On their books inside front cover flap, authors Hughes & Beatty, in their Center for Leadership book Becoming a Strategic Leader: Your Role in Your Organization’s Enduring Success, note the following:
Today’s organizations face difficult challenges in order to remain competitive; the quickening pace of change, increasing uncertainty, growing ambiguity, and complexity. To meet these challenges organizations must broaden the scope of leadership and engage more people in the process of leadership (2005, inside books front cover flap).
In this statement we can easily substitute the word “church” for “organization” although the truth is the church is both a living organism and an organization. If there is one constant in our 21st Century it is change. Our world is constantly changing, and one of the challenges for Christ followers and the church today is that it is becoming increasingly more difficult to be Christ followers and a part of a church here in America, much less in other parts of our world. Part of being the church, doing the ministry of the church in our local communities and globally in order to reach people with the claims of Christ might be better served if more churches considered engaging a certified church consultant to assist them in refocusing their vision, mission, and core values. One of the ways we can engage more people in the organizational process of leadership is by considering the use of a church consultant who in turns works with key leaders in that local church.
There are a number of books on the market written by leading church and non-church, marketplace consultants that would prove invaluable to the interested reader. For the person who is a certified church consultant or is moving in that direction these books among others if read could prove beneficial for that persons continued professional development. Some of these books though not of a consulting nature are still recommended church leadership developmental reads for the consultant, pastor, staff member, or leader in your local church. In reading these books a person might discover insights relative to needed changes in how we do ministry in our local church.
Some of the reasons for this particular website are to provide a site with short, practical, and informative articles referencing leading consultants and authors who speak authoritatively from a professional, practical, educational, and depending if they are a Christ follower, a Christian perspective. It is my goal to be a facilitator of information relative to the possibilities of a church engaging a Christian church consultant. It is also important to be aware of some of the safeguards and expectations when hiring a consultant in order to have a healthy, realistic, and productive relationship. Most of all as a Christ follower and ordained Baptist minister we want this site and its articles to be written from a biblical servant leader collaborative perspective, in order to most effectively advance His kingdom’s work locally and globally in the 21st Century.
Remember!!! All Leaders are Readers but not all Readers are Leaders.
References: As listed in this article
Richard L. Hughes & Katherine Colarelli Beatty, Becoming a Strategic Leader: Your Role in Your Organization’s Enduring Success (2005, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass), inside books front cover flap.