In this episode of The 5 Leadership Questions podcast Todd Adkins and I talk with Thabiti Anyabwile. Thabiti is an author of several books (listed below) and a blogger. Most importantly, though, he is a pastor. This past spring, when we did the recording, Thabiti was just preparing to launch Anacostia River Church in Washington D.C. along with a team of fellow leaders. We hear from him about church planting, church community, church health, and leading older children as they prepare to launch into the world.
Best Quotes
“Dream big, pray big as a brotherhood.”
“Beginning with the leadership itself and the staff, we want it to feel like a family and like a brotherhood. And we want to give it the time that it takes for that to happen.”
“You can’t commute to community.”
“You can’t reach a neighborhood that you don’t live in.”
“A goal is a goal the moment you write it down, but a value has to be lived out over time.”
“We put people over programs.”
“In my experience most Christians have never been in a healthy church.”
“You can sometimes chart the spiritual lives of a Christian according to the programs in their church.”
“We stop being Christians in the summer because that’s when we go on vacation.”
“It was most important for me to be home when my kids were teenagers because I never knew when they would want to talk.”
“With the older kids leadership looks like being flexible and available enough to catch those moments when I can and direct them as I can.”
“Choose a college where there’s a healthy church. You shouldn’t put your spiritual life in the dock for four years.”
“We build our lives into and around the local church.”
“Commit yourself to studying leadership for the rest of your life. It’s not like you’ve got this thing down.”
“Make sure that your secret life matches your public life, that what people see is what they get.”
“Leadership is not about puffing up and swelling up, big promises big words, but is about closing the gap between who you really are and what people see and hear from you.”
Recommended Resources
Thabiti’s Blog
ERLC Conference on Race
What is a Healthy Church Member
Reviving the Black Church
Finding Faithful Elders and Deacons
Sticky Teams by Larry Osborne
The Shepherd Leader by Timothy Witmer
The Church Planter by Darrin Patrick
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