Conflict

Communication | Conflict | Elder-Preacher Relationships | Gratitude | Growth | Individual Responsibility | Influence | Leadership | Leadership Selection | Listening | Overseeing | Sheep | Shepherd-Shepherd Relationships | Shepherding | Tools and Skills | Transition

Happy 80th Birthday, Jerrie Barber, and Happy 10th Anniversary New Shepherds Orientation and Seasoned Shepherds Revitalization Blog
ByJerrie Barber March 3, 2025March 3, 2025

The first post in this blog was on January 6, 2015. I use this date as the day I started liking to write. I was approaching seventy years old and had been preaching for more than fifty years. I wrote bulletin articles each week and a weekly newspaper article when I lived in Dalton, Georgia….

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Communication | Conflict | Gossip | Individual Responsibility | Influence | Leadership

Four Viruses that Feed Conflict
ByJerrie Barber February 3, 2025February 3, 2025

When I receive a call from someone about conflict in a congregation, I know something about that church. They have a lot of gossip in that church. I’m not that smart. I believe the Bible. Where there is no wood, the fire goes out;And where there is no talebearer, strife ceases. — Proverbs 26:20 Peter…

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Communication | Conflict | Deacons | Delegation | Elder-Preacher Relationships | Giving | Goals | Individual Responsibility | Leadership | Leadership Selection | Overseeing | Shepherd-Shepherd Relationships | Shepherding

Third New Shepherds Orientation Workshop at Fairlane
ByJerrie Barber November 4, 2024November 2, 2024

Fairlane Church of Christ in Shelbyville, Tennessee, participated in its third New Shepherds Orientation Workshop from August 9 to 11. This is my first time leading three New Shepherds Orientation Workshops for the same congregation. But this was the design of this workshop. Henry Wilhoit called me in the fall of 2013. He told me,…

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Conflict | Growth | Individual Responsibility | Leadership

Book of the Quarter — 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos
ByJerrie Barber October 28, 2024October 28, 2024

12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, by Jordan B. Peterson, Copyright © 2018 Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, Random House Canada, Toronto; eBook ISBN 9780345816047 On the fifth Tuesday of each quarter of the year, I share a book I’ve read recently. I highlighted “mustard seeds,” which impressed me. I hope you find one…

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Communication | Conflict | Leadership | Tools and Skills

Good Illustration or Gimmick?
ByJerrie Barber August 5, 2024August 6, 2024

A preacher was criticized for dressing in first-century clothes and quoting passages from the apostle Peter. Some said it was just a gimmick and shouldn’t have been done. I’m confused. Is it a gimmick at regular worship but not a gimmick at Vacation Bible School? Who made that rule? Why do we dress in costumes…

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Communication | Conflict | Elder-Preacher Relationships | Leadership | Leadership Selection

Hiring the Son of an Elder
ByJerrie Barber July 1, 2024July 4, 2026

New Podcast Released July 1, 2024 Click on the picture below or the following link to listen to the first episode of Gleaning Mustard Seeds: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2369804 Click on the picture above or the following link to listen to the first episode of Gleaning Mustard Seeds: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2369804 Question I was wondering what your experience/advice would be…

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Communication | Conflict | Individual Responsibility | Leadership

Book of the Quarter: What They Didn’t Teach You in Seminary: 25 lessons for successful ministry in your church
ByJerrie Barber April 29, 2024April 30, 2024

What They Didn’t Teach You in Seminary: 25 lessons for successful ministry in your church, by James Emery White, © 2011 by James Emery White, Published by Baker Books, Grand Rapids, ISBN 987-4412-3219-9 On the fifth Tuesday of each quarter of the year, I share a book I’ve read recently. I highlighted “mustard seeds,” which…

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Communication | Conflict | Elder-Preacher Relationships | Individual Responsibility | Leadership

Why Do People in the Church of Christ…?
ByJerrie Barber April 1, 2024April 22, 2024

Frequently, I hear and read people making statements that members of the Church of Christ do things that those in other religious groups don’t do. Some have left the church to go to other groups to escape this treatment. People (elders, preachers) in the Church of Christ always…” In many, if not most Churches of…

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Communication | Conflict | Delegation | Growth | Individual Responsibility | Tools and Skills

Book of the Quarter: Step Up or Step Out
ByJerrie Barber January 29, 2024April 22, 2024

Step Up or Step Out: How to Deal with Difficult People Even If You Hate Conflict, by Jonno White I found no copyright or publisher. This is a short book. I found three “mustard seeds.” I share a book I’ve read recently on the fifth Tuesday of each quarter of the year. I highlighted “mustard…

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Communication | Conflict | Individual Responsibility | Influence | Leadership | Transition

I Want the Church to Grow–But Do I Want Any More People?
ByJerrie Barber October 2, 2023October 2, 2023

Ross Jordan began his work with the Central Church of Christ in October 1987. Cordell Holloway, our education minister, Ross, and I met the first Monday to get acquainted and discuss how we would work together. Among many other things, Ross asked Cordell and me, “Do you want the church to grow?” Cordell replied that…

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