted in pragmatic success dominate Christian leadership in the West. It makes our work impersonal and exploitive. And, at worst, it serves the leader rather than those the leader leads. We need a different style of leadership - one patterned after Jesus. We need to learn to influence others out of our character, for that is what Jesus did.

Women comprise at least half the world, and usually more than half the church, but so often Christian teaching to women either fails to move beyond a discussion of roles or assumes a particular economic situation or stage of life. This all but shuts women out from contributing to God's kingdom as they were designed to do.

Dangerous churches should be norm. Church leaders and church people alike shrink back from danger because we want safety. Jesus said that he's overcome the world and its troubles. Dangerous churches put everything on the line for the one thing that matters most: reaching lost people.It's dangerous not to be a dangerous church. The book is less about methods or even the message of God, but about a church that risks everything it has to reach lost people.

Discover how every member of the body of Christ is affected and empowered for ministry when elders give healthy oversight to the church. This biblical model communicates the family character of the church as teams of servant-leaders equip, protect, and love the local church. Complete with evaluation questionnaires, sabbatical guidelines, sample church by-laws, keys to developing a vision statement, biblical steps to make godly decisions, maintaining a leader’s health, and much more.

While much of church planting today is approached as an innovative new effort, church leaders can take comfort in the truth that they are simply stewards of what the faithful church has been doing for millennia. By rediscovering the foundations of our heritage, we are able to build healthier, more faithful, and more effective churches. At the same time, the act of planting new churches can breathe new life into these ancient traditions as they are applied to a variety of cultural contexts.

Do you pray for your pastors? Do you encourage them? Do you have realistic expectations for them? The office of pastor is simultaneously a rewarding and draining position. Pastors today have immense pressure on their shoulders and they need the support of their congregations. Peter Orr has written Fight for Your Pastor as an exhortation for church members to stand behind their pastors through the difficulties of ministry.

The sacrament of Matrimony is under diabolical attack. While it is easy to blame the outside world for the demise of marriage, we must look at what has been happening inside the Church. The number of marriages have dwindled over the past five decades and annulments have skyrocketed. Many in Church leadership have been indifferent to these alarming trends and to marriage itself. Matrimony is rarely referenced during homilies, pre-Cana programs are often disastrous, and seminaries spend little time studying the sacrament of Matrimony.

We have a leadership problem, and we all know it. When we look at our churches, we see two glaring problems: a lack of qualified leaders, and a general mistrust of leadership as a response to sinful leadership. But churches need leaders. What do we do? The answer is in The Leadership Formula.

In 1994, the most Christianized country in Africa became the site of its worst genocide. The tragedy was in Rwanda, but what happened was a mirror reflecting the deep brokenness of the church in the West. Yet by looking at what happened and why, we can find hope for the global body of Christ.

In The End of Power, award-winning columnist and former Foreign Policy editor Moisés Naím illuminates the struggle between once-dominant megaplayers and the new micropowers challenging them in every field of human endeavor. Drawing on provocative, original research and a lifetime of experience in global affairs, Naím explains how the end of power is reconfiguring our world.

There is a growing movement among young Christians returning to historic, creedal, and liturgical reflections of Christianity. Filled with stories illustrating the joy young adults have found in these ancient expressions of Christianity, Winfield Bevins introduces practices and principles that help the church engage our postmodern world.

This practical manual is a must for every leader who is planting or growing the church…

The multi-site church movement is reshaping the way we do church. But how does it actually work? And is it right for your church? Enjoy a guided tour of multi-site churches across America and see for yourself how churches are growing and reaching their communities. This companion to The Multi-Site Church Revolution gives you on-site pictures of the new and creative ways churches are expanding their impact through multiple locations.

This audiobook is a guiding light for anyone who has pondered the nature of the Body of Christ and the multitude of churches in existence today. We earnestly encourage every Christian to delve into this audiobook. May the Lord grant you a profound vision of His Body and lead you into deep fellowship with Him and His people.