By: Chad Warren on March 14, 2024
There is only one answer to the question, “How is your church doing?” It’s one word long: “Great!” In the last week, various people have asked me that question. One was a fellow pastor in my area, another was a mentor, and another was a congregation member. To say anything else, to be completely honest,…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on March 14, 2024
“During Hurricane Katrina in the US, two photographs in particular made news amid the wide-spread havoc and destruction. In one photo, a dark-skinned young man is shown in New Orleans flood-waters, a 12-pack of Pepsi under his right arm, holding a garbage bag with his left hand. A caption read: ‘A young man walks…
By: Jenny Steinbrenner Hale on March 14, 2024
I was recently imagining a conversation with my grandmother on the topics we have been discussing in our DLGP cohort: wicked problems, the good kill, colonialism. What would Grandma have to contribute? Born in 1910, my grandma saw a lot of change in her ninety-six years. I lived with her for my first two years…
By: Julie O'Hara on March 14, 2024
Reading Leading Out of Who You Are reminded me of picking at scabs. It sort of feels good to pick around the itchy edges and knock away some crusts, but go too far and there is risk of opening a partially healed wound and bleeding all over. It was just so awkward, to use my…
By: Mathieu Yuill on March 14, 2024
In August 1999 I was living at my parents house but our relationship was bad. Towards the end of the month they told me I had to leave and I had three days to move out. Heading into my second year of college and without much in the way of reserve funds I took to…
By: Becca Hald on March 14, 2024
Life in the Russian River Valley has been an eye-opening experience. Our summertime tourist hotspot becomes a deadly menace in the midst of winter storms. Even the small creek on my property can quickly evolve into a dangerous torrent. We do not take lightly the threat of flooding or falling branches. I had no idea…
By: Chris Blackman on March 14, 2024
First, to my cohort and leaders, I have been suffering from a strange and sudden bout of vertigo for the last 24 hours. I’m not sure what’s going on. I am doing my best to create a blog that flows and makes sense. I hope I am achieving that—this is the best I can come…
By: Kally Elliott on March 14, 2024
“Mrs. Elliott?” the assistant handed me a memo. “Yes,” I replied. “Mr. Hamlin would like to see you in his office after school today,” “Do you know what this is about?” I asked. “No, except I did hear him say something about how you were teaching the kids to say “Brothers and sisters” rather than…
By: Daren Jaime on March 14, 2024
Leaders are formed and not appointed. Simon Walker’s Undefended Leader addresses in detail how to rediscover leadership formation from the inside out. Using research and history as a backdrop, he highlights how a leader overcomes the battles within as the blueprint for success. Using a front stage/backstage analogy, Walker highlights how superior leaders are by…
By: Scott Dickie on March 14, 2024
Hmmm…what to do with Pragya Agarwal’s Sway: Unraveling Unconscious Bias? (1) At the risk of going in the categoric opposite direction that Jason recommended in our last cohort zoom gathering (that is, find one point and go deep), I am going to try and articulate why I find myself torn in several directions with this…
By: Kristy Newport on March 14, 2024
Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood was a television preschool program that ran from 1968-2001. What was the secret to the success of this 33 year running TV program? Read the lyrics to the song that Mr. Rogers would open the show with: It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood, A beautiful day…
By: Michael O'Neill on March 14, 2024
Introduction This week I enjoyed frequent reading interval sessions using both audio and ebook formats of Nigel Biggar’s, Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning. Biggar’s treatment of history is both humble and enlightening, presenting a balanced perspective on the complex issues of empires, colonialism, and morality that feels both honest and reflective. By acknowledging his faith upfront,…
By: Ryan Thorson on March 14, 2024
“I’ve watched my dreams all fade away And blister in the sun Everything I’ve ever had is unraveled and undone I’ve set upon a worthless stack Of my ambitious plans And the people that I’ve loved the most Have turned their backs and ran This is the good life I’ve lost everything I could ever…
By: Graham English on March 13, 2024
In Leading Out of Who You Are, Simon Walker locates the development and response of the ego in how we experience trust in our most formative years.[1] Our experience of trust manifests in one of four ego types, all of which are unhealthy and require defending.[2] Thus the defended leader is always working out of…
By: Todd E Henley on March 13, 2024
Two months ago, we sold our washer and dryer online and I watched as the customer backed into our driveway. When he stopped, I walked outside to greet him. I waved hello and the first words out of his mouth were, “Do you live here?” Honestly, I thought that was a foolish question. After a…
By: David Beavis on March 13, 2024
“Was British liberal imperialism, given the extent of the damage it inflicted over generations, a more malevolent influence on world history than even Nazi Fascism?” This question is, according to Sunil Khilnani, indirectly implied in Caroline Elkins’s book Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain’s Gulag. Khilnani, in reviewing Elkins’s book in The New Yorker,…
By: Nancy Blackman on March 13, 2024
“In order to become myself I must cease to be what I always thought I wanted to be, and in order to find myself I must go out of myself, and in order to live, I must die.” — Thomas Merton[1] The concept of undefended leadership is new to me. I appreciated how Simon Walker,…
By: Adam Cheney on March 13, 2024
For the first few weeks of living in a village house along the coast of Kenya we did not have any curtains on our windows. We were like fish in a fishbowl with everyone looking in. Though we always had an audience watching us, not having curtains allowed for the breeze to provide a little…
By: Debbie Owen on March 13, 2024
I was a drama mama. For five years, during our daughter’s first year in high school, and all four of our younger son’s years, I was backstage for the two major productions each year. I confess that I was at least partly living out my own unrealized teenage dreams of being in a play, experiencing…
By: Pam Lau on March 13, 2024
“The man’s words to me are not offered but flung: ‘So, what are you? I mean, where are you from?’ I say, ‘New York.’ ‘But your name is Carlos–where are you really from? ‘I say, ‘New York.’ ‘Bueno, yo soy Latino-mi padre es Colombiano, Mi madre es Estadounidense, nació en New York City, I lived in 4…
