Discover how to experience congregational work as an integrated element in a fully rounded spiritual life. Written for both those in the more typically recognized "leadership roles" such as board members and committee chairs as well as for those who lead while serving on a committee, teaching in religious education or helping to pull together the Holiday Fair. Makes a useful addition to a congregation's leadership development programs.

This book might be considered a companion to Sunday celebrations in the absence of a priest and A ritual for lady persons. It addresses the questions: Who is the lay person who leads the community in prayer? What is their relationship to the community? What skills and/or training should be required? -- What sort of spiritual formation is desirable? How can the parish community or diocese help to promote their ministerial identity? Because lay ministry is not a stop-gap solution to a temporary need but a gift to the Church for the long term, these questions need careful consideration. --Book cover.

Where will you find your next team of capable, committed leaders for your congregation? Churches across the country search for committed people with a heart for ministry, people who are ready to use their gifts in the ministries of the church. Your best potential leaders may already be in your congregation. This resource, used as a study tool or a desk reference, will help men and women in the church find the tools, direction and inspiration they need to become the best leaders they can be. Leadership Essentials offers practical skills, worksheets, and practice exercises in areas including: What Kind of Leader Will You Be? Making Disciples Building and Sustaining Teams Meetings that Work Developing Vision, Mission, and Values Statements Strategic Planning Effective Communication Managing Conflict Leading Change and Encouraging Innovation Developing the Next Generation of Leaders Keeping It All in Perspective Leadership Essentials offers direction distilled from years of experience in church known for its vibrant lay leadership. With tested and real-life techniques from COR's leadership development team, Carol Cartmill and Yvonne Gentile, this book can be used by individuals as a continual study or by topic or by groups who are working together to build their leadership skills. Carol Cartmill and Yvonne Gentile have created a series of valuable resources that you can use to implement more effective recruitment, training, inspiration and mentoring of lay leadership in your congregation. Their first resource, Serving from the Heart: Finding Your Gifts and Talents for Service, guides participants to find their spiritual gifts as well as their passion and talent for ministry. In the second resource, Leadership from the Heart: Learning to Lead with Love and Skill, lay leaders continue their learning experience in ten areas of servant leadership. Carol Cartmill is the Director of Leadership Development for The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection. She and her team launched the spiritual gifts ministry in 1998. Carol has led workshops relating to equipping ministries on both the local and national level. She resides in Overland Park, Kansas with her husband Jim and their two teenage daughters. Yvonne Gentile is Divisional Vice President of Merchandising for Helzberg Diamonds, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company. Since joining the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in 1996, she has used her passion for equipping and developing emerging leaders by serving on the Spiritual Gifts team, the Committee on Lay Leadership, and the Strategy Team for Leadership Development. Yvonne and her husband Frank live in Overland Park, KS. What people are saying about Serving from the Heart? Discovering one’s spiritual gifts is a liberating experience. Serving from the Heart is an instrument of liberation. The creative, gifted folks at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection developed a very useable resource for congregations who want to release the God-given human resource for creativeministry.” Herb Mather, Center for Christian Stewardship