8 Areas Where Pastors Wish They Were Better Equipped

By

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August 15, 2018

I thank God for pastors. They are often criticized, second-guessed, underpaid and expected to do too many things. Pastors would be perfect if they were simply omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent.

Indeed, the expectations of pastors can be overwhelming. In that light, I asked seasoned pastors to share with me the areas they wish they could be better prepared and better equipped. The results were voluminous, and the needs are great. Here are the top eight:

Leading the church in evangelism/reaching the community. Many pastors felt as if evangelism and healthy growth are neglected topics. They admitted their own sense of inadequacy in leading their churches to reach more people with the gospel.
Leadership development. Pastors know they can’t do the work of ministry alone. But many of them shared poignantly how they wish they could become better at developing leaders in the church. They understand both biblically and intuitively that more leaders are imperative for a church to be healthy.
Finances/business issues/administration. “I never considered how much of church life is running an organization,” one pastor shared with us. “I was never trained for that aspect of ministry, and it has come back to haunt me again and again.” Another pastor confessed that he had never learned to balance his checkbook, but he was expected to lead a church with a half-million-dollar budget.
Leading staff. We heard it again and again: “I have no idea how to lead my staff. I have no idea how to evaluate my staff. I have no idea how to deal with conflict among my staff.” In fact, one pastor told me he joined Church Answers for one reason: so he could ask questions about dealing with staff.
Counseling. Many pastors shared how much their congregations demand in counseling. They also said the demand seems to grow every year. They not only lack the training to know how to counsel, they often don’t know when to refer people to professionals.
Dealing with change and conflict. It is a common theme among pastors. They were told to expect conflict before they became pastors, but the reality was consistently worse than the warnings. They long to know how to lead change and deal with conflict better, but they often feel inadequate in those areas.
Dealing with their own depression. A number of pastors admitted surprise when depression hit them. They simply did not expect it to happen to them. Many also admitted shame and embarrassment in talking to others about their struggles. Some even shared confidentially with me their own thoughts of suicide in the past.
Equipping others. This particular need is similar to number two, leadership development. But in this case, pastors desire to equip the entire body of Christ, not just leaders. But many pastors feel woefully inadequate in doing so.

It was fascinating to see what topics did not make the list: Bible, theology, ethics and preaching, to name a few. The pastors expressed gratitude to the Bible colleges, seminaries and books that prepared them well in the classical disciplines. But the cries were for better preparation in practical issues and practical ministries.

How about you? Where do you think pastors need to be better equipped? What would you add?

Let me hear from you.

This article originally appeared here.

Update: Vatican Responds to Pennsylvania Sexual Abuse of Children by Priests

By

Bob Ditmer

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August 15, 2018

Update August 17, 2018

The Vatican released a statement in response to the Pennsylvania Grand Jury’s report on August 16, 2018. The statement reads:

Regarding the report made public in Pennsylvania this week, there are two words that can express the feelings faced with these horrible crimes: shame and sorrow.

The Holy See treats with great seriousness the work of the Investigating Grand Jury of Pennsylvania and the lengthy Interim Report it has produced. The Holy See condemns unequivocally the sexual abuse of minors.

The abuses described in the report are criminal and morally reprehensible. Those acts were betrayals of trust that robbed survivors of their dignity and their faith. The Church must learn hard lessons from its past, and there should be accountability for both abusers and those who permitted abuse to occur.

Most of the discussion in the report concerns abuses before the early 2000s. By finding almost no cases after 2002, the Grand Jury’s conclusions are consistent with previous studies showing that Catholic Church reforms in the United States drastically reduced the incidence of clergy child abuse.

The Holy See encourages continued reform and vigilance at all levels of the Catholic Church, to help ensure the protection of minors and vulnerable adults from harm. The Holy See also wants to underscore the need to comply with the civil law, including mandatory child abuse reporting requirements.

The Holy Father understands well how much these crimes can shake the faith and the spirit of believers and reiterates the call to make every effort to create a safe environment for minors and vulnerable adults in the Church and in all of society. Victims should know that the Pope is on their side.

