by Clarence E. Stowers | Apr 14, 2011 | Communication, Empowerment, Leadership, Relationships, Staff
God blessed me with an opportunity most pastors rarely experience – an opportunity to pastor a large and thriving congregation that grows daily (Acts 2:42-47). I’m humbled because I had a strong and solid foundation to build upon. Although our church experienced many changes, for the most part, our members remain supportive, prayerful, and committed.
As a family, we’ve experienced setbacks, disappointments, and trials, however, we’ve remained true to our mission, values, and vision. Although we’ve accomplished much, there’s more God wants us to accomplish and we are uniquely positioned participate in expanding God’s Kingdom.
Therefore, I want the world to know how proud I am to serve as your pastor.
Dear Family,
There are people in this world we hardly notice. There are people in our circle of friends we rarely observe. But you are different.
Because of your significant contribution to our church family, your dedicated service to the Lord Jesus Christ through our local body of believers, I’m writing this letter to say a big “Thank you.” I want you to know that your devotion does not go unnoticed.
You are there when we need you. You are available at extra times, and best of all, you back up what you do with a life of faith. I value your ministry among us.
With heartfelt gratitude, I put into words in this letter what has long been in my heart.
With best regards,
Pastor Clarence E. Stowers, Jr.
Senior Pastor
Mars Hill Baptist Church of Chicago
“Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing” (Psalm 100:2).
by Clarence E. Stowers | Apr 1, 2011 | Christian, Christianity, Communication, Decisions, Empowerment, Leadership, Self-Leadership, Servant Leadership
Happy Friday!
Last week I shared “The ONE Mistake Nearly All Leaders Make” (failing to discern their culture). Failing to discern your culture could prove fatal. Yesterday, I shared how “A Culture of Service Makes a Great Leader.” You can read more about it HERE. Today, I conclude this series sharing the characteristics that reflect a true leadership culture.
What Characteristics reflect a True Leadership Culture?
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by Clarence E. Stowers | Mar 31, 2011 | Christian, Christianity, Communication, Decisions, Empowerment, Leadership, Self-Leadership
Last week I shared “The ONE Mistake Nearly All Leaders Make” (failing to discern their culture). I warned potential conference goers to spend time discerning their culture before trying to implement strategies from other places. What works for Bishop T.D. Jakes, Dr. R.A. Vernon, and Joyce Meyer probably won’t work for you since you are not them or have their audience. However, there’s an applicable universal leadership principle that supersedes location, gender, and race.
The question is: Is there a culture that can be adopted by leaders that will make them more efficient? Is a successful leadership culture something that can be learned and applied? The answer is yes – A Culture of Service makes a Great Leader.
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by Clarence E. Stowers | Mar 21, 2011 | Communication, Decisions, Leadership, Self-Leadership, Servant Leadership
I’m BACK!!!
Since I’ve been away, I’ve been extremely busy launching an online Bible Study, planning a Praise & Worship Concert (March 25-27, 2011) at Mars Hill Baptist Church of Chicago, pouring into our men, and leading a thriving and growing church. The greatest blessing while being away is I took time to work on creative content to share with my blog family. Thanks for your patience.
Laying hands on our men during an altar call – Sunday, March 20, 2011
It’s officially conference season and like any other industry, Christendom has plenty to offer. Before you run off and attend this year’s bevy of conferences, I suggest you spend time clearly defining and understanding the culture of your church, business, or ministry. Why? One of the deadliest mistakes leaders make is failing to understand the existing organizational culture. Often new leaders work diligently to transplant their heart and vision into people who ultimately reject it. Why…failure to take time and discern and understand the culture.
I define culture as the beliefs and behaviors of an organization. In short, every organization has a “certain way” of doing things and that way is ultimately determined by that organization’s culture. For this reason change is often difficult to embrace because it pushes against that organization’s culture.
“Culture – not vision or strategy is the most important factor in organization” according to leadership consultant Samuel Chand (Source: Cracking Your Church’s Culture). He goes on to share how “it determines the receptivity of the staff and volunteers to new ideas, unleashes or dampens creativity, builds or erodes enthusiasm, and creates a sense of pride or deep discouragement about working or being involved.”
Mars Hill is currently transitioning to a church that focuses on Worship and The Word. Consequently, as leaders we worked long and hard to discern our culture before we transitioned our church. First, we had to establish a true leadership culture of service.
What is True Leadership Culture?
Leadership culture takes on many forms. Many theories on leadership talk about natural leadership styles that are linked to your personality type. Indeed, personality does play quite a big part in leadership. Some people are simply more natural leaders than others. The question is: Is there a culture that can be adopted by leaders that will make them more efficient? Is a successful leadership culture something that can be learned and applied? The answer is yes – A Culture of Service makes a Great Leader. Stay with me for the next few days as we discover this powerful leadership principle.
Question:
When you hear words like “culture” or “a culture of service,” what comes to mind?
by Clarence E. Stowers | Jan 25, 2011 | Christian, Christianity, Communication, Conference/Workshops, Empowerment, Leadership, Self-Leadership, Vision
Let’s start with this premise: Most who lead desire to lead effectively – especially if you’re a new leader or haven’t developed your leadership philosophy. Seminaries, colleges, and university leadership programs don’t have a monopoly on advanced leadership skills. With time, you can teach yourself many leadership principles and skills by attending this Online School of Leadership.
This Online School of Leadership is an experiment which features the Bible, the very best leadership books available, and is based on thousands of hours of research. If you don’t have the time to drop everything, accumulate student loan debt, and attend college or seminary, tune in for the next few weeks and you’ll learn more about leadership that you can possibly imagine.
Check Out The Leadership Curriculum…
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by Clarence E. Stowers | Dec 1, 2010 | Communication, Decisions, Empowerment, Leadership, Self-Leadership, Success, Vision
We hear a lot about how leaders must have a burning red-hot vision from God. If we accept Bill Hybel’s definition of vision (I do), then what exactly does it mean to have a vision? How can you tell if you’re moving in the right direction? Great! I’m glad you’re pondering that question.
As a subscriber to Harvard Business Review OnPoint Journal, I behaved like a child at Toys R Us upon receiving the Winter 2010 edition. “Turning Your Vision into Reality” is this month’s theme and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Vision is popular buzzword among leaders, especially church leaders. Unfortunately, many pastors attend conferences and come away with visions hijacked from others, falsely believing that God will do the same for their church. I call this ministry pornography (I’ll blog about that later).
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