Resources, Tips and Content for Children's Ministry and Family Life Leaders

Leadership: Plain and Simple

June 27, 2013 by

Recently I had the privilege of attending the first of two leadership classes at North Coast Church in Carlsbad, California. The class was entitled “Leadership: Plain and Simple” and led by Ned Mervich, the Video Café Pastor from the Vista Campus.

Mervich’s goal was to boil down the vast amount of information available to us on the topic of leadership and present it as something that was simple—deep (meaningful) and fast (easy to grasp). The room was filled with business owners, administrators, parents, teachers, those entering new leadership roles and those in transition.

Mervich presented the chart below and offered the following definition:

Leadership Chart

The Essence of Leadership is—

A person called by God to influence through his head, heart and hands, a group of people who can work together effectively through the use of their skills, gifts, abilities and interests to accomplish God’s purpose for that group.

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When You Find Yourself Leading Alone…

June 17, 2013 by

Leadership can be one of the most exciting adventures of life if you are gifted to lead. However, it doesn’t take long to understand that there are times when you find yourself standing alone.

I can remember my very first staff meeting. I had been hired to be the Children’s Ministry Director and I came to the table with a long list of questions. The meeting began with a time of prayer and then immediately turned to the business at hand. An agenda had been presented and the items on it were huge! Some would determine the direction of the church; others were problems needing resolution that had the potential for heartache; and some required budget adjustments demanding give and take on the part of every ministry team.

There was no time to focus on my unknowns or ease my insecurities. In fact, within just a few days I came to realize that the staff had hired me to be the resident expert. They had no plans or ideas for kids, and although they were extremely supportive and great listeners, they were looking to me for their next course of action!

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