Fall 2013

The state of Christian workplaces today

Over the past few years, I have gotten to see the inner workings of numerous ministries, large and small. I have been working with Christian organizations, attempting to help them learn how to truly value one another and communicate their appreciation for one another effectively. Through this process I have begun to understand the “gut feelings” within many Christian workplaces. Here ...

Doug Birdsall on American Bible Society’s nearly 200 years of innovation

Christian Leadership Alliance (CLA) president and CEO Tami Heim recently interviewed Doug Birdsall, the new president and CEO of American Bible Society.

Headquartered in New York City, American Bible Society is one of the oldest nonprofit organizations in the nation. Since its founding in 1816, American Bible Society has brought the love of Jesus Christ and the lif...

Innovation begins with trust.

In 1982, Pamela Palumbo, volunteered for what she thought was going to be a six-month stint at her church’s ministry to women at risk for abortions. Thirty-one years later, she continues as CEO of the Pregnancy Clinic, with locations in Annapolis, Bowie Crofton, and Severna Park, Md. She spoke with Outcomes about how the ministry has embraced innovation without losing its focus. A lifelong learner, P...

You can't lead effectively without it.

Leadership remains a white-hot topic. Amazon lists over 1,000 new titles that will be released in 2013 alone. That means a new book on leadership is being listed on Amazon every eight hours.

I decided to add to the overabundance and write a book that would help people formulate a sound theology of leadership. But I wanted it to appeal to young adults who, for the most part, want nothing to do with le...

Change your organization by building your people

Your ministry is aging. The internal culture has changed, and the external context is vastly different than what you started with twenty or even ten years ago. To adjust to these changes many start by reviewing their mission statement, which defines the organization as a whole. However, my studies and experience have led me to conclude that organizations undergoing change must address th...

Perspective from Prison Fellowship Ministries

At the center of all Christian life and mission is Jesus’ command: “Follow me!” What do we witness when we obey? The lame walk, the blind see, the lost are found, the proud are humbled, and prisoners find freedom.

For Jesus’ first disciples, the command to follow had a literal component — they joined Jesus in his itinerant ministry. But after Jesus’ death, resur...

Altered horizons for today's ministries

Start a ministry. Grow it. Grow operations. Grow giving. Start looking for successors. That’s the normal life cycle.

But today, we have to break our paradigm of what we consider a normal life cycle. The ministry landscape has changed dramatically — far more dramatically than most of us have realized.

In the future, the normal life cycle of a ministry will be ...

Ten principles for leading and managing change

In a 2011 national research project that I led entitled “Toward Higher Ground,” entailing interviews with 60 CEOs and CDOs (chief development officers) of leading U.S. ministries, these leaders revealed that the greatest challenge they faced was leading and managing change in a wide variety of forms. When asked what was the greatest unmet need of their organizations, funding topped the list.  Funding is mentioned he...

The key to HCJB's 82-years of ministry impact

Not many 82-year-olds start a new career, make a life change, or initiate an entire set of new goals. It’s generally the same with organizations. But HCJB Global is an 82-year-old ministry springing into reinvention with vigor, strategy, and laser focus on the future.

HCJB Global, an evangelical missionary organization integrating broadcast media and healthcare ministri...