by bob | Feb 28, 2023 | Leadership
I wrote yesterday regarding a situation that has unfolded over the past 12 years. If you haven’t read that, I encourage you to do that first. When I posted it on Facebook, I received several kind comments. Many expressed sympathy, which was very much... 
by bob | Feb 27, 2023 | Leadership
Over the past year or so, I have written more frequently about the abuse of power within churches and church systems. A key reason is that the standard way churches operate and wield power contains too many horror stories. So many people are leaving the faith because... 
by bob | Feb 21, 2023 | Leadership
Last week I wrote about something I called “church war rooms”. (You can read that here).These ways of dealing with problems tend to occur when leaders fear they have something to lose, or feel that a situation has moved beyond their control. This leads them to respond... 
by bob | Feb 16, 2023 | Leadership
In his 2021 book, The Best Catholics in Ireland, Derek Scally covers a large swath of Irish Catholic history. Two men, Paul Cullen and John McQuaid, stood out in that recounting. Cullen and McQuaid serve as bookends marking the beginning and end of an... 
by bob | Dec 26, 2022 | Leadership
A key idea in my dissertation was polycentric leadership. Rather than the pyramid-shaped hierarchical model most of us as used to, a polycentric model has multiple centres of influence or leadership. The idea was introduced in a chapter of a book from the... 
by bob | Dec 2, 2022 | Leadership
A couple of days ago, I posted a video of a presentation I did based on my dissertation. I shared it with some ministry partners and others who are part of the Table on Sunday. On Tuesday, I shared with some people at the Irish Bible...