By: Mike on May 16, 2019
Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff’s The Coddling of the American Mind examines the recent phenomenon of college age intolerance, phobias, stress, and suicide. The authors focus on three “Great Untruths” surrounding fragility, feelings, and conflict.[1] These untruths, according to Haidt and Lukianoff, are manifested in all sectors of social life and are creating division, distrust,…
By: Dan Kreiss on May 16, 2019
The provocative title is based on some significant assumptions. First that people reading the title will have any idea what the word coddling means and then that Americans actually have minds that can be pampered into delusion. After more than fifteen years working in higher education there is little doubt in my mind that there…
By: Rev Jacob Bolton on May 16, 2019
Ever since speaking with Garfield in Hong Kong, I have been doing my best to read each of our assigned books through the lens of “how does this impact my dissertation research” and then have tried to write a weekly essay on how the reading impacts my work. Some weeks I have done that well…
By: Jennifer Williamson on May 16, 2019
In general, when one willingly accepts the call of God to live and serve cross-culturally for the sake of the Kingdom, one is choosing a life of risk and adventure. Many put their lives on the line, crossing borders into places where the Gospel is outlawed and Christians are killed. It hard to imagine a…
By: Jay Forseth on May 15, 2019
HAPPY Mother’s Day! Today is Mother’s Day, and I am on a vacation airplane to San Diego with the beautiful mother of my two children. Planes aren’t a bad place for me to read our weekly book, especially with Lisa’s sleepy head resting on my shoulder. On the title page of this week’s reading, I immediately…
By: Wallace Kamau on May 13, 2019
We’re in the middle of change in our ministry organization and this book could not have come at a better time. I’ve been in leadership for long to realize that change is the law of life, you simply cannot avoid it, the natural thing would be to be armed on how to successfully manage change.…
By: Harry Fritzenschaft on May 12, 2019
Roth in his review of The Coddling of the American Mind declares that Lukianoff and Haidt diagnose the problematic effects of the commonly accepted “false” belief that young people are fragile. “Safetyism,” is the symptom of the “paranoid parenting” styles that the authors claim reached a peak in the 1990s. Lukianoff and Haidt do an…
By: Mary Mims on May 11, 2019
Nine-eleven is the universal number used in the United States when someone is in serious trouble, or in danger of dying. Sometimes people wait too long and try to solve the problem themselves only to later frantically call 911. The excuses for waiting are usually that people do not realize how close the person was…
By: Dan Kreiss on May 11, 2019
Change is challenging regardless of the context. Change regarding a community or institution that one holds particularly dear and/or one that is believed to be an integral aspect of the Kingdom of God seems so much more painful. From the numerical heights of church attendance in the U.S. of the 1950s there has been a…
By: Colleen Batchelder on May 11, 2019
Self-awareness usually yields to self-actualization; however, that’s not always the case within Christian leadership. Dr. Diane Zemke, the author of Being SMART about Congregational Change, challenges her readers to understand their nuances, their personalities, and their spirituality in light of transformational culture within the church. Many churches are caught in the mentality of fortress-mode. They…
By: Kyle Chalko on May 11, 2019
Diane Zemke’s book Being Smart about Congregational Change was nice change in pace from other books we have read. I felt this book was very academic and calculated in its delivery of well-rounded ideas. But also I felt this book was deliver with a vocabulary that is not littered with academic jargon, but a real…
By: Tammy Dunahoo on May 11, 2019
I was recently asked by a fairly new pastor to consult with their church leadership team in order to develop and articulate their mission, values and vision for the future. Having worked through Robert J. Clinton’s Leadership Emergence Theory for many years I wondered if the same process could be similarly effective for a church.[1]…
By: John Muhanji on May 10, 2019
Is there a church that has no conflicts among its members, leaders, pastors and leaders and any other pet conflict despite praying and fellowshipping together on a common goal on God? Since I started becoming severe in church leadership, we have been dealing with very many church conflicts in various categories. However, something interesting is…
By: Trisha Welstad on May 10, 2019
Reading Diane Zemke’s text, Being SMART about Congregational Change has me in knots. Part of me wishes I would have read this a year ago, and part of me feels its timeliness in the present. The idea of change is something that is at the same time exciting and anxiety producing. As Zemke says multiple…
By: Rhonda Davis on May 10, 2019
I am sure I echo the sentiment of many of my cohort-mates who desire to bring change in their contexts, that this was a refreshing look at a complicated matter. Diane Zemke uses her expertise in leadership studies, combined with a clear passion for the church, to provide an informed, insightful look at congregational change.…
By: Jason Turbeville on May 9, 2019
When we were in South Africa for our first semester in the LGP program I was having trouble nailing down my problem and how to come at it in a way that would be effective. Dr. D, my advisor, had a great deal of influence on how I was going to address the problem but…
By: Sean Dean on May 9, 2019
I had an interesting discussion last month with several pastors. We were discussing the way churches and parachurch ministries interact with each other. Several of the pastors mentioned that there is an unspoken tension or competition when a non-profit comes into the church and needs funding. Most people only have so much money to use…
By: Rev Jacob Bolton on May 9, 2019
This book was a fun one to read. Being SMART about Congregational Change by Diane Zemke was incredibly applicable to my immediate ministry context and my dissertation research. For anyone working in a parish setting I would highly recommend this succinct, well researched, and fascinating text. Zemke, a Gonzaga trained expert in Leadership Studies lays…
By: Andrea Lathrop on May 9, 2019
Dr. Zemke’s well-written book on congregational change is timely given the shifting landscape of the Church in America. Most U.S. denominations are experiencing declines in attendance and engagement. She has spent her life trying to understand churches and offers wisdom to navigate a way forward through the necessary change. Everyone can gain from being more…
By: Jay Forseth on May 9, 2019
Some churches need to die! This sounds harsh, but it’s true. The past 30 days, our Conference has closed 2 churches (out of 30). Both of these churches should have died! Thankfully, this year we planted one church and are being joined by up to three more… My newest gauge for an “effective church” is simply this: If your church disappeared tomorrow, would it leave…
