“How can we create a congregation where work and discipleship are truly integrated?” This is a question I am hearing more often, even though much has been written about a theology of work in recent years. Pastors and church leaders are looking for a programmatic strategy. I don’t think there is one. Programs can be an effective response to...

There is an old Harvard legend that on campus one day, the beloved Dean LeBaron Russell Briggs asked a student why he failed to complete an assignment. The student answered, "I wasn't feeling very well, sir." "Well, Mr. Smith," said Dean Briggs, whose own health was marginal, "in time you may find that most of the work of the world is done by...

Healthy Leaders Can Be Eccentric “Clinical language inherently tends to mark in the sick role or mark in the medical model, which is why I think it’s good to avoid until it becomes necessary.” —Warren Kinghorn, M.D. “I’m a little OCD,” the event planner says as she adjusts the floral centerpiece one last time. “I’m ADD,” the entrepreneur jokes in...

Jim was CEO of the hospital, but he still served ice cream at the annual ice cream social.  During the day, senior staff members scooped gallons and gallons of ice cream for anyone who dropped by—staff, patients, guests, anyone. The night shift couldn't leave their stations, so Jim loaded everything onto a cart.  He rolled it through three different...