No one looks forward to dealing with difficult issues, but confronting problems is an essential part of being an effective leader. Chris Sonksen outlines four wrong approaches and six more constructive ways to handle difficult conversations if division, dissention, mission drift, or other difficulties plague your leadership teams or staff. Read more now.

Conflict | Leadership | Leadership Best Practices | Staffing | Teams

How does our faith influence our relationship with money? We speak with author and teacher Callie Picardo about stewardship, gratitude, and how creative partnerships can expand ministries. Listen now, read transcript, and watch on YouTube.

Finances | Funding | Generosity | Giving | Gratitude | Leading Ideas Talks Podcast | Online Giving | Stewardship

Trust is fragile, says Bonnie Ives Marden. And finances, if not handled correctly, can be a source of worry rather than security. She outlines seven policies for institutional trust and financial integrity that reduce confusion and conflict while at the same time encouraging generosity to support your mission. Read more now.

Finances | Funding | Leadership Best Practices | Stewardship

Molly Phinney Baskette has written an insightful memoir of joy and enriching ministry in the midst of much suffering and loss. Her significant story, entitled How to Begin When Your World is Ending (Broadleaf, 2022), is best captured in its subtitle, A Spiritual Field Guide to Joy Despite Everything. She names two questions central for her and for many people.

Want more Right Questions? Read Right Questions for Church Leaders.

For many congregational leaders preserving cherished traditions while discerning God’s new thing is a challenge. Trying to innovate to address a changing context and culture can take a backseat to daily responsibilities and maintaining ongoing ministries. Join Dr. F. Douglas Powe Jr. and Dr. Lovett H. Weems Jr. for insights and practices to help leaders navigate this impasse in ways that do not become an either/or situation. Learn more and register now for this timely webinar.

Helping people experience the joy of giving is more than a way of funding the church's ministry. These 50 ways of encouraging faithful giving will help your church members grow in discipleship through faithful stewardship and extravagant generosity. Read now, download free, and share.

The Lewis Center’s Keeping Our Sacred Trust boundary training program offers two online courses to help prevent clergy sexual misconduct: Understanding Clergy Sexual Ethics and Maintaining Boundaries in a Digital Age. Both courses are confidential, ecumenical, and refreshed for 2023. Each course is $49 and includes .5 CEU credits. Learn more and enroll at lewisonlinelearning.org.

“Even as I still believe that God calls us to help change the world, to make it more just, to make it more equitable, to make it more loving, I also believe that God empowers the world to help change us, to make us more just, to make us more equitable, to make us more loving.” — Rachel Held Evans

Theology of Stewardship and Biblical Generosity is designed to nurture the spiritual discipline of giving. This video tool kit may be used in conjunction with an annual stewardship campaign or in a variety of Christian education settings, both for groups and self study. Featured topics: Stewardship 101; What the Bible Teaches about Giving; A Christian Understanding of Money, Possessions, and Generosity; Biblical Generosity; and Faith and Generosity. Learn more and watch an introductory video now.