Category: Leadership

Recapturing the Heart of Jesus

Recapturing the Heart of Jesus is the theme of our 2024 District Conference, to be held at First Alliance Church in Billings, MT, April 8-10. The RMD family will gather for prayer, ministry from the Word, and the biennial business matters of the district. While the meetings are required for all official workers, I believe you will…
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Where Have All The _______ Gone?

If you’re over the age of 40, perhaps the first thing that pops into your head when you see this is “Cowboys”. Where have all the cowboys gone? You wouldn’t be alone. The song by the same name was released in 1997 by Paula Cole and went to number eight on the Billboard Hot 100…
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Goals, Content, and Environments

There are various ways to approach creating ministry strategy. Here is one approach that has been helpful to me over the years: Goals, Content, and Environments. Goals Before embarking on a trip, you need to know the destination, and the same is true when developing strategy. Therefore, the first step is to look ahead to…
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The Year of Spin

2024.  Doesn’t saying that just sound unusual?   For some, there may be dread associated with this coming year — you guessed it — another political season!  The U.S. Presidential election will be Tuesday, November 5th — and the two weeks following as one friend of mine said recently!  My guess is we’re going to experience a lot of spin!  Things…
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The Road You’re On

Eighty years ago this New Year’s Eve, Henry Deutschendorf Jr was born in Roswell, NM. His dad, Henry Deutshcndorf Sr, was a military man so young Henry lived in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arizona California, and Texas before Henry Jr. grew up and moved to Colorado. Young Henry began using his middle name and changed his…
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What Are You Married To?

If you have ever been through a Church Planter Boot Camp or Prepare to Plant Training you know that part of that training focuses on the mission of the church and how to implement that mission. Among the important components that are discussed, three are of particular importance: Mission: why the church exists. Strategies:  how the…
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Year-End Giving Campaign

Year-end giving can have a big impact on annual budgets.  Between the joyous spirit of the holiday season and the December 31st deadline for tax-deductible contributions, this time of year is the most popular time for giving to the church.  I have heard it said that churches may receive an average of 30% of their annual donations in…
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

For Lori and I, November is the month with a number of birthdays.  Lori’s late father and her youngest brother have the same date of birth in November.  Lori has two cousins that have a birthday in November and I have one whose birthday is in November.  Finally, our two daughter’s oldest children were each…
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Thankfulness

Ha!  I know it is October, and yet I am writing a column entitled Thankfulness!  Shouldn’t that wait till November, when we actually celebrate Thanksgiving???  Well, actually, we can be thankful anytime, can’t we?  I have been reading through the Psalms lately and this past weekend the words of a Psalm I have read over many, many times,…
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Transition

Recently I saw a headline that came from a U.S. Department of Labor report that said the average man in America will hold 12.7 jobs in his lifetime.  The average woman will have about 12.1.  Diving into the report a bit, you find things like the statistics drawn from later-era baby boomers born from 1957-1964.…
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