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Posts Tagged ‘Enter New Territory’
2 Prayers for the Mission Field
By: Jock Ficken
Read the prayer. Take the quiz. Distribute to a group of your friends. Compare your answers The Prayer Dr. Robert Newton, former missionary to the Philippines, former district president and PLI Board member, explained that when they were missionaries in the Philippines they would kneel down, hold hands and pray the essence of these two … Continue reading
Do the Important Stuff
By: Sherrah Behrens
“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
Benefits of Pruning
By: Jock Ficken
It’s no secret that the Church in the U.S. is struggling and declining; it’s been well-documented in many places. And it’s no secret that this places enormous pressures on pastors and their families and their congregations. But… What if much of what is happening in the church is a season of pruning? And it’s a … Continue reading
Slaying the “It Won’t Work Here” Mindset
By: Jock Ficken
This summer we’ve invited ourselves to return to a season of adventure and discovery…to admit that all things in leadership and ministry are different. They aren’t what they used to be. We’ve packed a decade (or more?) of change into a handful of months. (It hasn’t really caught up with us or the people we … Continue reading
3 Non-Negotiables for Congregational Change
By: Jock Ficken
Every day, leaders wake up knowing that their congregation must navigate change or distance itself from being a vibrant community with wider influence. Here’s the problem: Inertia wakes up even earlier every day and has already resolved to fend off any feeble attempts at desperately needed change that would challenge the status quo. So, here … Continue reading
What You Can Do if You Think Your Church is Failing
By: Jock Ficken
80% of U.S. churches… Worship less than 100. Face steady to rapid decline. Possess collective memories of being 2 times or 10 times larger. Leaders and members are taunted with the whisper that they’re failing. Usually today’s realities were set in motion years earlier by… A stubborn refusal or inability to make necessary changes for … Continue reading
Why We Can’t Stay Here
By: Jock Ficken
Leaders articulate vision! They offer 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 … Continue reading
The Gap between Intentions and Action
By: Jock Ficken
I am absolutely excited about Gail’s rollout of Multipli last week. If you haven’t yet… watch the video introduction: If you didn’t… read Gail’s blog from last week. If you haven’t… sign up or or recommend someone for Genesis leader. The bottom line: I’m seeing people all over the place who are stuck and have … Continue reading
Gathered and Scattered
By: Jock Ficken
Remember when we all shut down and scattered back in March…for two weeks? Remember when whatever it is that you lead adjusted…adapted…zoomed…went online…got creative? And remember when you started talking about “going back to normal?” Do you remember the first time it occurred to you that “back to normal” would not be “normal”—maybe similar but … Continue reading
Letting Go of the Single Voice to Reach the Many
By: Gail Ficken
Many of you know that I grew up in suburban Washington, D.C. Our neighbors changed based on who was ushered in by the most recent presidential election. To say that “I work for the government” was oftentimes code for CIA or FBI, or someone who wanted to appear important or mysterious. As a child I … Continue reading
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