Those who have suffered are his priority, and the Church wants to listen to them to root out this tragic horror that destroys the lives of the innocent.

There were more than 300 predator priests who abused more than 1,000 children in six Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania from the 1940s through the early 2000s.

That’s the shocking finding from a grand jury that reported the “real number” of abused children might never be known since some secret church records were lost, and victims were afraid to come forward.

“We are sick over all the crimes that will go unpunished and uncompensated,” the grand jury said.

The investigation involved clergy sexual abuse in six dioceses: Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton.

Allen White: Finding Ways to Make Small Groups Work

By

Jason Daye

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August 15, 2018

Allen White has devoted the last 25+ years to helping people find Christ, make meaningful connections, grow in their faith, and find fulfillment in ministry. He has successfully launched hundreds of groups at two churches as the Associate Pastor: New Life Christian Center, Turlock, CA for 15 years and Brookwood Church, Simpsonville, SC for 4 years.

Key Questions for Allen White:

– How have small groups changed over the years?
– Should all churches have small groups?

[SUBSCRIBE] For more ChurchLeaders podcasts click here!

Key Quotes from Allen White:

“Small groups are skewing smaller. Instead of 10 or 12, we’re seeing a lot more groups of 6 to 8 people.”

“The big issue we face is time and priority and what you want to devote yourself to.”

“We have the word of God and the word directs us in how to live….and yet we struggle to change.”

“If the relational component is not there in a group it will be hard for the group to gel…for the long term it doesn’t work.”

“People who don’t have time for a group always have time for their friends. Structure small groups around friendships.”

“In absence of a coaching structure, everything goes back to the pastor, they’re busy people.”

“Most groups will last from 18 months to 2 years.”

“When a member of the group is struggling, is the group still there to bring them back to God?”

“For most groups, if they don’t continue to grow, they aren’t going to last very long.”

“It’s uncomfortable to make space for a new person…but there’s something about a group going outside itself that makes it a little more Christlike.”

“I’m in favor of all kinds of groups because it gives us a chance to have connection beyond the weekend service.”

“There is no one strategy that will connect all your people into groups.”

Links Mentioned by Allen White in the Show:

https://allenwhite.org/

Exponential Groups

Allen White on ChurchLeaders:

Allen White: Why Off-Campus Groups Are Just BETTER

Allen White’s Latest Learning: Finding (More) Great Coaches

5 Under-Utilized Practices That Give Your Leadership an Immediate Boost

By

Dan Reiland

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August 14, 2018

If you’re like me, your leadership might seem to get bogged down sometimes. It can appear stuck in the myriad of things to do.

The internal consequence is frustration, which nearly always reduces your effectiveness. Frustration sucks the energy and creativity out of you.

You might become consumed with why some things don’t work, rather than focusing on a little progress every day. In fact, it might seriously hijack your ability to solve problems and move forward. (And the truth is, lots of things are working well, but you lose perspective.)

You can miss these simple and basic practices, the very things that help you break loose and get unstuck.

Don’t let the following five practices get buried in frustration, or even just stuck in the normal and large list of stuff to do.

Which ones if used today would help you move forward and give your leadership the boost it needs?

5 Under-Utilized Practices:

1) Get the right people in the room

I invest a good amount of effort to get the right people in a room together, at the right time, for the right reasons. I never cease to be amazed at the power of a wisely and intentionally convened group in contrast to a “regular” meeting.

It’s easy to waste time by meeting with five or six people, one to one, multiple times! Get them all in a room at the same time. Meet for a purpose and get the job done. It’s much faster and so much more productive.

Regular meetings as a foundation are essential, but you can significantly increase the outcomes by adding or deleting the right people and working hard to set a very specific agenda.

Avoid at all costs having a regular meeting where you go around the table, and each person gives a general update.

2) Pick up the phone

The difference between getting things done and making things happen is often caused by merely picking up the phone.Click To Tweet

The potential impact of a 10-minute phone call to start something in motion is staggering.

It’s easy to make the call too complicated because you want to cover all the bases in the first call. So you put the call off. I’ve done that many times. I’ve waited because I think I need an hour for the call, or I need to do two hours of homework first. Just get it started.

