Pastoral Leadership

I have observed over the years two essential needs for church revitalization: a capable pastor and a willing congregation. Below you will...

Pastor Fred (not his real name) was excited, energized, and confident after attending a Turnaround Pastors Boot Camp . He learned what to...

A personal story – one that has the happy fortune of also being true! – illuminates why pastors and churches find it hard to answer this...

Relentless focus on the mission. Uncompromising devotion to the vision. Insistence on “no more business as usual.” These hallmark...

Back in olden days, between the end of WWII and the end of the War in Vietnam, pastors had a simple goal for themselves and their...

Turnaround pastors are distinguished by how they deal with one question. Not by their answers. By how they deal with the question. “Is...

“Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not get bent out of shape.” If you’re going to be a turnaround pastor, you’ve got to be...

It takes a different set of skills to lead a church through the 200 barrier Breaking the 200 barrier looks like the typical pastor’s...

I love Rich Birch. He’s an independent, out of the box, creative thinker. I love people who challenge prevailing wisdom and push the...

The Two Barns “It was the best of times and it was the worst of times . . ..” So begins Charles Dickens’,  A Tale of Two Cities. In this...

Think you’re up for the challenge? Chances are 9:1 against your being able to pull it off. Here’s the scenario: You’re sitting on the...

It’s a stark fact most pastors wish they could avoid. The person most responsible for leading a dying church into life and growth sits in...

What if turnaround leadership was a matter of following a few simple rules about how pastors behave, and that these behaviors are as...

Turnaround pastors are “different.” Sometimes it seems that rather than marching to everyone else’s drummer, they’re lurching frantically...

My colleague and ministry partner Gordon Penfold’s favorite refrain has one line: “Successful turnaround takes a capable pastor and a...

Chances are you’re in a church that’s on the plateau, or on the down hill slide. The chances are great, in fact. 85% of the churches in...

Other people. The Turnaround pastor’s most effective professional development tool. More important than biblical languages. More...

Other people. The Turnaround pastor’s most effective professional development tool. More important than biblical languages. More...