By: John Woodward on March 13, 2015
There is often great discontent in smaller churches, especially when all the churches around them are experiencing tremendous growth. This was the situation I was in for over 20 years. When I arrived, my church was running 120 in attendance. When I left, it was running about 120. During those years, we saw numerous pastors…
By: Mary Pandiani on March 13, 2015
Words convey ideas, concepts, meaning. Word choices elicit an evocative response that brings an experience beyond the explicit message. In Dr. Ramsey’s two articles, “Management Learning: A Scholarship of Practice Centred on Attention?” and “Provocative Theory and a Scholarship of Practice,” she uses words that stir the reader to respond, creating an opportunity for a…
By: Dawnel Volzke on March 13, 2015
Ramsey’s article, Management learning: A scholarship of practice centred on attention?, discusses the practice of learning and how this can help managers and leaders do their work better.[1] Reading Ramsey’s article, I reflected on my own journey to become a more effective manager and leader. Ramsey shares project experience from which she learned and gained…
By: Ashley Goad on March 13, 2015
I’m not going to lie. Reading Caroline Ramsey’s two articles while sitting in Haiti sent me for a bit of a loop. Provocative theory and management practices and phronesis, OH MY! I read the articles several times, and then I looked out over my surroundings. In a world where context is everything, how would these…
By: Liz Linssen on March 12, 2015
Management learning is a field in which I am in great need! Having never church planted nor led a church before, I feel like a complete novice for whom the learned theories are simply not enough. I need practice centred learning, the kind that Ramsey advocates, “where new practice is privileged, rather than knowledge that…
By: Phillip Struckmeyer on March 12, 2015
Caroline Ramsey in her inquisitive papers, “Provocative theory and the scholarship of practice” and “Management learning: A scholarship of practice centred on attention” continues her impressive work in the field of management and organizational learning. Ramsey brings further thought, experimentation, and quantification from her research and learning journey of a scholarship of practice. As I…
By: Brian Yost on March 12, 2015
In her articles Management learning: a scholarship of practice centred on attention? And Provocative theory and a scholarship of practice, Caroline Ramsey poses questions regarding the development of managerial theories and practices and considers how we learn. Due to the academic nature of the articles, it can be a little tricky to get to the…
By: Nick Martineau on March 12, 2015
I remember early on in my college years taking a Business Management course. The professor was a successful businessman but said he had enough of the corporate world and wanted to teach. I was eager to take his class and learn from someone that had “been there.” I remember my professor sharing with the class…
By: Deve Persad on March 12, 2015
Not long ago I was going through one of the piles in my office (yes, I sort by piles not by files – yes, I generally know what is in each pile) and came across a message that I had started about 12 years ago. It is based on just a few short verses in…
By: Dave Young on March 11, 2015
I had initially found myself distressed over Dr. Ramsey’s article on “Provocative Theory and a Scholarship of Practice”; the scholarly language was making the meaning difficult for me discern. Yet with the encouragement of my cohort, I read it with a British accent and that cleared it up perfectly. On a serious note, why choose…
By: Jon Spellman on March 11, 2015
Leadership and scholarship, do they co-exist? Are they complimentary? Adversarial? Perhaps both? Is it possible for a leader — a business or ministry practitioner — to, at the same time, engage in scholarly thinking about her work while attending to the busy-ness of her leading? These are the kinds of questions I find myself considering…
By: Richard Volzke on March 7, 2015
Sexuality is an issue that the church has struggled to find a balance view on over many years. I approach this topic from my understanding of the biblical viewpoint, and God’s love for every person. From my study of Scriptures, I do believe homosexuality is sin and is a lifestyle that a person chooses to…
By: Michael Badriaki on March 7, 2015
One day I received a call from one of the leaders of a group people comprised of scholars from a conservative evangelical university, a prominent abbot and Buddhist priest and a key activist from the LGBTQI community in Portland Oregon. They asked me to consult with them about their need to respectfully communicate to a…
By: John Woodward on March 6, 2015
Honestly, it seemed so much simpler forty years ago. Sexual topics were little discussed in the church and there was wide spread consensus on many of the issues back then. With the coming of the sixties, issues concerning gender, sex and family were thrust into the forefront of the church’s attention and today have become…
By: Stefania Tarasut on March 6, 2015
About two years ago I sat across the table from one of my college students when he says this, “I have to tell you something. I’m gay. I know I’m going to hell for feeling this way, but I’ve known since I was in 6th grade. I know I’m choosing hell over heaven, but I…
By: Mitch Arbelaez on March 6, 2015
What I love about all of the books we are reading, is that we are exposed to and learning about the other sides of conversations that too often homogeneous Christians have only had with themselves, either choosing to ignore or simply being ignorant that there even is another side. It seems that we continue to…
By: Bill Dobrenen on March 6, 2015
All of our readings have been important in this LGP program. Some have been easier than others and some have been more helpful than others. I will re-read some of these texts, and I will sell others. However, this week’s readings have a unique place all their own. Even as I am writing this early-morning…
By: rhbaker275 on March 6, 2015
I struggled to work my way through Adrian Thatcher’s book, God, Sex, and Gender: An Introduction. I am sure the cover of the book is some magnificent piece of artwork, although I could not find any credits in my copy; it was not a book I wanted to leave visible either on the computer screen…
By: Jon Spellman on March 6, 2015
For me or for the masses? Sometimes we do things for the greater good, in support of a cause that reaches farther than our own little “first place” environments. Other times, we do things simply because it’s what we want to do, because it makes us better or, at least, to feel better. So, while…
By: Travis Biglow on March 6, 2015
Counter culture to the Cave March 5, 15 I am in love with the “Rebel Sell” it reaches the reality of what some people think about the normalcy of how things are done. It is amazing how it is so easy to accept the way things are done and how things are handed to you.…