Maybe you want to ask someone if they are interested in a job, or starting a new ministry, or engaging in a partnership. Pick up the phone. A yes response indicating interest then generates the momentum that makes real progress.

3) Make a decision

It’s true that some big decisions require significant time to pray, process and percolate. But from years of experience, I’ve learned that most decisions can be made relatively quickly.

Most of your everyday decisions can be made in 24-48 hours or less. One to two days gives you time to pray, think, make a couple of calls, check the budget, etc.

And as your experience increases, some decisions require no more than a few minutes.

And, there are many decisions you don’t need to make. Ask a few right questions and empower someone else to decide.

Again, if someone else needs to make the decision, get the decision moved to that person today.

4) Have the tough conversation

Hopefully, tough conversations are not required as a daily part of your leadership. If that’s the case, something more significant than one conversation needs your attention.

Don’t put it off, have the discussion today.

In my experience, most leaders know what to do, they just don’t want to do it. They know what to say, but fear of the conversation and what “might” happen shuts the process down.

It rarely goes as bad as you think, and even if it is rough or doesn’t go as well as you hoped, you will move forward because you had the conversation.

Here’s my top coaching tip for you. When you have the tough conversation, don’t waste the moment. It’s already awkward, so don’t go three-quarters of the way. Go all the way. Get it all said. Don’t beat around the bush. That makes it worse, and you must do it again!

5) Take a moment to pray.

I’ve saved the best for last. In dozens of personal conversations, leaders have opened up to me about their prayer life and overall prayer practices.

Even among the most positive stories where the leader has a robust and consistent prayer life, once they hit the “office” and are running for the day, the opportunity to stop and pray often gets lost.

There simply is no greater power to help you get unstuck in the moment than prayer.

Not every prayer is about a big huge deal. But if it’s about God’s purpose in your church, it’s not too small! As long as it comes from your heart, the Holy Spirit takes it from there. He adds the power not you.

Devise a reminder for yourself. Maybe wear a wristband. Or you can set your phone to chime every couple hours or so, to represent a reminder question… “What’s the prayer need right now?”

You can come up with a technique that works for you, but don’t miss out on this great leadership practice.

How to Perform a Wedding

By

Brandon Hilgemann

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August 14, 2018

“Will you perform our wedding?”

Few questions bring a greater sense of honor and anxiety wrapped into one.

As a pastor for 10 years, I’ve performed my share of weddings, and I still get a bit nervous. So if you’ve never done it before, it’s incredibly intimidating.

So how do you perform a wedding?

Here’s a rundown of everything I’ve learned.

LEGAL REQUIREMENTS

First, make sure that you are legally able to perform the wedding. If not, the marriage might be valid in God’s eyes, but it won’t be according to the government.

Requirements vary from state to state, so check with your local court for specific requirements.

Typically you must be either licensed or ordained to perform a wedding, but some states have additional requirements.

Second, the wedding will not be legal unless the bride and groom get a marriage license from their local court. After the wedding, the bride, groom, wedding officiant (that’s you) and two witnesses (typically the maid of honor and the best man) sign the license.

Finally, the signed license is returned to the court where it the marriage officially becomes legally binding.

MEETING WITH THE BRIDE AND GROOM

Before agreeing to perform the wedding, schedule an introductory meeting with the bride and groom.

Here are some things you should cover in your first meeting.

1. ASK ABOUT THEIR RELATIONSHIP

Begin with some basic questions about their relationship to get to know them better.

How did you meet? What do you like doing together?

How did you propose? What are you doing for your honeymoon?

What do you value most in your relationship? What do you appreciate the most about him/her?

2. LOCK IN THE DATE

What will be the date, time, and location of the wedding?

When will the rehearsal be?

Check your calendar to make sure it all works with your schedule write it down somewhere so you won’t forget.

3. LAY OUT THE ORDER OF CEREMONY

It’s helpful to have a Wedding Planning Sheet for yourself and a copy to hand out to the couple, so they get a clear understanding of their options.

You can get my Wedding Planning Sheet here if you want.

