Leaders practicing an easier, more effective way to lead

Services / Programs

Marcuson Leadership Circle offers a number of services and programs intended to increase the leadership capabilities of clergy and lay leaders. All of my work applies to the issues and challenges you face in your church right now. They include:

Ministry Coaching Program: One-on-one support for pastoral leaders

This program is for clergy who want to increase their capacity to lead their congregation and to significantly improve the contribution they make to the ministry. Click here for more details.

Group Ministry Coaching (virtual and face-to-face)

Bring your toughest ministry dilemmas and find a new perspective on how to face them, and learn from the challenges others bring. Stop staying awake at night! Click here for more details.

Congregational Leadership Development

Enhance your leadership by enhancing the people and their ministries within your congregation. This is for clergy and churches ready to move forward and develop both their pastoral leadership and the initiative of lay leadership. Click here for more details.

Speaking and workshops.

I make presentations for small and large groups on topics such as:
  • Money and Your Ministry
  • How to Lead in a Harsh Climate
  • Four Keys to Handling Church Politics
  • May I Help You? What Really Helps People Grow


Marianne LaBarre, Director, Pastoral Leadership Program, School of Theology and Ministry, Seattle University

Margaret combines wit with her wisdom and a down to heart, personal style that sets people at ease. Within the trusting context that she creates she is able to engage persons in ministry to take on challenges that bring more health and well being into their personal and professional lives and also into their congregational settings. I greatly value Margaret’s expertise in the area of pastoral coaching. Both with individuals and small groups she brings a wealth of experience and understanding to pastoral issues and in how to create healthy systems. Margaret is a team player and I highly recommend her as a gifted leadership coach, presenter and group facilitator.
Click here for more details.

Ministry Coaching Program

When you enroll in the Ministry Coaching Program, I meet with you monthly, in person or by phone, more frequently when needed. My attention and experience are yours as we focus on you and the real-time dilemmas you face. We explore alternative approaches that will unhook you from unnecessary stress and get you back to the real work of leading your congregation in ways that are good for you and the people you serve.

Over time, you will realize you have learned new ways to manage the ongoing stresses of ministry. You will notice you approach perennial conflicts and setbacks more productively, and you will understand how to deal with the inevitable resistance that arises when leaders start to move ahead.

David Hutchinson, Associate Pastor, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Portland, OR

As a pastor, I try to develop effective leadership skills, and often wish I had a guide. I have read books on conflict, leadership, management, systems theory, and all sorts of things. The books have good ideas, but applying them is often more tricky. Recently I have found someone who brings the books to life, and brings together theory and practice. She is Margaret Marcuson…I feel that she has helped me relax a little as I consider difficult situations, and find better strategies to lead. I would recommend her without hesitation to other clergy as a resource.
Interested? Call me at 503-701-7621, or e-mail me at Margaret@margaretmarcuson.com to find out more or to schedule a free introductory session.

Group Ministry Coaching

When you enroll in Group Ministry Coaching you will be in the company of others determined to learn better ways to lead. You will join a group of three or four other ministry leaders, and we will meet in person or via teleconference. We examine the ministry challenges each participant is facing and explore options, using approaches I suggest and the pooled experiences of the others.

You will leave these sessions with a new approach to what’s facing you and a greater sense of your own ability to handle it.

Interested? Call me at 503-701-7621, or e-mail me at Margaret@margaretmarcuson.com to find out more or to schedule a free introductory session.

Congregational Leadership Development

When you enroll in Congregational Leadership Development, you bring your key leaders (often your board) into the room with you to present and shape your vision into one they, too, can enthusiastically move forward with you. It works like this: I meet with you for as long as it takes to define your vision for a healthy, functioning congregation. We gather your leaders together and you and I open conversation with them about your vision. We do it in a way they haven’t seen done before, in a way that makes you and your vision real and clear and inviting. They are given an opportunity to respond it, and we enter into a period of refinement that gets everyone on the same page, in a spirit of cooperation and clarity.

If you are like every other ministry leader I have encountered, you think your leaders understand your vision, but they’ve never really heard you lay it out in the same way you tell it to me when I ask. When you do, you bring your leaders to a new place of understanding and inspiration. I walk with you through each detail, even down to how to say what you so deeply want for them.

This process elevates all of you to the next level of leadership, collaboration, and function.

The Congregational Leadership Development process is equally effective in helping pastors and church leaders think through a current issue, such as staff crisis or conflict in the congregation, and gain more clarity about how to proceed and offer support to the participants.

Wm. Wayne Brown, Executive Minister, American Baptist Churches of Oregon

Consultants must listen before they can help their clients. Margaret does that so well. Margaret brings to group and individual situations a keen sense of insight, out of which she shares ways to help those involved move forward in their relationships in a positive way.


Interested? Call me at 503-701-7621, or e-mail me at Margaret@margaretmarcuson.com to find out more or to schedule a free introductory session.

Speaking and Workshops

Through speaking and workshops I introduce clergy and lay leaders to a new approach to leadership, through engaging and interactive presentations that give leaders a greater sense of their own resources and the possibilities of leadership.

My presentations include:

Money and Your Ministry

Do you dread stewardship? Is your salary stagnant? Does your church fight about money—or keep secrets about it? This program will help you learn a way to understand what’s really going on (in us and in others) when money becomes an issue in congregational life, and how to lead around money with lowered anxiety and more clarity. What you will take away with you: a new way to approach the money challenges we all face at church.

How to Lead in a Harsh Climate

What does it take to survive a harsh climate? What qualities do leaders need in challenging times? Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton turned a disastrous expedition into a triumph of survival. His leadership overcame the elements, difficult personalities, and one setback after another. This workshop will explore how Shackleton’s story illustrates the way leaders must manage their own anxiety and develop a clear vision and direction. Like Shackleton, pastoral leaders today need stamina to stay the course over time, and creativity to imagine a new and different future.

Four Keys to Handling Church Politics

Why do we get stressed from relating to others, especially in the inevitable times of conflict? How can we relate to others, whether staff or church members, in a way that reduces stress and increases ministry effectiveness? The four keys give you a way to look at problems differently and more productively. Your take-away? A new approach to the relationship challenges we all face in ministry.

May I Help You? What Really Helps People Grow

There is a way of helping that creates dependency and there’s a way of helping that prompts people to grow. In this presentation you’ll learn ways to deal with stress in ministry (and other) relationships that make you a truly helpful leader who knows how to avoid over-responsibility. You will get clear about the kind of "helping" creates dependency, and what kind doesn’t.

Interested? Call me at 503-701-7621, or e-mail me at Margaret@margaretmarcuson.com to find out more or to schedule a free introductory session.

"I often have an epiphany during her presentations...and refer back to them even after several years.... I have grown in my leadership skills and as a person as a result of her coaching."

Rev. Rebecca Werner Maccini, United Church of Christ, Henniker, New Hampshire