From the Editor

Last month's terrorist attacks brought millions to prayer. How do we keep them there? This opportunity for churches to become ongoing prayer centers may be one God-given way to redeem the tragedy. Perhaps a result of this evil will be a renewed dependence upon Jesus, a realigning of our lives with the kingdom of God, and renewed vitality in our life of prayer. If so, we can rejoice. As another victim of a cruel conspiracy once said to the conspirators, "God turned into good what you meant for evil" (Gen. 50:20, nlt).

We planned this issue of Leadership well before the events of 9/11, but the theme carries additional weight in their aftermath. These articles point the way to strong, sustainable ministries of prayer in the church. We found much to celebrate as well as ways to grow.

The only article written after the attack is Gordon MacDonald's column on his experience giving water to, and praying with, rescue workers at Ground Zero (see page 130). But the entire issue is oh-so timely.

Careful readers of Leadership will notice that we've made several upgrades to our format, beginning with seven pages of "Currents." This fast-paced "magazine within a magazine" covers four bases of ministry: knowing our culture, serving as a leader, functioning as the church, and nourishing your own soul. New columnists such as Ken Fong, Cheryl Sanders, and Erwin McManus join familiar faces Ben Patterson and Kevin Miller in this thought-provoking treatment of the essence of leadership.

Then, after our theme section, you'll find "Sunday's Comin'," seven pages of resources for preaching and worship: Craig Barnes's reflections on the preacher's interior work, an interview with a communicator on improving your skills, a page of preaching tips, a page of worship tools, and three pages of sermon illustrations from PreachingToday.com, our online service.

(You won't be surprised to know that the search engine of PreachingToday.com gets some of its highest usage early Sunday morning. Yep, when it's 7 a.m. and you still need an intro for that class or sermon, it's nice to know you can type in "foreknowledge" and find a great Garrison Keillor story to print out.)

The back half of the journal offers an array of items beyond the scope of the theme—anything from church war stories to reviews of helpful books and software.

But Leadership is more than a magazine. This year we launched our first National Pastors Convention, attended by 1,700 pastors and spouses. How was it?

Don Aycock, a Baptist pastor in Palatka, Florida, told me: "Mark Twain once wrote to a friend, 'Take out your mind and dance on it. It's getting all crusted up.' The pastor's conference was a time of dancing on my mind. I was refreshed by the laughter, the tears, and the fact that nobody was out to push, prod, or force me to do anything, think anything, or believe anything. I did all of that, of course, but no one was twisting my arm. It just happened. Ahhhh . …"

Bill Griffin, a Lutheran pastor in Novato, California, wrote that he took away some key words:

1. Mystery. I experienced a full embrace and elevation of the "unfathomableness" of God, His uncanny and sometimes earth(l)y way of loving us into life.

2. Hardship. The last 18 months have been the most taxing and painful of my almost 20 years in ministry. I heard a confirming voice again and again say that this is not cruel and unusual punishment, but God's way of the cross in me for His kingdom.

3. Crazy quilt church. I saw and experienced simple yet profound ways to speak to postmoderns (which we are all becoming!). The mixing of music styles, more interactive worship, multimedia (art from the last millennium and last week)—all showed me that boundaries between evangelical, charismatic, and sacramental are blending and bending. My own mixed spiritual background (Lutheran, Pentecostal, evangelical) is more the norm than I'd ever thought.

I hope to see you in February in San Diego for our next convention. For more information, check out www.nationalpastorsconvention.com

Marshall Shelley is editor of Leadership.