Simply walk them through each element and have them select what they want or don’t want. See an example with more details in the next section.

4. TALK ABOUT THE RECEPTION

If I have a great relationship with the couple, I’ll try to stay for the reception.

However, if you know that you have a busy weekend, politely let the couple know that you won’t be able to stay for the reception or that you’ll only be there for a little while.

Set this expectation up front, so they don’t expect you to stay if you can’t.

Plus, you don’t want them to assume you are staying and pay for your meal. You’ll save them money by letting them know you cannot attend.

Often, I’ll just explain that I do a lot of weddings and the receptions run for hours that take me away from my family and I simply cannot stay for all of them, or that I have other commitments early the next day.

4. TALK ABOUT THE MARRIAGE LICENSE

It’s the bride and groom’s responsibility to get a marriage license from the state. Make sure they know that they need to get one as soon as possible and have it ready by the day of the wedding.

After the wedding, before they do anything else, you must meet with them to sign the license along with two witnesses.

Some pastors will take the license and turn it in for the couple, but that is way more responsibility than I want.

I usually suggest that they assign this responsibility to someone they trust or do it themselves.

5. SCHEDULE PREMARITAL COUNSELING

Will you do premarital counseling sessions with the couple?

If so, agree in your first meeting how many sessions you will you meet for, and when you will you meet.

Schedule it all upfront.

6. AGREE ON PAYMENT

If you charge for officiating a wedding, which I think you should since you are working and taking time away from your family, you need to agree on the payment amount and when the payment is due.

For example, if you decide to charge $100 to perform their wedding, make sure they know that you will need the $100 a week before the wedding.

Decide what you think is best. It’s not unusual to charge between $100-300 for a wedding.

If you struggle with taking money to perform a wedding, think about the number of hours it requires of you.

First, you have the meeting with the couple which may run for an hour. Then, if you do premarital counseling, you may meet three or four times for another hour each time. Next, you’ll spend time preparing and practicing the ceremony. And if there’s a rehearsal ceremony, you’ll spend an hour or two there. Plus, you’ll spend at least two hours at the wedding.

So in total, you could easily spend 10 or more hours on one wedding.

You deserve to be compensated for your time just as much or more than the photographer, wedding coordinator, caterer, DJ, and all the other professionals that charge for their services in exchange for the value they provide.

7. PRAY WITH THEM

It’s easy to get caught up in the practical side of scheduling and planning the wedding and neglect the spiritual side.

Don’t forget to bring God into every step of the process.

How to Avoid Sleepwalking Through Ministry

By

David Santistevan

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August 14, 2018

Ever feel like you’re just dialing it in? That you’re just going through the motions of your ministry like a checklist you can’t wait to finish? Here’s how to avoid sleepwalking through ministry.

Sometimes it’s not even burnout, you know? You’re just tired. You’ve been doing the same thing over and over again for years. While you want to “come back to the heart of worship,” sometimes you just want to wrap it up and watch football. You want to disconnect. You can’t wait for the weekend except for the fact that the weekend is game time and it has become work for you.

But we all know we can’t live in this realm. Worship is too important to dial it in. The Kingdom of God is too important for us to be sleepwalk through Sunday. We need to be on the edge of our seat. We need to gaze in wide eyed wonder. The Kingdom of God doesn’t slow down.

Should we?

I’ve seen this in action as a parent. I have the capacity as the father of my kids to create a healthy environment for my kids to grow, or an unhealthy one. I have the ability to crush the dreams of my kids, throw a wet blanket on their enthusiasm because of my personal annoyance, and foster a small imagination within them focused solely on not screwing up. Or, I can control my emotions, see beyond the rowdy behavior, and foster an atmosphere of learning, love, the Holy Spirit and possibility.

As a worship leader, I have the capacity to create a healthy environment for my church or an unhealthy one. In the same way, we can’t let ourselves get in the way of that healthy environment. So let’s focus on the positives.

A Healthy Worshiping Environment

What is a healthy environment for your worshiping church?

– Songs of objective declaration about the character of God.

– A sound that reflects the culture and the community of people that are gathered.

