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Showing posts from December, 2023

When Leadership Feels Heavy: Faithfulness in the Middle of It

  by Bart Denny There are moments in ministry that feel full. Full of joy. Full of momentum. Full of visible fruit. And then there are moments that feel heavy. Not dramatic. Not headline-worthy. Just heavy. The kind of weight that comes from complicated situations, unclear facts, strained relationships, and decisions that don’t have easy answers. If you’ve led in the church for any length of time, you know this weight. It shows up when you’re trying to care for people who are hurting while also protecting the rest of the flock. It shows up when you’re holding pieces of a story, but not the whole picture. It shows up when you’re expected to lead with clarity in situations that feel anything but clear. And often, it shows up quietly. You still preach. You still smile. You still lead. But underneath, you’re carrying something heavy. The Reality We Don’t Always Talk About Spiritual leadership is not just about vision and teaching. It’s also about burden-b...

Leadership Development in Local Church Revitalization: A Review of the Literature and Suggestions for Further Research

by Bart L. Denny This article identifies a gap in the existing literature concerning leadership development in the context of local church revitalization. The article further suggests how existing leadership and leadership development theories could be applied to church revitalization and proposes further investigation and research areas. Observers and practitioners in the field of church revitalization unequivocally make the case that for a local church to reverse its decline, the pastor must develop a new generation of leaders (Clifton, 2016; Davis, 2017; Henard, 2021; Rainer, 2020; Stetzer & Dodson, 2021). The extant literature links the decline of churches to a lack of leadership and identifies renewed leadership as a vital component of church revitalization. However, little has been written, theoretically or practically, about the process of leadership development as it applies to local church revitalization. Moreover, little empirical verification supports church revitalizat...