If you have never read any of Jim Collins’ books, you should take a look sometime and start with Good to Great. Collins writes insightfully and effectively about organizational health and leadership development. One of the things that he reflects on is the climate of uncertainty and overwhelming change brought on by technology, politics, and […]
When we came to Nativity it was a church with declining numbers. And it was declining in a way that has become quite typical of churches of every style and denomination across the country (and elsewhere in the world). The kind of decline I am referring to is the slow and steady kind. Our parish […]
Our senior leadership team just wrapped up two intense days of review and planning for our parish, looking ahead to 2015. We worked with our friend, Patrick Lencioni. Pat is author of more than 10 best selling books all about best practices in business and leadership development. If you haven’t read any of his stuff, […]
Here’s what I am thinking about for the coming year, in no particular order: 1. Read the entire Bible I read Scripture every day and I have read every book of the Bible, but I have never read the Bible from cover to cover. My goal this time is actually not to read it cover […]
Well, we had a beautiful and inspiring celebration this year at the Maryland State Fair for Christmas Eve. Several observations noted in passing, in no particular order: – It was our 10th year there and to mark the occasion we had perhaps about 10,000 people, fairly well distributed between the two Masses. There were 4,484 […]
It’s definitely Christmastime. Not liturgically of course, but certainly culturally. And at Christmastime it seems like angels are everywhere. Most nearly all religions and religious traditions profess belief in some form of angels. But those traditions and theologies can be very different: from the sacred to the secular, from the sublime to the ridiculous, angels […]
Everywhere we go we are asked by parish and diocesan leaders, how do you lead through change? Whether you’re leading an entire organization through a transformation or coaching a single staff person through a transition, leading through change is one of the most important tasks you’ll do as a pastor or pastoral leader. In leading […]
With Thanksgiving now behind us we are on a sprint to Christmas. For all of us in churchworld this means we are in what is generally valued as our high season, our very best opportunity of the whole year when it comes to evangelization. I decided to put together a to-do list for our church […]
This time of year brings our annual celebration of Stewardship Sunday when we talk about our stewardship of our local parish church, our investment in this part of Christ’s kingdom movement, here in Timonium, Maryland. Here are 8 things we do that have helped make our stewardship appeals quite successful in recent years: #1. We […]
When we first approached the reality that our book was going to really be published I found myself becoming sheepish and shy about it all. Perhaps the prospect of a lot of attention scared me, or maybe it was the idea of seeming prideful or egotistical that was painful. Whatever the reason, I didn’t want […]