Leadership Reformed

This book presents the gospel as a sensemaking tool to critically examine five areas of personal leadership effectiveness, namely desire, identity, dignity, motive, and ambition. Every tipping point in changing the world for the better always involves leadership. Yet history also illustrates that even formidable leaders are prone to derailment and failures. Contrary to the popular idea that leaders need to enhance their self-efficacy to be effective, the focus of self is misguided because the self is the epicenter of the leadership problem. The author posits that the preoccupation with the self (and consequently, unbelief in the gospel) is the fundamental reason why leaders are blinded by power and control, create their own performance treadmill, live for the approval of others, and have myopic ambitions for things of this world. Drawing on biblical insights and scholarly research, the leadership principles outlined in the book and their street-level applications will equip both novice and seasoned leaders to begin and end well.

"This book presents the gospel as a sensemaking tool to critically examine five areas of personal leadership effectiveness, namely desire, identity, dignity, motive and ambition. Every tipping point in changing the world for the better always involves leadership. Yet history also illustrates that even formidable leaders are prone to derailment and failures. Contrary to the popular idea that leaders need to enhance their self-efficacy to be effective, the focus of self is misguided because the self is the epicentre of the leadership problem. The author posits that the preoccupation with the self (and consequently, unbelief in the gospel) is the fundamental reason why leaders are blinded by power and control, create their own performance treadmill, live for the approval of others, and have myopic ambitions for things of this world. Drawing on biblical insights and scholarly research, the leadership principles outlined in the book and their street-level applications will equip both novice and seasoned leaders to begin and end well"--

As its name implies, the Reformed tradition grew out of the 16th century Protestant Reformation. The Reformed churches consider themselves to be the Catholic Church reformed. The movement originated in the reform efforts of Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531) of Zurich and John Calvin (1509-1564) of Geneva. Although the Reformed movement was dependent upon many Protestant leaders, it was Calvin's tireless work as a writer, preacher, teacher, and social and ecclesiastical reformer that provided a substantial body of literature and an ethos from which the Reformed tradition grew. Today, the Reformed churches are a multicultural, multiethnic, and multinational phenomenon. Historical Dictionary of the Reformed Churches, Third Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 1,000 cross-referenced entries on leaders, personalities, events, facts, movements, and beliefs of the Reformed churches. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about reformed churches.

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.

Present day knowledge about public sector reforms in Asia is quite scattered and seldom focuses on the challenges of leadership. This book seeks to address this issue by presenting country cases that reflect the great diversity of the region.

Moving from Hegemony to Partnership in Leadership When God created women and men, the intention was for them to be partners with each other and to serve in the world as cocreators with God. The story of human beings, however, has been impacted with culture and other social factors to create different forms of hegemonies. These hegemonies have been key in values that create social injustices that are in all spheres of life but more so in women and men relationships. In cases of leadership and in many cultures, men have adopted attitudes that justify exclusion of women from leadership. In religious circles, it is justified by the ways texts are read and interpreted through the lens of culture. If we begin from the premises of justice and believing in a God of justice, then hegemonic ways of understating leadership should be null and void. Acknowledging that human beings are created in the image and likeness of God demands that we act differently. What this has meant is to challenge injustice in leadership by men and women in partnership. The circle of concerned African women theologians in Africa, where Rev. Edith Chemorion is a member, has, over the years, provided safe spaces for mentoring women to research and write about the experiences of women but much more so to call for justice in all areas, including the study of theological education and for leadership in the churches. This has borne results because of the partnership of men and women. Reverend Edith's contributions to the rallying call is that society moves from hegemony to partnership in all fronts, but especially in offering leadership by all. We are strong when we partner, and we image God's will for society in partnership. Prof. Esther Mombo Lecturer, Faculty of Theology St. Paul's University, Limuru, Kenya

One of the most significant developments within contemporary American Christianity, especially among younger evangelicals, is a groundswell of interest in the Reformed tradition. In Reformed Resurgence, Brad Vermurlen provides a comprehensive sociological account of this phenomenon--known as New Calvinism--and what it entails for the broader evangelical landscape in the United States. Vermurlen develops a new theory for understanding how conservative religion can be strong and thrive in the hypermodern Western world. His paradigm uses and expands on strategic action field theory, a recent framework proposed for the study of movements and organizations that has rarely been applied to religion. This approach to religion moves beyond market dynamics and cultural happenstance and instead shows how religious strength can be fought for and won as the direct result of religious leaders' strategic actions and conflicts. But the battle comes at a cost. For the same reasons conservative Calvinistic belief is experiencing a resurgence, present-day American evangelicalism has turned in on itself. Vermurlen argues that in the end, evangelicalism in the United States consists of pockets of subcultural and local strength within the "cultural entropy" of secularization, as religious meanings and coherence fall apart.

One of Christianity Today's Top 10 Books of the Year! Leith Anderson's preaching vision, and leadership have guided his church through a process of change and growth process of change and growth, putting it on the cutting edge to meet the spiritual needs of its people. His counsel is sound, practical, and full of hope to pastors, church leaders, and lay Christians. Christianity Today selected this book as its top pick in the Church/Pastoral Leadership category for 2000.