Leading Christian Communities

How to cultivate a thriving Christian community in a disconnected culture

What does it mean to be a Christian community? And what does it mean to lead one? How does a pastor address today’s challenges, from lack of faith in institutions, to conflict in the church, to the tension between tradition and innovation?

C. Kavin Rowe addresses these topics and a multitude of others in this collection of keen essays. Bite-size and conversational, yet deeply rooted in Scripture and recent pastoral theology, the essays in Leading Christian Communities reflect on the shaping of Christian leaders for the flourishing of their communities. Pastors and seminarians, as well as all those involved in church ministry, will find inspiration and insight in these pages.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Part 1: The Acts of the Apostles and Thriving Communities

          The Pattern of Life in Thriving Communities

          Networking—a Feature of Thriving Communities

          Visibility—a Feature of Thriving Communities

          Room for the Weak in a Thriving Community

          Incorporating Disagreement in a Thriving Community

          Why Does Your Community Exist?

          Suffering Is Part of Thriving

Part 2: Christian Leadership

          Humor as a Mark of Life-Giving Leadership

          Becoming a Christ-Shaped Leader

          The Formation of a Scriptural Imagination

          Cultivating Resilience

          Failure as Christ-Shaped Leadership

          Making the Connections

          Leadership and the Discipline of Silence

          Christian Success

          Listening Well

          Orienting Hierarchies toward the Good

          Our Most Significant Experiences Are in Institutions

          “Power” in the Christian Sense Is the Concrete Shape of Hope

          Leading in the Age of the Image

          The Church and the Vanishing Neighbor

Part 3: Traditioned Innovation

          Traditioned Innovation—a Biblical Way of Thinking

          Pentecost as Traditioned Innovation

          Navigating the Differences in the Gospels

          The New Testament as an Innovation of the Old

          King Jesus

Part 4: Christmas and Easter

          Why Christmas Needs Easter

          Why Easter Needs Christmas