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Where Leadership Development Happens
Every church leader needs mentors, coaches, guides to flourish. (For short, we’ll call them mentors.) Remember this? Think of “3” as spiritual apathy and distrusting of church...
There’s Still Good News in Your Congregation
Of course there's still good news… right? The Bible is being taught. The Gospel is being proclaimed. The Sacraments are being administered. Plus, you and other folks like you are...
Reaching People…Why it’s so Difficult Today
It’s much more difficult to reach the average American with the Gospel today than it was 50 years ago. Let me illustrate with a variation of the Engle scale…popularized by Dr....
Leading Change: I Lived to Tell about It!
This week I'm continuing the storytelling I began last week about my experience in leading change. I shared about two of my early seasons of leading through change, and now move...
My Experience in Leading Change
In the past weeks: We’ve compared remembering the past for the sake of future vision or for nostalgia. We’ve reviewed some of the common mistakes leaders make when navigating...
5 Killers of Courage
There are 5 things that will kill courage that any leader, woman or man, needs to know and confront. They’re embedded in who we are. (And they’re adapted from Heifetz, Grashow...
7 Common Mistakes Made When Leading Change
Last week we compared remembering the past for nostalgia or for future vision. Practically speaking, most of us are not able to pursue a compelling God-inspired future vision...
Vision vs. Nostalgia
PLI is marking its 25th anniversary of training leaders to be healthier, better leaders for the sake of the mission of God. God wants His lost people found! And He invites us and...
The Wind of the Spirit Fund
Over the last few weeks, I've shared my conversation with Cheryl Gieseke, a champion for PLI and young pastors and spouses. Last week we discussed the process Cheryl used to...
“PLI Checked All the Boxes”: Continuing the Conversation with Cheryl Gieseke
This week I'm continuing my conversation with Cheryl Gieseke, a champion for young pastors and spouses. But first, a word from one of the young pastors who has benefited from...
Meet a Champion for Young Pastors and Spouses
Today I want to look at the formation of young pastors and spouses, after three weeks of looking at how two PLI pastors prepared for and finished well, the incredible insights...
Leading While Leaving: An Interview with Mark Zehnder
Mark and Sharon Zehnder have been longtime champions of PLI. Mentors. Donors. Sharon was on staff for some years. Mark served as senior pastor in Omaha, Nebraska, for many years...
Building a Foundation that Will Live On
PLI has always placed a high value on a husband and wife learning together. Last week we listened in on the transition to retirement of Pastor Steve Sohns and Pastor Dave Bahn....
Some Wisdom on Retirement for Leaders Who Aren’t Ready to Retire
Back in 2022 I shared a TED talk about the four stages of retirement and the things that those who aren't ready to retire can still learn. I admit that my own upcoming retirement...
The Christmas Two-Thirds
I just read that for two-thirds of us, our emotional health gets worse during the Christmas season. That would mean that two-thirds of the people you saw coming and going in your...
Sabbatical Makes a Difference
We continue the interview with Rev. Tim Fangmeier and get into some more of the details of sabbatical.
Why You Need a Sabbatical
Tim Fangmeier has long been a champion of sabbaticals for pastors and regularly coach on the how and why on something pretty foreign to most of us.
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