Jeff Stiggins
Jeff Stiggins is a native of Central Florida who grew up in Maitland as the son of an Orlando architect. A graduate of Florida Southern College and Candler School of Theology, Jeff completed a Doctor of Ministry degree at Boston University School of Theology in 1999. Over the last 29 years, he has served churches in Sebring, Frostproof, Kendal, Hollywood and Titusville. In 2002 he was appointed the district superintendent of the Orlando district, which became the East Central district three years later. In 2006 he became the executive director of the Office of Congregational Excellence. He and his wife, Sue, have two children. Their son, Kalon, is a worship leader at Community of Faith UM Church in Davenport, FL. Their daughter, Anna, is a pediatric intensive care nurse at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD.
Posted on 2/22/12 by Jeff Stiggins
Jesus told a story in Matthew 25: 13-20 about a businessman who called his employees together before taking a trip. To one he gave $1,000, to another he gave $500 and to the third he gave $100, each according to their abilities, and instructed them to carry on his business while he is gone. Most of us have heard this story many times . . . and applied it to individuals. But what might Jesus be saying to congregations . . . that, after all, are a constellation of individuals? More specifically, what might Jesus be saying to those congregational leaders that identify with the third employee given only $100?
Posted on 2/3/2012 by Jeff Stiggins
I was with a group of church leaders recently reviewing their congregation's current reality: where they were and how they got there. I asked them what they believed were the specific Kingdom differences that God was calling them to make in the next three to five years.(If a congregation has no sense of what specific differences they are being called to make, the chances are about 100% that they will just continue doing pretty much what they are already doing.) One younger businessman spoke up: "It's all about the numbers. Ours are all heading south and we have to get them turned around. We have to get our Missional Vital Signs up." I wanted to roll my eyes, but refrained. Will we ever get the message across that it is not really about the numbers?
Posted on 1/27/12 by Jeff Stiggins
As has often been repeated, "A journey begins with the first step." We have been talking about the journey of becoming missionally vital in our communities, of having a Kingdom impact in Jesus' name. It is a destination toward which many church leaders want to move. But how? Where do we begin? In this post, I want to suggest seven key next steps you might consider.
Posted on 1/18/12 by Jeff Stiggins
There seems to be a rather predicable path that congregations -- and their leaders -- go through, in growing to be missionally mature. Think of it as developmental stages maturing into more Christ-like missions. (Doug Anderson first draw my attention to this, so I want to give credit where credit is due.)While a leader or a congregation can get stuck in any class along the way in the Graduate School of Ministry, here are the stages: (1) Oblivious, (2) Awareness of people's needs and of God's call, (3) Gestures of Mission, (4) Transformational Relationships, and (5) Justice Ministries.
Posted on 1/13/12 by Jeff Stiggins
When Jesus ministered to persons, he did so as a humble servant even while sharing with them God's word. For mainstream American Christians, ministering in ways characterized by Powerlessness and Proclamation can be almost unnatural -- certainly counter cultural. But if we are to join Jesus in ministry in our communities, we must allow the Holy Spirit to empower us to be like Jesus in these ways, too.
Posted on 1/9/12 by Jeff Stiggins
One of the challenges for every church leader is helping people gain a vision of what it means to join Jesus in ministry in the world. Our tendency is to think programmatically and impersonally. Jesus did not. Alan Hirsch in The Forgotten Ways talks about the "4 P's" that characterize ministry done in Jesus' style. In this post, we will look at the first two P's: Proximity and Presence. In the following post, we will look at the second two P's: Powerlessness and Proclamation.
Posted by Jeff Stiggins on 1/6/12
One of the surest signs of congregational vitality is when a congregation is connecting missionally to their community. That means the members of the congregation are involved in genuine relationships with people out in the community in ways that bless others, extend a merciful helping hand and share the Gospel invitation to explore who Jesus is within the fellowship dedicated to following him. A lot of congregations however gather in a community that they know little about and that knows little about them. They are like an island in the sea of the world. Why is it easier to be a sanctuary from the world rather than a mission to it?
Posted by Jeff Stiggins on 12/9/2011
I watched my grand children playing over Thanksgiving. They are both under five. Whatever the older one did, the younger one tried to do, too. As the older one learned something new, the younger one picked up on it more quickly simply by following big brother's example. What if we encouraged this normal pattern of learning from those just ahead of us in the church? What if every leader in the church was intentional about helping someone learn to do what they were doing?
