Clergy Transition and the Power of the Past
A congregation’s history and past clergy relationships powerfully shape the experience of clergy transitions. How incoming leaders can navigate the legacy of predecessors.
Resource topics: Clergy & Staff
What Makes for a Strong Partnership?
What makes the board-clergy partnership work well, and what causes it to break down. Key ingredients: clarity, trust, shared mission, and appropriate boundaries.
Staffing When You Can’t Afford to Staff
Practical strategies for congregations that need more staff capacity but cannot afford to hire — using volunteers, part-time staff, and creative role structures.
Succeeding in a Paid Position
Practical advice for staff in congregational settings on how to succeed in paid ministry and administrative roles — navigating unique culture, working with volunteer boards.
Principles for Sound Staff Evaluation
How to evaluate staff members fairly and effectively in congregational settings. Goal-focused criteria, regular feedback, and the role of the board versus the minister.
Should a Church Staff Member Report to a Committee?
When board- and committee-centered congregations engage paid staff, they sometimes struggle to describe how staff members should relate to one another and to authority.
What Should I Do about the Elders?
How to handle established elder boards or legacy leadership bodies that may be out of step with current governance needs — work with, work around, or restructure.
Learning to Underreact
Leaders in congregations often overreact to conflict and complaints, making problems worse. How leaders can develop the discipline to underreact strategically.
Craft and Creativity in Ministry
The tension between craft (repeatable, honed skills) and creativity (improvisation and innovation) in ministry work. Planning systems should make space for both.
Lap Number Two
Returning to themes of mission, self-care, and sustainability after the exhaustion of the pandemic year. Explores questions of calling, personal renewal, and congregational vitality.