Spiritual Life and Leadership

Thom Rainer is the CEO of Church Answers and the author of many books, including I Believe: A Concise Guide to the Essentials of the Christian Faith.In this episode, Thom Rainer discusses an article he wrote in which he said we need to rethink how we categorize churches, now that the median church size is 65—meaning 50% of churches in the U.S. have fewer than 65 people in church every Sunday!What does this decline mean and how should we lead in this strange new world?THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Thom Rainer is the CEO of Church Answers and the author of many books, including I Believe: A Concise Guide to the Essentials of the Christian Faith.Thom Rainer wrote an article titled “The New Very Large Church.”Tod Bolsinger and Markus Watson discuss this article in Episode 150: The New Normal of Church Attendance.Thom Rainer’s article says that since the pandemic, here is how churches ought to be categorized:Under 50 in attendance: smaller churches51-99: mid-size churches100-249: large churches250 and above: larger churches92% of church in the U.S. today have less than 250 people in attendance each week.According to Thom Rainer, the pandemic gave “cultural Christians” permission to stop attending church or attend church less frequently.Commitment to church attendance has declined even among those who previously had been very committed to their church.The church is called to be not only the church gathered, but also the church going.Thom Rainer notes that receptivity to Christianity and to simple invitations to church seem to be higher than ever.Thom Rainer discusses the skills a pastor needs as the church’s attendance declines.The number of megachurches in America has not increased for the past 15 years.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:Book mentioned: I Believe: A Concise Guide to the Essentials of the Christian Faith, by Thom RainerArticle:“The New Very Large Church,” by Thom RainerChurch AnswersKnow Your Community demographic reportRelated episodes:Episode 150: The New Normal of Church Attendance, a Quick Conversation with Tod Bolsinger and Markus WatsonSend me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Get Becoming Leaders of Shalom for free HERE.Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

Tod Bolsinger and Markus Watson discuss this quote from A Failure of Nerve, by Edwin Friedman.“In any type of institution whatsoever, when a self-directed, imaginative, energetic, or creative member is being consistently frustrated and sabotaged rather than encouraged and supported, what will turn out to be true one hundred percent of the time, regardless of whether the disrupters are supervisors, subordinates, or peers, is that the person at the very top of that institution is a peace-monger.”Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

Ruth Haley Barton is the Founder and Chief Essence Officer of the Transforming Center and the author of Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest.There is so much to do as pastors and leaders.  And if I’m going to get everything done, there’s very little time to rest.  Or if I do take some time to rest, work and responsibility are just gonna sneak their way into that time of rest, anyway.In this episode, Ruth Haley Barton and I ask:  How am I called and invited to practice this gift of Sabbath?  And how will a Sabbath practice impact, not only my personal life, but also my life of ministry leadership? THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Ruth Haley Barton is the Founder and Chief Essence Officer of the Transforming Center and the author of Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest.As a child, Ruth Haley Barton’s family practiced Sabbath in a very legalistic way, but stopped practicing the Sabbath as a young adult.  Ruth began practicing the Sabbath in her forties.Sabbath involves stopping, resisting, and delighting.Ruth Haley Barton says there is an edginess to Sabbath in that it is designed in part to release us from whatever oppresses us.Sabbath involves doing the kinds of things that bring us delight.Sabbath is not the same thing as solitude and silence.  Sabbath is a communal practice.Ruth Haley Barton explains how she navigated implementing the Sabbath when her kids were teenagers.Churches need to consider whether they encourage people—including their clergy—to practice the Sabbath.It is helpful for a church staff to take Sabbath together.If pastors would rest for twenty-four hours once a week, they would bring a healthier quality of leadership to their churches.Ruth Haley Barton points out that the Sabbath gives us an opportunity to trust God with what is bothering us.Ruth Haley Barton offers some suggestions for how we can begin to dip our toes into a regular Sabbath practice.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:Books mentioned:Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest, by Ruth Haley BartonTransforming CenterChurch Leadership InstituteRelated episode:Ep. 70: The Subversiveness of Sabbath, with A.J. SwobodaSend me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Get Becoming Leaders of Shalom for free HERE.Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

How does your church attendance compare?  Tod Bolsinger and Markus Watson discuss an article by Thom Rainer titled "The New Very Large Church."Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

David Swanson is pastor of New Community Covenant Church in Chicago and the author Rediscipling the White Church.In this episode, David Swanson helps us think, first, about the challenges of leading our people toward racial healing and equity, and, second, about the kinds of leadership and practices that can help us form our people to be people of healing and equity.THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:David Swanson is pastor of New Community Covenant Church in Chicago and the author Rediscipling the White Church.Churches made up of different races and ethnicities often read the Bible differently, and often in ways that don’t lead us toward one another.According to David Swanson, there are ways in which our churches have conformed to the patterns of our racialized society.David Swanson realized the church needed a different kind of discipleship, the kind that would bring people of different races together.David intentionally planted his church to be an integrated, multi-racial church.A disciple is someone who follows Jesus in order to become like Jesus to do what Jesus does.David Swanson describes the role of community in overcoming racial injustice.We are called to engage in spiritual practices communally (such as Holy Communion) in ways that bring healing and reconciliation.We can disciple our children by having challenging conversations about race and racism.  Churches can provide resources for these conversations.Over time, children’s neutral observations about the color of a person’s skin begin to take on a moral weight.David Swanson encourages white pastors to pray for authentic cross-racial friendships.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:Books mentioned:Rediscipling the White Church, by David SwansonDavid SwansonWebsite – www.dwswanson.comChurch Leadership InstituteSend me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Get Becoming Leaders of Shalom for free HERE.Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

