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Transition Ministry Series: A Story from Hope Reformed Church, Kalamazoo

Moments of transition are sometimes the best moments to take a step back and reevaluate. Here’s the story and process of how Hope Reformed Church did just that. Our speaker, Steve Hellenga, is with Hope Reformed Church in Kalamazoo. They recently went through the transitional process of calling a new pastor. During this process they sought the help of a …

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Where Leadership Begins

Are you a new leader wondering where to start your leadership journey?  On today’s Whiteboard Wednesday, Curry Pikaart, Classis Leader for the Southwest Michigan Classis, tells us about where leadership begins based on his experiences in college and the story of Nehemiah. Doctor Kenneth Weller became the president of Central College in Pella, Iowa, when Pikkaart was a student there. …

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Frames of Leadership

 Leaders come in all shapes and sizes, all with different competencies and emphases. What type of leader are you? And how can you develop competencies in other ways of leadership? On this Whiteboard Wednesday, Jill VerSteeg, Director of Transformational Engagement, delves into three different frames of leadership based on Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal’s book, Reframing Organizations. Each of these …

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Finishing Well

On today’s Whiteboard Wednesday, Rick Veenstra talks about the importance of finishing well as a Christian leader to ensure a smooth and positive transition in your ministry. Rick Veenstra is nearing the end of his journey as a vocational Christian leader, having served as a pastor for over 40 years. To help prepare for the next chapter of his life, …

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Show Your Work

Today, we have Rick Veenstra share with us about the importance of “showing your work.” Recently, our team was asked to read a book titled Show Your Work. As a result of reading that book, we became convinced it was important to do the kind of thing we are doing right now. We believe that because we are Christians, we …

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I Hate This

This week’s Whiteboard Wednesday, we have Rick Veenstra, who’s been serving as a minister for more than 40 years, and shares one of the life lessons he’s learned, entitled “I Hate This.” My mom told me that I should not use the word “hate.” But I don’t know what other word to use regarding this particular leadership lesson, which has …

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Institutional Management to Missional Leadership

On today’s Whiteboard Wednesday, Mike Gafa shares a few thoughts about the importance of missional leadership for moving a consistory from managers to leaders. To move from managing to leading, we must pull away from institutional management and embrace missional leadership. What do we mean by “institutional management?” Institutional management encompasses the daily operations of a church – staff management, …

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Spans of Care

On today’s Whiteboard Wednesday, Doug McClintic describes “spans of care” in a congregation, and how this system of taking care of one another helps to strengthen and start churches. The spans of care in your congregation are what holds a congregation together. Through research and experience, there is an ideal ratio between how many people you have in your congregation …

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The Miracle of Team

Recently an idea emerged in our team meeting that would shift twenty percent of a team member’s life energy in a new direction. The next day a document was prepared to propose how and why this change would occur. The following day the team agreed to make the change. We believe this shift has the potential to radically improve our …

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Does Not Compute

For this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday, we have Rick Veenstra, the leadership development catalyst for Luminex share with us the 2 basic characteristics in being a successful leader for the Church. In Jim Collins landmark book Good to Great, he identified two basic characteristics that enable leaders to lead effective and successful companies for a sustained period of time. As Christian …