At some point every Christian leader will end up being called upon to lead some kind of project. They may be short and quick or they might be large and challenging. Many Christian leaders have no training or experience of running a project and that in itself can be an enormous stress factor. Whilst natural organisational ability is enormously helpful, in itself it is no guarantee of any project being both successful and low stress. This Article provide budding project managers with a practical guide
The Servant Leader’s Garden: Without Change There’s No Growth
This article focuses on some key realities about the growth of people and the Christian servant leader’s role in its facilitation. First it’s the recognition ...
10 Mistakes You Can Make When Seeking a New Pastorate
When seeking a new pastorate there are number of classic mistakes that the prospective pastor can make, they can have dire consequences for them, their family and the church. This article, born out of experience helps you ponder these mistakes in the hope of helping you make good choices in God’s service.
10 Mistakes You Can make When Seeking a New Pastor
When seeking a new pastor for your church there are number of classic mistakes that you can make; they can have dire consequences for your church and your newly appointed pastor and their family. This article, born out of years of experience helps you ponder these mistakes in the hope of helping you make good choices in God’s service.
Stress – Tips for the Servant Leader Part 3: 7 Signs That Your Organization is Highly Stressed
There is a phrase that always amuses me. It’s “the elephant in the room”. We all know that it means that there is some big issue that is not being addressed. Well, organisational stress is most times a silent elephant in the corner of the room. It needs to be dealt with but no one more »
Stress – Tips for the Servant Leader Part 2: 6 Signs That Your People are Highly Stressed
Stress is part of life and to some extent stress, or at least benign stress (let’s call it pressure), helps to motivate us to perform well. To that extent it can be considered positive. With too little pressure performance is sub-optimum. Witness the difficulties and boredom generated by too little work as well as insubstantial work that you can’t “get your teeth into”. The problem is that as the pressure increases performance peaks and then declines as the pressure turns to high level stress.
Stress – Tips for the Servant Leader Part 1: The Cost of Stress to Your Team
“The truth is we should minimize negative stress in the workplace if we want to maximize productivity. If you really want to get the best with your people, from your people, then actually minimizing work-related or occupational stress is really something worth looking at.” Colin Buckland
If Only I Built Tables…..15 Reasons Why Christian Leaders Are Stressed
If stress allowed us to die, perhaps a little sooner but feeling comfortable that we, as a Christian leader had achieved our full potential for God and made a Kingdom difference, then we might think the trade worthwhile. Unfortunately it is seldom so clean and tidy, and perhaps even less so when, well before any part of our bodies give up, burnout’s devastating consequences wreak havoc in the church.
The life of a Christian leader, especially a church minister, is surrounded by more than enough stressors for any ten others. What is more, they are often unobserved by them, their loved ones and their church board, waiting to strike. This may seem over dramatic but it is oh so real to oh so many.
The aim of this short series is to enable Christian leaders and those around them to be alerted to the risks and consequences of ministry stress and the devastation of burnout that so often follows.
Man’s Plans And God’s Purposes: When Methods Have Their Place
When it comes to doing things to fulfil God’s Kingdom plan we both need and rely upon methods. Think about it for a minute; you use a method to make the porridge in the morning. I am using several methods as a write these words. The question is as Christian Leaders in Churches and organisations, when seeking to determine and do God’s will, how far can we go with methods? When are methods helpful and when do they hinder?
Man’s Plans And God’s Purposes: According To Whose Plan?
In the first article in the “Mans Plans and God’s Purposes” series we learned about implementing God’s plan from the failures of Joshua. In this article we look at experiences of both Paul and Peter to learn a little more about the ways God uses to reveal his plans and some of the challenges that we face in working out how we align what we do with God’s plans and purposes.
Man’s Plans and God’s Purposes: Being Effective for the Kingdom
Joshua lay face down in the dirt. Things had not gone according to plan. He had been there all day and had failed to work out what had happened. It was only now that God said to him “What are you doing down on your face?”
It had all been going so well, Jericho had fallen just as God said it would, albeit in a very strange way and the Canaanites had melted in fear. Now Joshua had instructed his men to attack Ai and they had been defeated, routed with 36 men had killed. What had gone wrong?
Getaway Guide 2012
HOLIDAY DESTINATIONS FOR CHRISTIAN WORKERS
The 2012 edition of the Getaway Guide is now available here
Christian Leadership Books
Freedom to Lead
by Colin Buckland
Price: £8.99
(Postage and packaging extra: UK £2.41, International £5.62) details....
This book (originally published under the title of Liberated to Lead) is for any Christian in a position of leadership in the Church. Many leaders struggle with the nature of their role – trying to do the impossible for God, rather than doing their best and leaving the rest to the God of the impossible.
Colin helps readers to:
- Balance family life and the pressures of ministry
- Set realistic expectations in ministry
- Understand one’s calling to Christian service
- Avoid or overcome burnout.
Freedom to Lead is an invaluable tool for leaders who want to learn more about themselves and the role God has called them to.
You can download a sample chapter from here....
Culture Craft (eBook version)
By Rick Sessoms & Colin Buckland
Price £3.99
Many committed, capable, next-generation leaders are confused and frustrated in their current organisations. They cannot reconcile the evident chasm between the Jesus way of leadership and their own organisations’ dysfunctional cultures.
Rick and Colin have written this book to clear the confusion. They ask tough questions that reveal any organisation’s culture. They also offer practical, proven tools to build a ‘healthy’ organisation, one whose members demonstrate real values that are consistent with the teaching and example of Jesus.
This is a must-read book for ‘culture crafters’, those leaders who want to influence their organisations toward better health.
Please refer to the eBook licence