Tod Bolsinger and Markus Watson discuss this quote from Essentialism, by Greg McKeown:“Many capable people are kept from getting to the next level of contribution because they can’t let go of the belief that everything is important. An Essentialist has learned to tell the difference between what is truly important and everything else.”Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

Andrew Root is the Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary and author of The Church After Innovation.In this conversation, Andrew Root, the author of The Church After Innovation, invites us to think critically about innovation.  We live in a world in which innovation is held up as almost an ethical good in and of itself.  Andrew helps us think about where the drive to innovate in our culture comes from and helps us reflect on our own motivations as we work to innovate in our own churches and ministries.THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDES:Andrew Root is the Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary and author of The Church After Innovation.“Innovation” has, in recent been years, been held up as an inherently good thing.  Andrew Root started to wonder why.According to Max Weber, capitalism is rooted in a theological belief, sometimes called the Protestant work ethic.Hard work as an ethic in and of itself is fairly new in human history.Andy Root explains what he means by the “contradiction of capitalism.”Our focus on innovation ultimately makes the self the end-all be-all of our work.Mission and innovation often get confused for each other in the church.Unceasing growth is not always good.Andy Root says one of the reasons we want innovation and entrepreneurship is because they feel like strategies for control.  And the church feels out of control.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:Books mentioned:The Church After Innovation, by Andrew RootAndrew Root:Website – www.andrewroot.orgRelated Resources:Engaging God's Mission online courseSend me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Get Becoming Leaders of Shalom for free HERE.Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

Tod Bolsinger and Markus Watson discuss this quote from Leadership Without Easy Answers, by Ronald Heifetz:"In a crisis we tend to look for the wrong kind of leadership...in short, someone who can make hard problems simple. But problems like (we have been facing) are not simple.... Making progress on these problems demands not just someone who provides answers from on high but changes in our attitudes, behavior, and values. To meet challenges such as these, we need a different idea of leadership...."Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

Beth Birmingham and Eeva Sallinen Simard are the authors of Creating Cultures of Belonging: Cultivating Organizations Where Women and Men Thrive. In this episode, we discuss what it means for churches and organizations to develop cultures of belonging.  Not just cultures of inclusion, but cultures in which those who tend to be on margins actually have the opportunity to shape the church or organization when they are in positions of leadership.THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Beth Birmingham and Eeva Sallinen Simard are the authors of Creating Cultures of Belonging: Cultivating Organizations Where Women and Men Thrive. Beth Birmingham is the facilitator for the Christian Alliance for Inclusive Development and professor at Eastern University.Eeva Sallinen Simard is project director at World Relief.While missional organizations largely serve women and children and are staffed largely by women, only about 15% of executive leadership are women.Eeva Sallinnen Simard tells us that in the largest NGOs in the U.S., only 5% of executive leadership are women.Beth Birmingham says we have adopted a toxic leadership model in missional spaces that contradicts the teaching of scripture.Missional organizations tend to demand a very masculine form of leadership.Eeva Sallinen Simard explains that a culture of belonging is one that not only welcomes women and minorities, but also allows them to contribute to the development of and even change the organization.To change a systemic problem, you need a systems approach.Beth Birmingham suggests that, rather than spending leadership development funds on experienced senior male leaders, missional organizations should spend those funds on young women still learning and growing in their leadership.Men in leadership tend to get uncomfortable with conversations about inclusion, often asking themselves, “What does this mean for me?”Eeva Sallinen Simard says organizations need to make declarative statements about the imago dei in all people and their calling to lead.Organizations that don’t believe women can be called to roles of leadership should be forthcoming with that information so that women who want to grow in their leadership can serve in a place where their calling will be affirmed.Beth Birmingham believe that when we humble ourselves and surrender our agendas, God will pour out his blessing in other ways.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:Books mentioned:Creating Cultures of Belonging, by Beth Birmingham and Eeva Sallinnen SimardBeth Birmingham:LinkedInInstagramEeva Sallinen Simard:LinkedInInstagramThe Christian Alliance for Inclusive DevelopmentChurch Leadership InstituteRelated episodes:Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Get Becoming Leaders of Shalom for free HERE.Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

Tod Bolsinger is the Executive Director of Fuller Seminary’s Church Leadership Institute and the author of five books, including Canoeing the Mountains and Tempered Resilience.In this episode, Tod Bolsinger and Markus Watson reflect on the reality that many people have not returned to the church in our post-pandemic world.  Is there anything about how we have done church in the past that has failed to form the kind of people who are committed to living a life of discipleship in community with other Jesus-followers?  And if so, what can we do differently now?THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Tod Bolsinger is the Executive Director of Fuller Seminary’s Church Leadership Institute and the author of five books, including Canoeing the Mountains and Tempered Resilience.Tod shares how the pandemic disrupted his work with the Church Leadership Institute and how he had to adapt.The pandemic revealed a crisis of discipleship within the church.Tod Bolsinger argues that many people haven’t returned to church after the pandemic because the church doesn’t feel that different from the world to them.According to Tod Bolsinger, many churches have confused discipleship with training people for church ministry.Tod Bolsinger says we have confused institutional service with spiritual formation.Leaders and pastors need to embrace the humility of not knowing.Transformation in churches starts with the leader, but the leader can’t do it alone.Spiritual Life and Leadership will be adding new short 6-10 minute episodes every other week.  These episodes will be called “Quick Conversations for the Long Haul of Leadership.”Each of these episodes will be a brief conversation with Tod Bolsinger and Markus Watson focusing on a single quote or question or thought.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:Books mentioned:Canoeing the Mountains, by Tod BolsingerTempered Resilience, by Tod BolsingerFuller Seminary Church Leadership InstituteSend me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Get Becoming Leaders of Shalom for free HERE.Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.