Posted on 12/5/2011 by Jeff Stiggins
Looking in the mirror can have a sobering effect for some of us - and a celebrative effect for others of us. I looked at a friend sitting across from me in a meeting this week and noticed how much thinner his face was looking since he has lost some weight. I looked in the mirror this morning and the face looking back didn't tell the same story. Either way, the Bible does talk about looking in the mirror and not forgetting what you see. When talking about congregations, however, that's a lot harder to do - at least it used to be before having the Congregational Snapshot.
Posted on 11/13/11 by Jeff Stiggins
At one point, it was all I could do to keep up with pastoral care needs. I was visiting the same handful of needy people regularly; I was doing a fair amount of counseling, too. Funerals, weddings and hospital visits filled up my calendar. I was struggling to have time to prepare well for preaching. In studying for a Disciple Bible Study we read Acts 6 where the Hellenistic Jews complained that their widows were being overlooked on the food distribution.
Posted on 11/6/2011 by Jeff Stiggins
Since the mission of the church is to, "Make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world," is pastoral care missional? In terms of time spent, probably nothing takes up more of a pastor's time than pastoral care. But is this a missional leader's most important concern? Are hospital visits, counseling, conducting weddings and funerals, and visiting the bereaved, those in nursing homes and home bound missional?
Posted on 10/31/2011 by Jeff Stiggins
Most pastors or teachers remember the cold chill they felt when they first heard someone say, "I"m not being spiritually fed here." People often say this as they are on the way out of the congregation and on the way to another. A pastor told me about hearing this recently as he blinked back tears.
Posted on 10/24/2011 by Jeff Stiggins
When I was ordained, the Bishop asked us John Wesley's historic question, "Are you going on to perfection?" Of course, we all answered, "Yes," but I remember hearing a few snickers down the line and in the audience. Once when there were similar snickers in a class at Candler, Bishop Harman remarked: "If you aren't going on to perfection, what are you intending to go on to . . . fair-to-middling?"
Posted on 10/9/11 by Jeff Stiggins
What's wrong with this not-quite-a-quote from the Great Commission in Matthew 28:20? What's wrong with it is why people yawn when they hear the sermon is going to be about forgiveness and yet hold a grudge for years towards their family member. Or think "boring" when they hear the lesson is on the 10 commandments, yet can't name all ten and regularly break several of them.
Post on 10/3/2011 by Jeff Stiggins
A missionally vital congregation is a fruitful congregation. Jesus in John 15 makes it clear that fruitfulness is expected. Unfruitful branches are cut off. Fruitful branches are pruned so that they will bear more fruit. Obviously, fruitfulness is important to Jesus. So, what does it mean to be a fruitful congregation?
Posted on 9/22/2011 by Jeff Stiggins
A vital congregation makes present and impactful the incarnational ministry of Jesus in a particular place. Vital congregations are homegrown. They are rooted in and reflect the culture and people in their communities. Therefore, there are no vanilla, one-size-fits-all vital congregations. Everyone is tailor-made for their particular location. What blooms like crazy in Miami, won't thrive in Maitland or even grow in Madison. Just as the Son became a particular person in a particular time and place, so congregations embody and continue Christ's work in a particular community. Vital congregations are always indigenous congregations.
Post on 9/16/11 by Jeff Stiggins
It isn't my church or your church or even our church. The church belongs to Jesus. It's easy to forget that the church is a franchise. We don't get to decide what the church is about. The mission is set. Still we vote on what we want as if our preferences are what matter most. Vital congregations know: "our church" joins Jesus in continuing his mission, not ours.
Posted on 9/8/2011 by Jeff Stiggins
There is lots of talk these days in United Methodist circles about increasing the number of vital congregations. Okay, what's a "vital congregation?" If one ran through the room right now, how would you recognize it? In this blog series, I'd like to offer a definition of a "vital congregation." The definition has at least four essential elements, beginning with: a vital congregation is a unique Christian community.
Posted on 8/30/2011 by Jeff Stiggins
Who doesn't believe that effective pastors have something to do with a congregation's missional vitality? The Towers Watson study had congregations evaluate 1,200 pastors regarding 14 leadership attributes to determine what aspects of leadership most impacts vitality. Four attributes were clearly identified - and seminary only touched on one of them for me!
Posted on 8/23/2011 by Jeff Stiggins
According to the Council of Bishops' Call to Action Report, one of the most significant drivers of a congregation's missional vitality is that their laity provides effective leadership. And the greatest predictor of effective lay leadership is that laity are living into the historic forms for nurturing our faith. The surprising thing about this finding is that some may assume that the best leaders in the secular world naturally make the best leaders in the church, which may not be the case.
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