Adam Hamilton is senior pastor of The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, one of the fastest growing churches in the country. Since its founding in 1990, the church has become the largest United Methodist Church in the denomination with over 20,000 children, youth and adult members and an average weekend worship attendance of 10,000. Adam is the author of several books, including Moses: In the Footsteps of the Reluctant Prophet. Adam and his wife of 33 years, LaVon, have two grown daughters.
Key Questions:
What are the factors that helped you go from a church that didn’t exist to the largest United Methodist Church?
How did you keep up with the leadership challenge of managing a church that has grown exponentially over 27 years?
What does the fact that Moses didn’t get to enter the Promised Land mean for us as church leaders?
What advice would you give to pastors who shepherd an average church?
Key Quotes:
“I thought if we could offer worship that looks familiar—from their past—and at the same time is relevant and is passionate, and we explain certain things to them like ‘why are we doing this’, that might be what separates us from many of the other churches that look similar.”
“Are you prepared for the fact that the day may come where this church grows beyond your leadership abilities and capabilities?”
“This church does not exist to give me a job. This church and its mission is more important to me than me working here.”
“Jethro becomes the first management consultant in human history…And he gives the advice [to Moses] every great management consultant has given to every leader, and that is: You’ve got to delegate.”
“We’re probably not doing a good job if everybody agrees with everything we’re doing.”
“The leaders who change the world are the people who refuse to give up. They listen, they learn, they’re humble, they try not to get overwhelmed by the opposition, but they keep going.”
“In your rear-view mirror it says ‘Objects are closer than they appear’, but when it comes to our fear, objects appear bigger than they really are.”
“I think for Moses [the Promised Land] was always more than a just a piece of real estate. It was a place where God’s Kingdom was lived out on earth as it is in heaven.”
“For us as Christians, the Promised Land is the Kingdom of God. It’s this vision that’s bigger than we are, that we’re pushing ourselves toward, we are trying to live into, we’ll never fully live into it this side of eternity, but we’re going to pray every day ‘Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,’ and we’re going to lead our people toward that vision of the promised land.”
“If your vision of the Promised Land is such that you’ve finally made it, then your vision of the Promised Land was too small.”
Mentioned in the Show:
Moses: in the Footsteps of a Reluctant Prophet