Cross Shaped Leadership

For Lutheran pastor John Berntsen, the cross is about more than the crucifixion on Good Friday. It is shorthand for the whole drama of salvation--God's decisive act of reconciling the world to God's own self. The cross is dying and rising with Christ, but at a deeper level it is the story of the world's resistance to grace. Those who lead are subject to the cross no less than others. In contrast with the current fashion for "visionary" or "purpose-driven" leaders, cross-shaped leaders are not primarily the providers of master plans, nor are they master builders. Cross-shaped leadership is provisional, contextual, and fallible--open-ended ministry that has the character of a pilot project. It is always under construction and revision. Our moment-by-moment functioning in ministry is subject to countless deaths and resurrections, few of which are heroic or glorious. But Berntsen offers good news within this potentially dismal perspective. He writes, "Once we've accepted the truth that ministry is hard, even impossible--once we've stopped living in denial of this reality, or perhaps whining about it--it becomes the truth that sets us free. We cease being gloomy servants, weighed down by our resentful conviction that we are all alone in our work--the closet atheism born of the worry, 'If I don t do it, nobody will'--and instead become joyful coworkers of a strong, wise, and consoling Lord." With optimism, humor, and deep empathy, Berntsen's Cross-Shaped Leadership offers hope and challenge in the midst of the rough and tumble of parish practice.

A thorough exploration of what biblical servanthood is, why each Christian is called to serve, and how to grow as true servants of our Lord.

This book is about leadership, a scholarly and pastoral response to the urgent demand for the renewal of the contemporary Christian church. It challenges readers to articulate the identity and vision of the church in new ways, and encourages them to revitalize their ministry with fresh insight and passion from women's perspectives. The eight essays written by female scholars in relation to various areas of theological study and the nine pastoral responses to the essays written by ministers from seven different denominations, based on their experiences of actual ministerial settings, provide new paradigms of church leadership--theologically profound, practically relevant, and historically timely. This volume, a product of a collaborative process between academia and church, promises to be a most useful resource to renew the leadership of the church and its vocational commitment to the transformation of the church and society.

This comprehensive textbook on pastoral ministry for pastors, church leaders, and students articulates a biblical model for shepherding God's people. Written by a leading psychologist and seminary professor who has served as a pastor for more than two decades, the book covers twelve major areas of pastoral ministry, highlights the essential work of the Holy Spirit, and focuses on the personal and family life of the pastor. It includes cross-cultural perspectives of special interest in our diverse world and a foreword by John Ortberg.

Führung und Organisation sind komplexe Phänomene, die oftmals durch Metaphern beschrieben werden. Zunehmend interessieren sich Theorie und Praxis für ihre Verwendung. Wie sehen sich Führungskräfte selbst und wie werden sie von anderen metaphorisch beschrieben? Gängige Sprachbilder reichen vom Gärtner und Coach bis hin zum Macher oder Priester. Alle diese Bilder sollen helfen, die zugrunde liegende Sichtweise auf Führung und Organisation zu beschreiben und geben einen Einblick, wie Führung von unseren metaphorischen Weltbildern beeinflusst wird. Wenig Aufmerksamkeit erfuhren bisher kulturelle Unterschiede bei der Verwendung von Metaphern im Bereich Führung und Organisation. Wie können wir die verborgenen Metaphern, die unser Denken unterbewusst prägen, an die Oberfläche bringen? Wie können wir alte Metaphern der Führung in einer modernen und globalisierten Welt nutzen? Der vorliegende Band dokumentiert die zentralen Ergebnisse einer interdisziplinären Konferenz zu Metaphern und Führung, an der Wissenschaftler und Wissenschaftlerinnen aus Afrika, Asien, Europa und Nordamerika teilgenommen haben. Metaphors are used increasingly in leadership theory and leadership development. How do leaders view themselves and how are they seen by others in terms of metaphors? One can find a wide range described in publications and on coaching websites. They range from gardener and coach, to manager or priest. They all help describe the underlying view on leadership and give insight into how leadership is influenced by our metaphorical view of the world. However, little work has been done on describing the influence of cultural perspectives in metaphors used in the area of leadership and organisations. How can we bring to the surface the hidden metaphors that shape our thinking subconsciously? How can we utilise old metaphors of leadership in a new and globalised world? This volume documents the central results of an interdisciplinary conference on metaphors and leadership in which scientists from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America took part.

Becoming the Pastor You Hope to Be unapologetically urges clergy readers to develop practices that will help them become more excellent ministers. A long-time field educator, now serving as a denominational staff person responsible for ministerial formation, Barbara Blodgett believes excellence is a matter of doing simple things with care and consistency. Ministers who commit themselves to excellence will grow and flourish, and even become happier in ministry. Blodgett urges ministers to resist praise and instead to ask for feedback, to seek the company of mentors who are better than the reader is at what he or she does, to be vulnerable before their peers in order to learn from them, and to define themselves as a leader who does not merely take activist stances but risks entering into deep, transformative relationships. Improvement in ministry, Blodgett argues, comes about not through extraordinary leaps and bounds but rather through adoptingsimple habits and carrying through on small but thoughtfully made choices. Addressed to ministers, ecoming the Pastor You Hope to Be is also a valuable resource for discernment committees, Christian educators, leaders of continuing education and lay education programs, and all those who partner with theological schools to help form ministers, both lay and ordained.