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Archive for the ‘Navigate Cultural Change’ Category
Do you invest or curse?
By: Jock Ficken
A few years ago I had an early morning flight from Buffalo. Eight inches of snow on the way. “Good thing I’m getting out early,” I told the shuttle driver. His reply? “Ah, this is Buffalo. No big deal.” It’s just the Buffalo environment. Right? Lots of snow? I suppose my driver and everyone else … Continue reading
A Leadership Jump
By: Jock Ficken
I want you to entertain a sizeable leadership jump! From Recruiting volunteers for programs inside the church! To Developing leaders for the Mission Outside the Church! …because We Can’t Stay Here, especially if we care about most of the younger generation that’s walked away from church as institution. Most of my Christendom world early leadership … Continue reading
We Can’t Stay Here
By: Jock Ficken
Leaders articulate vision! A preferred future. They also articulate WHY WE CAN’T STAY HERE. My early leader years? Lots of Vision! I ignored WHY WE CAN’T STAY HERE, and then I couldn’t understand why nobody wanted to leave…HERE! I was like Moses trying to convince the Israelites to exit Egypt before anyone realized it wasn’t … Continue reading
5 Ways to Disciple Young Leaders
By: Jock Ficken
You may have noticed there aren’t many young leaders in most congregations today. Ain’t many young “anybodies” in most churches these days. We risk the death of the church in the U.S. in a single generation. My heart aches with every congregational leader’s lament: How did this happen? How did we get here? But we … Continue reading
Where is God leading you next?
By: Jock Ficken
I asked a bunch of younger leaders to do the difficult, to challenge some “landing pattern” pastors and spouses and others who have served so well for so long to not squander what might be their largest legacy in helping the Church set sail toward a new season of great mission vibrancy. This “landing pattern” … Continue reading
Do the Important Stuff
By: Jock Ficken
WOW! THERE MUST BE SOME REALLY GOOD STUFF HAPPENING HERE! That was the response of a couple of leaders attending the conference our congregation hosted some years ago. Several years earlier we had jumped to a multiple campus ministry and had now built the first phase of the new campus where the event was being … Continue reading
Exploiting Opportunities
By: Jock Ficken
Opportunities abound for most of us, for most of our congregations. Seriously! But, most of us and most of our churches find it difficult to exploit those opportunities. A gap exists between what we say we value…and what we actually value! Leaders and churches oftentimes know it, believe it, but just don’t act on it. … Continue reading
Do You Ever Feel Like a Pretender?
By: Jock Ficken
I rode in the Batavia triathlon last month…sort of…unintentionally…for three miles. Unbeknownst to me, my 20-mile morning ride intersected with hundreds of triathletes! Cars were being waved through onto the same route as the riders. They shrugged. They smiled. They waved me onto the riding route, too. For those 3 miles I rode as fast … Continue reading
Courageous Decisions for Large-Scale Change
By: Jock Ficken
Large-scale change is all around us. Your congregation has decided to lean in to the change and adjust, adapt and improve without surrendering the ever-so-important essence of who you are. Or your congregation is dangerously flirting with the consequences. There are 3 types of decisions: Self-Serving Decision…for the sake of heritage or comfort Procrastinated Decision…for … Continue reading
Good Leaders Create Pain
By: Jock Ficken
Good leaders create pain for themselves and for those they lead from time to time. I was challenged a long time ago not to reduce my ministry leadership to the lowest common denominator where No one gets upset, It costs no one anything, Irrelevance and ineffectiveness get a passing grade. What a gift! It’s not … Continue reading
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