The Rare Bird: Pastoral Leadership AND Authority in Baptist Congregations – Part Two

Charles Revis, Executive Minister ABCNW In part one of this article I advocated for the “rare bird”, that combination of strong pastoral leadership and authority, which is foundational for congregational health and vitality. I ended part one recognizing there are common objections to pastoral authority, especially in the context of a Baptist congregation. Here are [...]

The Rare Bird: Pastoral Leadership AND Authority in Baptist Congregations – Part One

Charles Revis, Executive Minister ABCNW I’m not a birder. I know little about the pursuit. But, I do enjoy catching glimpses of colorful songbirds. I think I picked this up from my grandfather who birded as a casual hobby. I remember off hand comments he would make about a certain cardinal, maybe it was a [...]

Leaders Bust Some Transformation Moves

Charles Revis, Executive Minister, ABC of the Northwest   One definition of leadership is simple, “Knowing what needs to be done and then doing it” (Leith Anderson). Good leaders not only discern what must be done, they act. Many in leadership positions never lead because they fail to act. They wait for others to move. [...]

When God Invades the Seams

Not long after coming to the northwest my wife encouraged me to take up fly fishing again. She’s a good wife. Actually, she thought our son would love this Northwest sport. Plus it would be something we could do together. She was right on both counts. Now he out fishes me on any day. (Proof of such can be found on my Facebook page.)

As I was learning to think like a trout someone said, “You’ve got to fish the seams.” That was confusing advice at first, but I found it to be true…

Vital Behaviors for Christ-Followers—Prayer

Reverend Patti Duckworth, Associate Executive Minister, ABC of the Northwest Recently, I read an article (see below) that made reference to “vital behaviors” which were defined as “high-leverage actions that, if routinely enacted, will lead to the results you want.” This got me to thinking about Christian “vital behaviors.” While I would not necessarily want to offer a check [...]