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Hot Picks: Deepening Your Effectiveness and The Church Vitality Indicator
 Deepening Your Effectiveness
Restructuring the Local Church for Life Transformation
By Dan Glover and Claudia Lavy
Dan Glover and Claudia Lavy develop their own depiction and image of the path of spiritual growth to help church leaders cultivate a more clear awareness of where their people are and how to help them mature in the faith and in their own sense of discipleship. Framing their very workable ideas in a seashore analogy, the authors explain how to identify the stages of spiritual development — from skeptical seekers to authentically functional disciples.
March 2007 Hot Pick — Opening Ourselves to Grace: Basic Christians Practices
Opening Ourselves to Grace: Basic Christians Practices is a four-session video (DVD) program. Bener Baysa Agtarap — Director of Conference and Ethnic Church Stewardship, GBOD
The Reverend Dr. Bener Baysa Agtarap joined the staff of the General Board of Discipleship on January 1, 2007. Hot Pick for August 2006: Becoming Barnabas —The Ministry of Encouragement
Paul Moots reminds us of the significance of becoming an encouraging leader as he discusses the ministries of encouragement, partnership, hospitality, courage, and reconciliation using the biblical examples of Barnabas and his ministry. Kelvin Sauls Named as Director of Congregational Development
The Rev. Kelvin Sauls,
formerly the senior pastor at Downs United Methodist Church in Oakland, California, was named July 1, 2006, to the position of Director of Congregational Development. Hot Pick for June 2006: Leadership and Self-Deception
Considerable thought and grand quantities of ink have been devoted in both church and business to "thinking outside the box." The Arbinger Institute takes that image at least one step further in demonstrating how we are actually "in the box," often completely unaware.
Strategy 101: Ten Simple Planning Mistakes to Avoid
Most strategic planning efforts in local congregations fail, not due to poor work or lack of knowledge or commitment, but due to simple mistakes. Here is a list of the top "don'ts" when planning for your congregation. Hot Picks for April-May 2006
Here are our resource suggestions for April-May 2006. Hot Picks for February-March 2006
Steve Manskar, Director of Accountable Discipleship for The General Board of Discipleship, reviews How Great a Flame: Contemporary Lessons from the Wesleyan Revival and Changed from Glory into Glory: Wesleyan Prayer for Transformation. Video Review: Leadership: An Art of Possibility
(July 2005) Susan W. N. Ruach, Director of Conference Spiritual Leadership Formation for the General Board of Discipleship, reviews Ben and Roz Zander's Leadership: An Art of Possibility. Book Review: Hearing with the Heart
(June 2005) Sandy Zeigler, Director of Lay Leadership Development for the
General Board of Discipleship, reviews Debra K. Farrington's Hearing with the Heart.
The Things I Learned at Annual Conference
(Report forms in pdf format)
Responsibilities of the lay members to annual conference include reporting and interpreting the actions and other information to the congregation. You may write a story for your church newsletter, make one or more presentations to the congregation during worship, report to the administrative council, or use a combination of these ways. Complete these forms as the conference progresses. There is one for each day. Then use your organized notes to prepare your report. (Forms courtesy of Mark Rehn, Communications Director, Western Pennsylvania Conference.) Me? A Theologian?
All Christian believers are called to be theologians because if we love God and wish to serve God, we must think about who God is and what God does. (Posted May 20, 2005.) Top Resource Picks for Conference Leaders — March 2005: Appreciative Inquiry
Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a successful approach to positive organizational change that encourages people to be fully involved in the process.
A Critical Thinker's Guide to Reliable Information
There is no such thing as unbiased information. The moment someone shares information, it is being used for a particular purpose. Take a moment to ask, "What does the provider of this information expect me to do with it?"
Uniting Knowledge and Vital Piety: Linking Learning Styles with Our Spiritual Types
You may already have learned about and implemented in your education and formation ministry the seven ways of learning. Did you know that each of us has a preferred style or means of relating to God as well?
Equal Access Guide (pdf) for Meetings, Conferences, Large Assemblies, and Worship (from the Committee On Disabilities, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA)
Healthy Church Assessment Tool (in pdf format)
A healthy church is one that is alive and pursuing the purpose for which God created it — making disciples for the transformation of the world to what God intends.
Please note that you need the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat Reader (free) to read pdf files.
Summary Report: Connectional Conversation Project — A Journey Across the U.S. Connection (in pdf format)
On behalf of the General Board of Discipleship, the Conference Leaders Team of the Discipleship Ministries Unit undertook a project of sending a team of two staff members into fifty-seven annual conferences, meeting with the bishop and a team of leaders. The information collected in those conversations is reported here.
Please note that you need the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat Reader (free) to read pdf files.
A Summary of the Connectional Conversation Project Report
The purpose of the Connectional Conversation Project was to listen to the hopes and challenges of each annual conference and to discern opportunities for partnerships, support, and resources. Connectional Conversation Project PowerPoint Presentation
Building Up the Body of Christ: Being a District Superintendent in the City (pdf)
This resource, designed to help district superintendents who serve in districts that include high-potential metro churches, provides suggestions for ways superintendents can support and challenge the churches in their district. (From the High-Potential Metro Church Initiative of the General Board of Discipleship.)
Communication Tools for Lay Members to Annual Conference
Fifty Characteristics of Disciple-Making Congregations
"What are the characteristics or activities of a local United Methodist congregation that is actively and successfully engaged in making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world?"
Services for the Ordering of Ministry in The United Methodist Church, 2008
Approved for Use in The United Methodist Church, 2009-2012
These services were approved by General Conference 2008 and supersede all materials relating to the Ordering of Ministry in The United Methodist Book of Worship (1992). Welcoming the Other
Think about life in your congregation at present. What are you doing (or can you do) to welcome "the other"?
(The First) 45 Guiding Questions to Assess the Education Ministry of the Church
Use these questions, and others you identify, to assess your understanding and practice of the ministry of Christian education and formation in your church.
Leading by Not Doing: A Reflection on Wesley's Instruction to "Do No Harm"
Good leadership is commonly defined by the things we do — by our skills and abilities and accomplishments. Rarely do we reflect on what not to do as leaders.
Making the Most of the Time: Finding and Maintaining Balance
Time is a gift, filled with potential. Balancing our work and relationships, our activities and our rest, is an act of Christian stewardship.
The Power of Questions
When asked to name the most critical need in any organization — including the church — one answer regularly given is "good communication," which includes the ability to ask good questions. Insightful, incisive questions can help focus people's thinking and draw them together in transformative dialogue.
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