Expected Results
- You’ll find a greater sense of direction and purpose for your ministry. You’ll have more clarity about what you want out of ministry.
- You’ll gain more energy and clarity for your ministry. You’ll be clearer about the boundaries in your ministry.
- Others will step up to the plate as you get clearer about what you are responsible for—and just as important—what you aren’t.
- You will learn an effective approach to conflict which allows you and other church leaders to take a stand with difficult people and to ride out conflict instead of being thrown by it.
I realized that over time, these “Expected Results” have gradually grown into “Actual Results.” Everyone—especially the pastor—needs a pastor. You’re a pastors’ pastor. What a good gift that is! Thank you for your ministry. I’m better at my job because of you.
Rev. Zach Bay, pastor, First Baptist Church, Middlesboro, Kentucky
Guiding Beliefs and Values
Leadership. Leadership can make a real difference in the world.
Faith. I trust that God’s purposes are at work in us and in the world. I do this work because I’ve been called to it.
Hope. Opportunities for learning, growth and possibility are always present.
Reliability. I keep my word, and follow through on what I say I will do.
Depth. My goal is always to take my clients and myself deeper.
She’s gold. Whatever she says, do it.
Rev. John Reutter-Harrah, Pastor, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church
My approach
I work with leaders on how they make a difference.
My approach is not about a quick fix or about changing others, but about how leaders themselves step up to the important task of facing challenges, inertia and resistance.
I work with pastors to discover their own deep resources for leading out of themselves. I help them see the bigger picture of their long term goals and the kind of self-development, strategy and persistence most likely to get them there.
Whether I work with a minister for a day or over a long period of time, the focus is the same: to help clergy lead as they
1) develop greater clarity about their own self, purpose and goals, and
2) develop stronger relationships with those they lead.
The bottom line: a more solidly grounded ministry with far greater potential for long-term ministry results.
My uniqueness
I know what ministry is like because I lived it as a pastoral leader for fifteen years. I offer a wider perspective on the way churches function and how to make a difference within them. Rather than a leadership technique or formula, I offer a new way to live in ministry which fits your unique calling and giftedness.
Learn about the specific services and programs I offer by going to the Work with Me Page.
Margaret speaks and writes on leadership and works with faith leaders around North America as a consultant/coach. She helps clergy do their work without wearing out or burning out.
- Over 20 years on the faculty of the Leadership in Ministry workshops.
- Author of Leaders Who Last: Sustaining Yourself and Your Ministry and Money and Your Ministry: Balance the Books While Keeping Your Balance.
- Ordained American Baptist minister, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Gardner, Massachusetts for 13 years.
- Student of Edwin Friedman, author of Generation to Generation, and is an ongoing student of Bowen Family Systems Theory.
Contact Me
If you’d like to find out if and how I might be able to help you with your leadership goals, contact me to set up a time to talk.
We’ll have a conversation to learn about what you want for your leadership, and to see whether the way I work seems to be enough of a fit to move forward. I’ll suggest a way to proceed, outlining the issues, how we might begin to work together, and what the cost would be.
Call or email me to set up an initial phone meeting.
How to contact me:
Phone: 503-701-7621
E-mail: Margaret@margaretmarcuson.com
Mailing address: 3439 NE Sandy Blvd. #102 Portland, OR 97232
I’m lead pastor at a United Methodist Church, and find each coaching session with Margaret to be wonderfully helpful. I’m always surprised by what emerges in our conversations. Working with her helps clarify “the next right thing” to do. Having a safe place to explore church-related issues, reduces my anxiety and renews my truth in God.
Rev. Kim Risedorph, pastor, Asbury United Methodist Church, Livermore, CA