About Gary

Gary Mayes - B+W HeadshotGary Mayes serves Church Resource Ministries as Vice President, Director of U.S. Ministries. He has served with CRM in the area of Church Revitalization since 1997, giving leadership to the expansion and enhancement of the ReFocusing Network Ministry worldwide for five of those years.

Prior to joining CRM Gary spent twenty years in local pastoral ministry and finds that this experience assists him as he works in the trenches with pastors, churches and their leaders across the country. In addition to local pastoral ministry, Gary has been speaking to and training church leaders since 1983. He has authored and co-authored three books and given leadership to the development of numerous resources and training processes used by CRM staff worldwide.

Gary Mayes - Candid

In recent years, Gary has served leaders and churches on every continent but one and has developed a unique relationship in Africa. In addition to U.S. based responsibilities, Gary is mentoring the development of CRM-Africa as an African-led movement to develop pastors and leaders for a church that will transform Africa. He also serves as adjunct faculty at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary where he teaches the Church Revitalization courses in their Doctor of Ministry program.

He received his B.A. in Christian Education from Biola University in California, his M.Div. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois, and D.Min. in Organizational Systems from Bethel Seminary.

Gary and Margaret Mayes

Married to Margaret for 30 years, they are the parents of two adult children. Margaret is a Middle School teacher with Santa Ana Unified School District.

Gary is currently working on a book that connects the explosive journey of the first century church to the challenges of the 21st century. The working title is: “DNA of a Revolution: releasing the power of the church we have always longed for.”

Recent Content

A Tension that Makes Great Teams

Because I spend most of my time working with Christian ministry leaders and leadership teams in churches or ministry organizations, I regularly run into teams that have become hospice care centers to the detriment of quality work that needs to be done. However, as I interact with colleagues in the for-profit business world, I frequently [...]

Our Little Black Book

Drift happens. It happens in all areas of life and it happens in marriage. Last week we celebrated our 32nd anniversary with one of the most important annual traditions in our lives. So, before you get lost on how people as young, hip, and fun as we are could be married that long, check out my blog on the tradition of our little black book at aboutLEADING.com.

The Easiest Way to Avoid Change

It is December 30th and that means we are in the red-zone for the annual “get your life together” rhetoric calling for New Year’s resolutions to fuel personal growth. But, what do you do if you don’t buy into this annual opportunity for a fresh start? What if you would rather avoid another attempt at [...]

Raising My Game

Two weeks ago the Lord spoke to me about the disciplines involved in writing for this blog and provoked me to get my act together and write more often. No, it wasn’t dramatic. No smoke or lightning, but the stomach grabbing awareness that he was trying get through to me was undeniable. From the inception of [...]

Are we For or Against?

I want to lobby for a new day in the way we think of ourselves and engage the world around us. I am tired, impatient, angry, even embarrassed by a consistent trend in the Christian community. There are times when I hear the diatribes of those who claim the name of Christ and I feel [...]

Grieving and The Health of my Soul

Every once in a while it seems a window opens that blows fresh air into my soul on a deeper than normal level. I never expected the emotional journey of grief to be one of those windows. Two weeks ago Margaret and I spent the day in a hospital cafeteria while our son had surgery [...]

A Pirates Code for Greater Focus

I had a breakthrough I hadn’t sought. I recognized the linkage between annual, monthly, and weekly rhythms that are key to maintaining perspective and focus as a leader. Being a “P” and not a “J,” I think I’ll call it "the Pirates’ Code for Greater Leadership Focus." If I wanted more grandiose phrasing, I might call it, “Keys to Strategic Life Management for a Leader.”

about LEADING

  • Most people spend their lives fighting off the wind and the waves of the ocean. Leaders chart a way through them. aboutLEADING is the personal blog of Gary Mayes and a forum to discuss lessons at the intersection of life and leadership.

Asides

  • The VISION issue of www.noredcapes.com just went live. It features articles and resources to help leaders with the challenges of vision clarification and communication.  (noREDcapes is a journal for leaders that I publish every couple months.)

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