Today feels like a re-launch of this blog as we merge it into the new website of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities with a new URL: cccc.org/john.
If you are new to the blog, it started in July 2009 and there are now over 200 posts. Here’s a brief introduction to Christian Leadership Reflections.
The Topic
Christian Leadership Reflections is a discussion about the practice of Christian leadership: self leadership, team leadership, and organizational leadership. If a ministry leader would think about it, and if it hasn’t already been well-covered by others, then I’m likely to write about it. So I write about governance, strategic thinking, and fundraising in addition to leadership.
Two topics are very important to Christian leadership and therefore receive a lot of attention:
- Theology of Leadership: Ministry leaders need to be grounded in a theology of leadership that helps them understand their role as a follower of God’s leadership, as God’s co-partner in mission, and as God’s steward of the people and resources entrusted to their care. It is crucial that all aspects of organizational life are infused with Christian practices, including employment policies and procedures, decision-making processes, and relations with suppliers and beneficiaries.
- Spirituality of Leadership: Leading a Christian ministry is an intensely spiritual exercise. The personal spiritual life of a ministry leader is therefore very much intertwined with the spiritual health of the organization he or she leads. Continued spiritual formation and becoming adept at discerning God’s leadership are critical to a Christian leader’s success.
My Angle
There are three aspects to the point of view you will find in this blog.
- The blog’s particular contribution is to help Christian leaders apply their faith to their leadership practices. So it will always discuss both the theological and the practical. It takes big ideas and applies them on the job. Since I myself am leading a ministry, I am your ministry peer writing from personal experience.
- Some blogs serve us well by reporting what others have said, but you’ll find that this blog has a different purpose:
– to provide you with fresh, original ideas and their practical application,
– to reflect and comment on what others have said, and
– to share what I am learning as I lead CCCC. - I have been a Christian most of my life (you can read about my journey to Christian faith here), but I don’t make any claim to having Christian leadership down pat. As CEO of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities for the past 10 years, I am still a leader under construction myself. That’s why I added the word reflections to the blog’s title. I’m sharing what I am learning and I hope that together we will grow to become faithful and authentic Christian leaders.
Frequency
I try to write one post a week, usually on Monday mornings. However, there are some exceptions:
- I won’t publish a post unless I really have something to say that I think you will find valuable or at least interesting.
- Sometimes an idea for a weekly post takes a long time to be processed into a worthy leadership reflection, so I might skip a week if I have nothing else to write about in the meantime.
- At other times, life or work gets in the way, and I just don’t have time to write a post. In that case, I’ll post as soon as I can.
How to Follow the Blog
If you’d like to minimize the time it takes to monitor posts on this blog, you can subscribe by email or by RSS feed. They are the easiest ways to find out about a new post. I also publish to both CCCC’s and my own Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter accounts. Otherwise, if you check in on Mondays, you’ll usually find something new.
Now go exploring!
Now it is time for you to explore. Use the categories, tags, series, and search box to explore to your heart’s content. Have fun!
Share this post
