By: Graham English on March 6, 2025
In a post-pandemic survey done in 2022 by the Barna group, they reported alarming statistics on the decline of pastoral health in the US. The effect of the pandemic continued to ripple through the ranks of pastors, as it has through many professions. The research does not paint a promising picture. They write, “The number…
By: Debbie Owen on March 6, 2025
It’s clear there’s a “control factor” at play. Isn’t that often the case in a church? You’re on staff, and they pay you for your expertise. But so often, there’s at least one volunteer who is quite sure they know just as much as you do. They manage to get onto the committee with which…
By: Shela Sullivan on March 5, 2025
Introduction: In today’s fast-paced business environment, effective leadership is crucial for fostering trust, joy, and engagement among team members. The book RARE Leadership: 4 Uncommon Habits for Increasing Trust, Joy, and Engagement in the People You Lead by Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder outlines four habits that can transform leadership practices.[1] This essay explores these…
By: Adam Cheney on March 4, 2025
For years I have prayed about increasing my joy. I have understood for a while that joy is certainly more than happiness but that it is a deep contentment that we might find in the Lord. During times of suffering, joy can be hard to find. Yet it is a choice we can make. When…
By: Glyn Barrett on March 4, 2025
In RARE Leadership,[i] Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder provide a framework for leaders to build emotional resilience and thriving teams. By integrating principles from neuroscience and theology to offer strategies that enhance leadership effectiveness, RARE Leadership emphasises that emotionally mature leaders cultivate trust and engagement, creating environments where individuals and organisations flourish. Warner and Wilder…
By: Jennifer Eckert on March 4, 2025
Back in the 1920s, minister and Methodist camp leader George William Cooke had something to teach us about joy through a catchy little song called Joy in My Heart.[1] Years later, contemporary neuroscience would confirm his findings about the healing power of joy. Joy is not only a feeling but, in fact, a mechanism for…
By: Diane Tuttle on March 3, 2025
This may be stating the obvious but throughout our readings over the last couple of semesters, many books have confirmed that leadership is more about the character of the leader rather than the skills that person might have. Early on, reading Leading out of Who You Are, The Undefended Leader, author Simon Walker, D Prof…
By: Jeff Styer on March 3, 2025
In this post I am going to look at Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder’s book Rare Leadership book and the importance of knowing and acting out your identity.[1]. Much of this post centers around a conversation with my youngest son, Josiah. Josiah came home from a meeting at church one evening while I was in…
By: Joel Zantingh on February 28, 2025
In our Doctoral program, there has been ample space to think through the models of leadership that exist, and how we as leaders will shape our influence to meet the complexities of the world. But what can be learned by not beginning with the leader or their qualities, but with the complexities themselves? This is where…
By: Noel Liemam on February 27, 2025
Introduction: “EXPLORING WICKED PROBLEMS: What They Are and Why Thet Are important,” by Joseph Bentley, PhD and Michael Toth, PhD not only gave us different perspectives on how we look at problems, but some practical ways to deal with it. In the introduction, they gave us the reason this book is necessary by stating that…
By: Daren Jaime on February 27, 2025
According to the U.S Census, in 2023, the official poverty rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 11.1 percent. There were 36.8 million people in poverty in 2023. As poverty remains on the decline for most of my home city of Syracuse, New York has a poverty crisis. It leads the nation in extreme concentrated poverty…
By: Chad Warren on February 27, 2025
What if loneliness became so overwhelming that people started renting families just to feel connected? In Japan, this isn’t just a hypothetical—it’s a reality. Companies like Family Romance provide actors to fill roles as family members, friends, or romantic partners for people craving human connection.[1] While this may seem extreme, it highlights a larger issue…
By: Elysse Burns on February 27, 2025
“Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble” (Job 14:1)—a verse that comes to mind when reflecting on Joseph Bentley and Michael Toth’s Exploring Wicked Problems. Drawing from the work of social scientists Horst Rittel and Melvin Webber, Bentley and Toth distinguish between two categories: tame problems and wicked problems. Tame…
By: Kari on February 27, 2025
I live in a breeding ground for wicked problems. My host country is in the Sahara. It is listed as the fifty-sixth poorest country in the World.[1] Limited resources are a daily struggle for everyone living here. Conflicting values in the country stem from topics such as slavery, ethnic conflict, and colonialism. The country receives…
By: Debbie Owen on February 27, 2025
I have a deep passion for spiritual formation and discipleship. However, I have found that before discussing discipleship with someone, I must begin by clarifying with which of the many definitions they are most familiar. With so many interpretations of discipleship, there is a lot of ambiguity regarding “what” it is, “how” to do it,…
By: Graham English on February 27, 2025
In my weekly interactions with church leaders, I frequently encounter discussions centred around various problems they are experiencing. Rather than offering immediate advice, I adopt a listening stance, posing numerous questions to facilitate a deeper understanding of the issue. This approach often enables the individual to arrive at a solution independently, with my guidance catalyzing…
By: Diane Tuttle on February 26, 2025
Problems are a common part of living. Solving many of them may be relatively simple. They give people confidence to try new things, thinking that the strategies for problem X would likely work for other problems. In addition, problem solving has other benefits such as giving life meaning, building mental growth, stimulating thinking and helping…
By: Ryan Thorson on February 26, 2025
“I’m not sure I can do this anymore…” That was my wife and I in 2018, 8 months into our journey as foster parents. We had been trained and called to foster kids in our community as a way to serve Jesus, but had no idea the complexities of caring for young children who had…
By: Jennifer Eckert on February 26, 2025
I love watching birds, especially now that my kids bought me one of those fancy feeders with a camera that sends live stream images to my phone. Seeing each one flitting in and out, pecking at seeds with a calm purpose, makes me smile. The simplicity of their actions is a peaceful backdrop to the…
By: Shela Sullivan on February 25, 2025
‘Exploring Wicked Problems: What They Are and Why They Are Important’ by Joseph Bentley and Michael Toth explores into the concept of wicked problems—complex, ill-structured, and ambiguous issues that are difficult to solve. I enjoyed reading this book for the second time. It is an easy read and practical. In some organizations, wicked problems arise when…
