leadership | ijoey.org

Deciphering the Past and Decoding the Future

Nov 19, 2013 | Leading the Church, Methodism, Theological Thinking

When the social order of our culture changes within a matter of years and not decades, the Church must deal with the difficulty of orthodoxy in a shifting paradigm. For many, this is a simple matter. Either you are part of the change or you are part of the barriers to...

The Difference Between “Now” and “Then”

Jun 17, 2013 | Leading the Church, Methodism

Some things never change. There are still hot dogs at baseball games. There are still fish in Kentucky Lake. And there are still Methodists meeting on a yearly basis to talk business and make decisions. In the past two weeks, I’ve been to two Annual Conferences....

Growing at Grace

Apr 16, 2013 | Leading the Church

What makes for a good leader? Most folks think that “followers” would be the required component. But anyone who has led anything more than a rousing chorus of “Row Row Row Your Boat” understands that the measure of leadership is the number of...

So What DO You Mean By “Grow?”

Feb 14, 2013 | General, Leading the Church, Methodism, Pop Culture

Once, as a child, I played sick to avoid a particular confrontation that I knew was going to take place at school. My plan was foolproof: Moan a little bit, wait for the thermometer to show up, and then fake a fever using my desklamp to inflate the reading. I may or...

Doing What We Can

Dec 17, 2012 | Leading the Church, Methodism

I just left a Finance Committee Meeting for Grace UMC, the church I’m presently serving. And I just witnessed a very admirable act. “Heroic” is a little too strong a word, but not by too much. Let me offer some background. Grace has had some...