Editor’s Retrospective: The Best of ‘Leadership Journal’, 2013

• "Weeping With Gang Members" – Paco Amador

Chicago pastor Paco Amador's story of a gang vigil turned holy is haunting and beautiful:

… I was invited to lead a prayer vigil for a young man who had been gunned down by the rival gang. As I made my way to the house where I would join the family who had lost their son, I noticed a large group of young people—many apparently gang members—were walking that way as well. Feelings of fear and doubt started creeping up my spine. "Where are they going?" I wondered. "Was something dangerous happening around the corner?" Turning the corner I realized they too were headed to the vigil.

• "Going to Church Alone" – Jason Johansen

As a church member, Jason Johansen became disillusioned and reclusive at his church of ten years. Now a pastor, he sees congregations of people who "go to church alone." And it's not a good thing:

Don't miss Johansen's description of a pandemic problem, and a possible, powerful solution.

Sermon and songs will conspire to give the worshiping consumer an experience of having connected with Christ even while they ignore the very real members of Christ's body sitting right next to them. For many this has become normal. In my case, this was a phase of anonymity and alienation (wasted months that still grieve me). For many, however, anonymous attendance is all they know of church. It is perpetual and permanent.

• "Confidence Without Clarity" – Mandy Smith

Have you ever struggled with confidence in where God's leading? Ohio pastor Mandy Smith can relate, especially in the dilemmas of communicating vision to your congregation:

When we step up in front of the eldership or the congregation to invite them into a new vision—maybe one we feel is directly from God himself—how do we do it? On the one hand, we want to dream big, not to let our lack of faith limit what God wants us to do. But will we look dumb if the plan we come up with doesn't go as we promised? Will we make God look bad if we misspoke about where he was leading? Will we doubt his goodness (and cause others to doubt him) if the things we promised on his behalf didn't materialize? Or will we make bold claims in his name and risk manipulating those who don't get the vision?

• "Odd Assignments" – Martin Copenhaver

They don't teach you how to handle calls like that in seminary. Martin Copenhaver nails the strange, holy moments of pastors' odd assignments in this beautifully written piece.

"Hello, Martin? This is Jack Morrow. I need your help."

It was strange to hear his voice shaking. Jack was a stalwart member of the church, a lovable bear of a guy. I was in my first year of ministry and roughly the age of his older children. He was the kind of person I would turn to if I were in need. Now he needed me.

"I just learned that my friend's wife hanged herself," he said. "I just got a call from their son. When they discovered her, they left the house immediately. I feel like I need to go over to their house. When they get back I don't want them to have to see her hanging there. Will you go with me?"

• "Seven Things I Hate About Spiritual Formation" – John Ortberg

Leadership Journal editor-at-large John Ortberg had many strong pieces this year, but this short, punchy one stood out for its honesty and relatability. "Hate" is a strong word, but we're glad John chose it.

• "The Stand-In Church" – Lillian Daniel

Leadership Journal favorite Lillian Daniel certainly can write, and she captures the role of the local church in this brilliant musing on "testimony."

… suddenly, instead of thinking that a debate is about to ensue, you realize you have been called upon not for your answer, not for your argument, but for your testimony. Not just your testimony, but the testimony of the church that has stood in the midst of utter sadness and made claims that only the mad would make … .It may not be eloquent. Some of the best testimonies are stumbling words choked out of the same sorrow that the nonbeliever stands drowning in, but at least the believer can say, "Yes, in the midst of this tragedy, I believe there is more than all of this."

• "Why People Get So Mad at Pastors" – Wayne Cordeiro and Francis Chan

Pastors are well acquainted with expectations—good and bad—from their church members. But how do you handle disappointment directed at you from the people you're called to serve? We love how Chan and Cordeiro—two veteran pastors—dig into the heart of the issue.

• "An Authentic Pastor" – Katherine Callahan-Howell

Her mother's sudden death left pastor Katherine Callahan-Howell angry and doubting. We love how she channeled her struggle into this poignant musing on authenticity and honesty.

• "The Gospel in an LGBT World" – Peyton Jones

There's nothing easy about navigating the complexities of sexuality and the local church. With that said, veteran church planter Peyton Jones—located in the heart of Long Beach, California's rainbow community—balances the various concerns of the issue with grace and love. Our favorite quote: "When our church is reaching the community, Sunday morning smells like alcohol. Lesbians sit in church holding hands."

• "Leading Distracted People" – Adam Stadtmiller

Wait … what? Adam Stadtmiller penned a sharp piece on how to pastor people in an attention-deficit age? We'll get around to reading it right after we share it on Facebook, and Twitter, and catch up on Community reruns, and …

"Possibly the biggest transition since the onslaught of media-saturated culture is that the church's trajectory is being shaped less by where church leaders are trying to direct it and more by the responses of their followers. A leader's course matters less when those being led won't or can't follow due to an avalanche of distraction, competing messages, and overly stressed lives.

Most of the training we receive focuses on the ways of a leader. Allow me to suggest a more pertinent question: How do digital-age believers follow?"

• "When Pot is Legal What Do We Say?" – Ben Tertin

If it isn't already, it won't be very long before the question of legal marijuana comes up in your congregation. Pastor Ben Tertin's faced it, and shares his thoughts in this very practical piece. See if you can count how many pot-culture words he was able to weave into the article.

Ben says that soon

For our neighbors and church members, there will be no more need to stash baggies above ceiling tiles to keep them hidden from mom. No more secret lingo, "420" rendezvous, or clandestine hook-ups with Mary Jane. It's possible to imagine the host of your next home community meeting happily setting a jar of pot and a glass pipe next to the bottle of merlot on the refreshments table.

• "We Need to Stop Eating Our Own" – Michael Cheshire

Colorado pastor Michael Cheshire's "Going to Hell With Ted Haggard" was the runaway success of Leadership Journal's 2012 lineup. With this piece, Cheshire takes us on a very personal "near death" experience where he realized just how much division cripples the church's mission.

• "Ahem, Your Ecclesiology is Showing" – Kevin Miller

"In America" says Illinois pastor Kevin Miller, "individualism, like fluoride, flows in the drinking water." We love the title of this one, and love Miller's musings on how we're weakened by our self-centeredness. "We all laud the church, but to truly love her, to put her needs above my own, requires accepting pain, usually more than I want to accept." We relate.

• "The New Televangelists" – Chris Nye

Young pastor Chris Nye remembers the earliest growing pains of pastoral ministry:

He describes the problem of celebrity ministry elegantly and practically.

I began looking for role models, for people I wanted to be like. Through the Internet, I was exposed to ministries from all over the country—pastors with 3,000 member churches preaching to multiple campuses and looking good doing it. They preached slick sermons under shining lights. Best of all I could watch it all on my laptop from anywhere.

I want to be a pastor like that, I thought. I just need to be like them, imitate them, and then I'll have success—my ministry will grow. These pastors taught me how to teach, how to read Scripture dramatically, and how to hold a Bible the right way when making a point. It seemed like all these guys had to do was prepare a sermon for Sunday and deliver well and watch their churches grow—how rewarding! It all seemed to be working for them. Certainly, I thought, this will work for me, too.

• "You've Done it Unto Me" – Tony Kriz

Leadership Journal regular Tony Kriz's musings are editorial favorites here, but this piece particularly haunted us—in a very good way. Tony's musings meander a bit, but come to a razor point at the end. What would it mean if we truly realized that the eyes of the poor and naked were the eyes of Jesus?