The Flourishing Series · Part 1
The Flourishing Trap
On the seductive promise of "flourishing" as a ministry metric — and what it quietly substitutes for faithfulness.
Read at ShadebreakerA related body of work
The Flourishing Series.
A four-part diagnostic of what happens when the language and metrics of the marketplace quietly become the goal of the ministry.
The Flourishing Series was originally published at Shadebreaker, a longer-running body of writing from which Mission Administration grew. The series is a precursor and companion to this site: where Mission Administration argues for a positive recovery of administration as ministry, the Flourishing Series diagnoses the drift that recovery is needed to address.
Four pieces. Each one stands alone, but they build on each other. Read individual pieces below, or read the full series at Shadebreaker.
Note: these will eventually be republished here on missionadministration.com so the body of work lives in one place. For now, the canonical home is shadebreaker.com.
The Flourishing Series · Part 2
The Quiet Drift
How the language of the marketplace works its way into ministry vocabulary one phrase at a time, until the original meaning has been quietly replaced.
Read at ShadebreakerThe Flourishing Series · Part 3
The Scorecard Problem
On metrics, dashboards, and what gets lost when ministry decisions are made by the same instruments used to run a portfolio company.
Read at ShadebreakerThe Flourishing Series · Part 4
Managing Beyond the Scorecard
Closing the series with what the alternative looks like — how to lead a ministry with metrics that actually serve the work, without becoming the work.
Read at Shadebreaker