Sustaining a program is a heavy burden. The program may bring in less money than it spends. Some constituents may question its worth. Additional funding sources when grant money runs out can be difficult to find. Plus, sustaining a program means meeting people's future needs, which can be hard to predict.
The urgency of discerning how to sustain a program forces leaders to examine every detail: Could we charge more? Do we have to serve lunch? Could the program be shorter? What elements are costing us the most? Could we trim those larger expenses?
If such adjustments to revenue and expenses are possible, congratulations! But for many Christian leaders, the overall budgets of our organizations are so constrained that the minor adjustments we are free to make might not result in sustainability. In these cases, assuring the long-term effects of a program requires revisiting foundational questions about its purpose and impact.
How do you lead an organization stuck between an ending and a new beginning-when the old way of doing things no longer works but a way forward is not yet clear? Beaumont calls such in-between times liminal seasons-threshold times when the continuity of tradition disintegrates and uncertainty about the future fuels doubt and chaos. In a liminal season it simply is not helpful to pretend we understand what needs to happen next. But leaders can still lead.
How to Lead When You Don't Know Where You're Going is a practical book of hope for tired and weary leaders who risk defining this era of ministry in terms of failure or loss. It helps leaders stand firm in a disoriented state, learning from their mistakes and leading despite the confusion. Packed with rich stories and real-world examples, Beaumont guides the reader through practices that connect the soul of the leader with the soul of the institution.
Yes, money is essential to the life of any church or organization, but it is other forms of capital that really build the community of faith, says a Houston leadership consultant and UMC layperson.
In this interview with Faith & Leadership, the former CEO of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare describes the difficult decisions that come in leading a Christian institution toward sustainability. "Sometimes you have to shrink to grow."
The Christian church in America is doing its best to be relevant. Its leaders are trying harder, working longer hours, offering more programs, and trying to solve more problems. Not coincidentally, more clergy than ever before are burning out or "browning out," losing their edge, becoming lethargic.
How do we move beyond this sense of despair and hopelessness? What does it mean to restore the soul of the church? How can it become more relevant unto itself and to people like those with whom I talk in the workplace-those who eagerly seek meaning?
In Not Trying Too Hard, Bob Sitze has taken the bold first step on this journey of restoring the soul of the church.
