Whether you are a faith leader who steps into the pulpit every week, occasionally, or rarely, these are challenging times to preach. Have you encountered a heightened level of criticism about your preaching? The Rev. Cindy Halvorson, DMin, LeaderWise consultant and author of Real People, Real Faith: Preaching Biblical Characters, offers 4 considerations for sermon-writing in these fraught times.

Faith leaders are at risk for burnout, and LeaderWise boundaries training can help. Healthy Boundaries for Healthy Leaders is an interactive workshop relevant to challenges faith leaders face. The training prioritizes wellness through a trauma-informed approach, discusses steps to making decisions when the road is uncertain, and considers the impact of culture and context on boundaries.

This “good news story” describes how a denominational organization, guided by LeaderWise consultants, healed from toxicity and conflict to shift to an organization built on trust. The transformation required participants to be vulnerable and willing to work through difficulty. As a result of the strategic Bridgebuilder process, participants experienced renewal and were able to envision a new way forward. [image by Nick Fancher on Unsplash+]

In this compilation from LeaderWise’s 2025 weekly messages, find valuable tools to bring into the new year: 5 Most Popular LeaderWise Articles from 2025, 4 Mission-Critical Articles, 3 Articles Not to Miss, 2 Article Series, 1 Opportunity for 2026.

[Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash]

The Christmas holiday season can be a stressful time of year. Here LeaderWise offers three quick and easy tools to help you care for your body, set (realistic) expectations, and offer some grace. [Photo by Julia Michelle on Unsplash]

What is LeaderWise’s secret sauce? The recipe is best summed up by a term that a staff member coined years ago. In a conversation about what we’d like more of at work, she identified “a greater sense of team and unity,” and then said, “Us-ness.” As the executive director at the time, Mark Sundby started using the term “us-ness” to describe how we aspire to be and do our work at LeaderWise. In interviews with potential staff members, the concept of “us-ness” as a core value resonated with many of them. They wanted to be part of an organization where they belonged and felt fully invested, and to know that others, including the organization itself, were invested in them as well. The beauty of us-ness is that it’s a made-up term, so we can craft it into what we want to be and imbue it with our own meaning. At the same time, the term has depth and touches us at our deepest, most existential level: We all want to belong.

Transitions are emotionally complicated, holding within them the paradox of the “both and.” William Bridges provides a simple but powerful framework to understand transition as an emotional process. All people and organizations in transition go through the phases of this model. In this week's article, read Mary Kay DuChene's current experience of being in transition in preparation for her upcoming retirement.

A theme in much of our work is transitions and, more specifically, supporting leaders and organizations so that they can move through times of transition in healthy and adaptive ways. As we engage in this work, one thing we often discuss is the importance of transparent communication in the midst of change. In that spirit, we wanted to update you on some changes happening here at LeaderWise.

Feeling lonely? You're not alone. This article shares practical suggestions for breaking through cyclical feelings of loneliness and offers assurance that loneliness is a treatable situation.

Rev. Laura Beth Buchleiter outlines how boundaries work to give us much needed space to breathe, roam, and run as we freely engage our life and work in the church. [Photo by Gary Yost on Unsplash]

LeaderWise Reflective Supervision trainee Rev. Justin Johnson shares about the experience of being an Indigenous leader in today’s church. [Image provided by the author: All Our Relations Land Trust, Kingston, ON]

In this latest installment of our Culture of Connection series, LeaderWise Director of Operations invites readers to gather a group of colleagues or peers to reflect on what makes a nurturing work environment.

Guest writer and retired minister Linda Anderson shares Vietnamese Zen Buddhist Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s “Beginning Anew” process for dealing with relational difficulties. This 4-step approach is meant to generate compassion and understanding leading to peace. [image by Nikola Johnny Mirkovic on Unsplash]

Research shows that chronic loneliness is detrimental to health. Mary Kay DuChene, co-author of A Path to Belonging, outlines here six actions communities can take to address loneliness. [Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash]

How are you being called to invest in your call and your leadership? New Shape groups are forming for 2026 in Minnesota/Wisconsin, Idaho, New Jersey, and North Carolina. The LeaderWise Shape of Leadership program was started by one of LeaderWise’s co-directors, Mary Kay DuChene, who studied adaptive leadership with Ron Heifetz out of Harvard University. Mary Kay channeled the lessons of embracing change through experimentation and innovation into experiences faith leaders could apply to their ministry contexts. Since the start of the Shape program (even in spite of the pandemic) more than 100 leaders—ministers, chaplains, directors—have graduated from the Shape program, continually using the tools they learned in Shape to elevate their ministries.

In this latest installment of our Culture of Connection series, spiritual director Alicia Forde invites us to reach out and nurture micro-connections with people we encounter.

Science shows that loneliness is a serious public health threat. Loneliness can take a significant health toll and even be deadly. The good news is that loneliness is highly treatable. Research has demonstrated several effective treatments. [Photo by Kristina Tripkovic on Unsplash]

Because constructive conflict is necessary in order to activate the work of justice, we as faith leaders must create spiritual disciplines that will give us the courage to face the conflict that must be faced. When we embrace and lead from spiritual centeredness, we are able to embody a presence that is open and not defensive; calm and focused; grounded in the ability to move with agility toward promoting reconciliation and peace. Photo by Lua Valentia on Unsplash

Trauma doesn’t wait for convenient timing—it shows up at the coffee hour table, in a phone call, and in the pews. Such a moment calls for a deep breath! A trauma-informed response helps create safety and presence, rather than rushing to fix things. If you’d like to learn more about what trauma is, how to bring a trauma-informed lens into your ministry, and to care for yourself as you engage in this work, join us for two new upcoming opportunities from LeaderWise. [Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash]