Does your parish have a dedicated outreach or missions and evangelism team? Fr. Evan Armatas boldly suggests that the Great Commission cannot be sequestered to committee - it must be at the heart of parish life!

Reflecting on Hebrews 13 where the Apostle Paul summarizes, "Do not neglect to good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God," Fr. Evan demonstrates how there's always room for one more at the table. He affirms that the degree of diversity within the parish directly correlates to the degree of parish health. 

Fr. Evan shares how the Great Commission is inextricably linked to parish health in his new book, Reclaiming the Great Commission: A Roadmap to Parish Health. The book is written as a practical guide for parish leaders to digest and implement in order to reclaim the Great Commission toward parish health.

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Today's leaders are nearly spent. Many of our priests, parents, teachers, healthcare workers, and business leaders are pushed to do more with fewer resources. When will it end?

While it may be tempting to turn to a book like Lamentations for a dose of consolation, if we listen carefully to the entire text, the scripture warns us through poetry crafted to break our hearts of stone. Rather than lamenting the destruction of that which is temporary and built by our own hands, the biblical writer laments Israel's disobedience. Lamentations is merciful in its warning and is followed by Ezekiel's hope that God would grant a heart of flesh so that we might walk according to His commandments.

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Does your parish council regularly ask, "How do we get more people to come and get involved?" 

Anna Caraveli suggests turning the question outside-in and ask instead, "How can we understand and connect to what matters most to people? How can we attend to the struggles of our people and serve them?" 

Learn more about Anna's research in organizational health and how it applies to churches with respect to: 

• Leading from the outside in
• How processes should link to vision
• Replacing tactical thinking with strategic thinking
• How empathy opens possibilities
• Transforming self-centric to others-centric

Check out The Demand Perspective: Leading from the Outside In by Anna Caraveli, PhD

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Fr. Dustin Lyon and the parish leaders of St. George Greek Orthodox Church participated in "Cultivating Vision and Change," a module of Doulos - The Intensive Program in Servant Leadership.  Hear their story and how the principles and disciplines of servant leadership are brought to life through the preaching, teaching, and ministries at St. George. In addition to serving St. George Greek Orthodox Church in DeKalb, IL, Fr. Dustin  hosts The Way, a podcast on the Ephesus School Network.

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