101 Great Ideas for Growing Healthy Churches. John Nelson

92. Take ‘An Hour Out’

       93. Teach the Whole Counsel of God

       94. The Children Shall Lead if we Let Them

       95. Time Your Work and Plan for Neglect

       96. Vary Your Worship Style

       97. What are You Selling?

       98. Work Out Where You are Going

       99. Work to Build the House of Prayer for All Nations

       100. Work with the Workers

       101. Worship, Lead and Manage

       About the Contributors

       About MODEM

      The Editorial Team

      John Nelson is a founder member of MODEM. He serves as its national secretary and publishing editor. This is John Nelson’s fifth book for MODEM as editor.

      John was formerly head of the department of management studies and chairman of the faculty of accounting and finance, business studies, law and management studies at Liverpool Polytechnic, now known as John Moore’s University.

      John’s management experience includes time with Rolls Royce, the National Coal Board and the Royal Air Force. John has also served as a management consultant to the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool where he worked with Bishop David Sheppard. He is active in his local church in Formby as a reader and chairman of the PCC communications committee and the regular church columnist for the Formby Times.

      Anton Müller is an ordained Anglican priest. He has a passion for the mission and forward movement of the church through education and training. He has worked in ministry to visitors to Rochester Cathedral and as a tutor for the Rochester and Canterbury developing ministries programme. Prior to ordination he was the education and training officer for the Church Mission Society in the UK. Since ordination he has served in parishes, hospitals and a hospice; tutored in adult spiritual formation and served as editor for ENGAGE (formerly Nota Bene for STL/Wesley Owen). He is currently tutor for the Diocese of Carlisle, part-time school teacher and chaplain to Centerparcs.

      Anton is married to Sue, a nurse with Hospice at Home and his inspiration.

      Michael Lofthouse has over 40 years of management and leadership experience. He was a chief superintendent in the Kent Police, the deputy director of the Business School of Canterbury Christ Church University in Canterbury Diocese, and latterly as the director of LM Consultancy he provides advice and guidance to charitable and non-profit organizations. He has lectured at universities throughout the world in countries as diverse as China, Egypt and the USA. He is a visiting lecturer for the Department of International Security and Resilience at Cranfield University.

      A word from the Chair of MODEM on 101 Great Ideas for Growing Healthy Churches

      ELIZABETH WELCH

      101 Great Ideas marks a development from MODEM’s previous books on leadership and management in that it offers short and focused pieces that will be easily accessible for a quick look in the face of particular issues that come up in a church’s life.

      It has a great wealth and variety of contributors. Some write from their ‘hands on’ experience of grappling with leadership issues within the church over many years. Others are regional and national church leaders. Some have extensive academic experience in writing and speaking on leadership and management, both in Britain and internationally. Others have a background in business or the voluntary sector. One of the advantages of this book is that the contributors represent a range of different Christian traditions. This brings about a mix of different approaches and a variety of insights which can be helpful across a spectrum of different situations.

      Approaches to leadership and management in the churches arise out of a variety of different theological perspectives, balancing between more personal and more conciliar approaches. Each approach is shaped by a deep sense of the Trinitarian God who calls us into being and, in Christ, calls us to share in the work of his kingdom in the world. Attentiveness to God’s world and the insights gained from a wide range of thinking about the way in which organizations are shaped and developed, is also helpful in shaping the present-day organizational realities of church life.

      Undergirding this lies an openness to the Holy Spirit and a willingness to be led in new directions, building on the way in which the Spirit has led God’s people over many centuries. Churches have not always modelled best practice in terms of either attentiveness to the Spirit or to the human needs and concerns revealed in different generations. This book is a contribution to the development of healthy churches. It offers snapshots of good practice and a range of thoughts and practical suggestions to aid the Christian people in a local community to develop and grow their life.

      The Church in Western Europe has seen many challenges in the post-Enlightenment period. The social and philosophical emphasis on human autonomy, with the rise of the focus on the individual, has led to a diminishment of the authority of many traditional institutions. The positive aspect of this has been a greater sense of personal freedom and a growing challenge to corrupt and abusive practices within any institution. At the same time, this has brought about a challenge to traditional patterns of organizational life and a diminishment of the sense of shared responsibility. Women and men involved in leadership and management need to wrestle more vigorously with both the external pressures on an organization and the internal practices which help the organization to be healthy and to grow. This book offers snippets of support to help leaders and managers to be more visionary and effective.

      I am grateful to the three editors of this book, John Nelson, Anton Müller and Michael Lofthouse, for the time, effort and creative energy they have put into bringing this book into being. MODEM as an organization is committed to developing new thinking in the areas of leadership and management and to drawing together networks of practitioners who are seeking to share insights as part of a learning community.

      I pray that this book will offer a contribution to the ferment of ideas and practices that abound with regard to leadership and management, in a way that offers practical application in the setting of the local church, helping churches to be healthy and faith-filled organizations, to the glory of God.

      Introduction to 101 Great Ideas for Growing Healthy Churches

      JOHN NELSON

      Perhaps it is an age thing. I remember the days when you could lift a car bonnet and see the engine. You could access the nuts and bolts, clean the distributor cap, change the water pump, those things that made up the heart of the car and made it go. With the help of a good maintenance manual you could get stuck in and fix it. Today I lift the bonnet and all I see is a sheet of moulded plastic and a port for somebody else to plug in a computer. Only experts can now fix it!

      I sometimes think this is what we have done to leadership and management in the Church. It has been encased in a sheet of expert moulded plastic. What should be a practical and accessible job has been made so complex that it is almost impossible for us to get our management hands dirty. Experts reign and there are not too many easy to follow manuals