| | | | | | | | | | | | PRACTICAL WISDOM FOR LEADING CONGREGATIONS |
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | It's better to give than to receive. Or is it?
According to Adam Grant and his New York Times best-seller Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success, the world is made up of three kinds of people: givers, takers and matchers.
Givers are others-focused and do not expect anything in return for their generosity. Givers freely offer their time, energy, resources and connections.
Takers see their needs as more important than others' and the world as competitive. Takers will help others, but they do so strategically, to ensure that they reap the greatest benefit.
Matchers value fairness and work toward an equality of giving and taking. They operate with a "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" mentality.
In ministry, many of us pride ourselves on being givers. We claim we are called to give, citing the Bible: "Do unto others" and "From whom much is given, much is expected." We take courses in seminary on how to give pastoral care and give a good sermon. Ministry is about giving, right?
Givers often sacrifice themselves to make their organizations better. Grant writes that the more often people are helping, teaching, sharing and mentoring, the better their organizations do in every measurable metric. This sounds like the narrative we tell ourselves in pursuit of "success" in ministry. We call it "sacrifice for the greater good."
But before you classify yourself in what sounds like the category of champions, you might be surprised to learn that across a vast span of occupations, givers themselves consistently rank among the least successful people. On average, givers earn less money, are less powerful and are more likely to be victims of crime.
So what does this say for those of us who feel called to give of ourselves for the sake of others?
Read more from Victoria Atkinson White » |
| IDEAS THAT IMPACT: CONGREGATIONAL CULTURE
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How much, and in what ways, does congregational culture affect membership and attendance? Ken Evers-Hood used game theory to design a study to try to answer that question, and what he found is worth paying attention to.
Read more from Ken Evers-Hood »
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Helping is a behavior that an institution needs to inspire rather than force by integrating it into the way of work.
Read more from Gretchen Ziegenhals »
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Theologian and scholar L. Gregory Jones offers a bold suggestion: Christian institutions of any size ought to designate a specific person to focus on learning and serve as a member of the senior leadership team.
Read more from L. Gregory Jones » |
| | CONTINUE YOUR LEARNING: UPCOMING WEBINAR |
WRITING FROM YOUR LIFE OF FAITH A Webinar from Leadership Education at Duke Divinity March 29 | 1 - 2 p.m. EDT
This one-hour webinar will give you the skills you need to write a theologically rich personal essay. Our focus will be on writing an essay of 800 to 1,000 words aimed at an audience of Christians who are theologically curious but not necessarily theologically educated. The session will teach you how to sharpen the focus of your writing; develop a personal voice and present your work professionally for publication.
Instructor Sally Hicks is the editor of Faith & Leadership, the award-winning online magazine published by Leadership Education at Duke Divinity. Before that, she was a senior writer in Duke University's Office of News & Communications as well as a reporter, writer, editorial writer and editor for several newspapers. Hicks also has published personal essays and is currently a student in the certificate program at Duke's Center for Documentary Studies.
Learn more and register » |
THE CHURCH AND MENTAL HEALTH: The Reimagining Health Collaborative at Duke Divinity School
Do you feel called to work for the health and wellness of your community? Does your church have health ministries in place, but long to do more? Does your church want to work with other congregations and organizations to develop theologically-based wellness programs in your community?
The Reimagining Health Collaborative invites churches and Christian communities to engage more fully in God's healing and restoring work through innovative and faithful practices of health and health care. This year's cohort will focus on the church and mental health.
Approximately 45% of Americans will develop some form of mental illness - especially depression, anxiety, and substance use. Suicide is a leading cause of death among adolescents and adults. Living with mental illness, particularly serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, is filled with both challenges and opportunities. The church must be equipped and energized to respond faithfully.
Your congregation is a great fit for RHC 2017: The Church and Mental Health if: Your congregation feels called to learn from and to walk faithfully with persons with mental illness in your congregation and community.Your congregation wants to explore and discover new models of ministry, and develop a lasting relationship with another organization within your community.You believe God is at work healing and restoring the world in Jesus Christ, and want to participate in this healing work. To learn more, please see the program page. Applications must be submitted to [email protected] by April 15th, 2017. |
Healthy Congregations: A Systems Approach by Peter Steinke
In this sequel to How Your Church Family Works, Peter Steinke takes readers into a deeper exploration of the congregation as an emotional system. He outlines the factors that put congregations at risk for anxiety and conflict. Learn ten principles of health, how congregations can adopt new ways of dealing with stress and anxiety, as well as how spiritually and emotionally healthy leaders influence the emotional system. Featuring a new preface and a fresh redesign, this book is a classic work by one of the most respected names in congregational consulting.
Learn more and order the book » |
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