I haven’t come across before but he echoes some of the tension I and those of us born with any kind of a pioneering / entrepreneurial gene tend to feel in church leadership roles.

Here’s an excerpt:

In the business world it seems accepted that entrepreneurs are always entrepreneurs, they specialise in “blue sky thinking” and they then work with managers and administrators… the worst thing to do with a new product/initiative is to leave it in the hands of the inventor! Yet in the Church it seems to be assumed that a pioneer will gradually morph into a manager/pastor… I’m beginning to doubt this model.

From

Steve Taylor picks up on the thought and offers his own reflections

offers some great insights to communicators here and suggests that google can actually help you think more intelligently about how you prepare what you have to say

Excerpt:

Google Trends provides a function whereby you can type in a topic and discover in what regions of the world this word has been searched the most and what topics hold greatest interest. The search can be narrowed to show in what cities and in what languages people have been Googling for stories and articles on this theme.

Phil Cooke picks up on a similar theme and observes that unless careful

Excerpt:

– Craft – You create something out of passion for the art of it.

– Crowd – An audience discovers you’re good at your passion.

– Commission – You earn money for the thing you love to do.

– Career – You turn a passion into your profession.

– Caretaker – You protect and nurture the thing you’ve created, and do everything you can to “defend” your turf. A dangerous phase.”

Once we’ve achieved any level of success, the tempation to become a “caretaker” rather than creator is very powerful.

David Fitch outlines the and why we need to think more creatively about the way we help people engage with scripture.

Excerpt:

Myth 1: If You Preach A Good Sermon The Church Will Grow (in Numbers)

Many a despondent preacher has discovered that this notion is no longer true. It has become a dying myth in post Christendom. Nevertheless, this notion gets reinforced by mega churches who leverage (by video screens etc.) one (or two) charismatic gifted teacher to build crowds who come to consume a good sermon. This, I contend, is largely drawing on the leftovers of Christendom, people still looking for “good teaching” that is portable and user friendly to somehow improve their Christian lives. I take no offense in ministering to those of us who are leftovers from Christendom, we need to be fed and nurtured too! I just want all pastors who aim their ministries in this direction to realize the pie is getting smaller and the competition hotter. Anyone therefore still holding onto the premise – if I just preach a good sermon, they will come – and ministering in post Christendom- must either compete or be grossly disappointed with the continued dwindling of his/her congregation.

And on a different note, From ST Images some great shots

asks how you determine what to let your kids read and offers some great thoughts. (I taught Kylie 24 years ago when she was in year 8 so its funny to be linking up to her now!)

Excerpt:

Read It First!

Genre is subjective and lets face it good writing can be not a necessary consideration, as lone as people invest in the story and characters.

Read It First!

Or at least find someone you trust to recommend for you or read it first.

And finally offers some great thoughts on how we express ourselves as the church architecturally. I have just started re-reading Simon’s ‘God Next Door’ and still find it a beautifully profound and simple book that inspires me to live the gospel in my world. The question of architecture and buildings is a very interesting one because space does create atmosphere and beauty is part of that, but then at what cost?…

Excerpt:

Interestingly, Farrelly identifies the church as one of the traditional reservoirs of this beauty; the poetry of its theology, architecture and worship pointing us to truth. However, she bemoans the fact that contemporary expressions of religious faith are running on empty: ‘Religion, once a perennial source of beauty, is now principally a bums-on-seats business, competing for market share with every other lifestyle choice, from scuba-diving to virtual reality games, and striving therefore to be groovy, unthreatening, accessible and, above all, popular.’ The churches of today, Farrelly asserts, ‘seem determined to snatch mediocrity from the jaws of transcendence.’ As churches leave ‘sacred architecture’ behind, they’re embracing corporate or corner-store architecture in its place: ‘Times when sacred music, liturgy and architecture were troves of transcendent beauty are long gone, good-riddanced by the ever-more-populist church herself.’