– A ministry that is submitted to the vision of the Lead Pastor.

– A team culture that is more concerned about pastoring people than being rockstars.

– An environment where the Word of God is preached, sung and believed.

– A place where people glory in the cross and not their own holiness.

– A culture of respect where people value each other’s differences and preferences as the people of God.

But how?

Be immersed in the story—the story of what God is doing. Don’t just live off the day you were “converted.” Yesterday’s encounter isn’t enough for tomorrow’s challenge. There’s a new grace and a new mercy for today, but you need to be awake to see it and receive it. Be intentional about obeying God, seeing His power at work and having a story to tell about it.

Sunday worship will always feel strange if you have a disconnected heart from the Kingdom of God. Leading the Bride of Christ in worship will feel foreign if you’re not fostering a fierce passion for the Bridegroom. If the King isn’t your passion, you’ll tend to abuse the affections of the Bride for your own gain.

Maintain a closeness with Jesus and approach each new day as an opportunity to see Him work. Don’t just “make it happen.” Pray it through. Go to war in prayer for the hardness of your heart to be softened—the distance of your heart to be made closer to the heart of God.

So take risks. Step out into the story of God. Let your heart be moved again. Many of us get to a place where our hearts are no longer moved by anything. It’s because we’ve become critics of everything.

We’ve slowly moved away from experiencing beauty to critiquing beauty. We’ve moved away from being the people of God to criticizing the people of God.

So if you’re for creating a healthy environment of worship in your church, comment below. What is your current challenge? Let’s talk about it.

3 Lessons From Jesus on Recruiting Volunteers

By

Greg Stier

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August 14, 2018

In youth ministry (or most any ministry for that matter), recruiting volunteers is key. In a low-funded, big-vision ministry world, getting the best volunteers to join you on your quest is absolutely non-negotiable.

In a very real sense, Jesus had to recruit volunteers to join him on his mission to “make disciples of all nations.” To recruit the best ministry volunteers Jesus did three simple things…so can we!

1. Start with prayer.

“It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose 12 of them, whom He also named as apostles.” Luke 6:12,13

Before anything else, Jesus prayed. He prayed for wisdom. He prayed for favor. He prayed that God would show him the characteristics he would need in his volunteers. And then he prayed for divine insight to see those characteristics clearly in the ones whom he should choose. I’m sure Jesus even prayed that God would prepare the hearts of those he would ask to say “yes.”

The result was the choosing of the 12 disciples. And only one was a “bad” choice…humanly speaking. Divinely speaking, that bad choice was part of God’s plan to accelerate Jesus toward the cross, the resurrection and the salvation of humanity.

In the same way, our volunteer recruitment process must be drenched in prayer from top to bottom. If Jesus took a prayer retreat before the recruitment process then maybe we should too.

2. Make a profile!

“A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, ‘If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’ Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.” Luke 14:25-33

The ministry profile of what it would take to enter into a disciple/rabbi relationship with him was the result of relentless prayer. To get on “Team Jesus” was free (as Jesus makes clear over and over again in verses like John 3:16). But to be a starter on Team Jesus would cost you everything. I’m sure many in the crowd turned back after hearing the list that Jesus had given them of what it would take to be on his starting team.

Have you written a ministry profile of what you are looking for in your volunteers? Are the expectations clear? I encourage you to write a straightforward job description with character expectations and ministry expectations that everyone can understand and, with help of the Holy Spirit, achieve. Make the expectations clear and the mission compelling. Give the volunteers a chance to “count the cost” before they say “yes.”

3. Persuade them to say “YES!”

“Jesus called out to them, ‘Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!’ And they left their nets at once and followed him.” Matthew 4:19,20

Jesus “persuaded” Peter and Andrew to say “yes” by giving them a vision, not to fish for fish, but to fish for people. He gave them an eternal motivation that far surpassed fish and chips. He gave them a vision to reach the world with the message of hope!

It surprises a lot of people that this calling of Peter and his brother Andrew was not the first time they had encountered Jesus. By this time they had been with and around Jesus for about 12-18 months. The chronology of Jesus’ ministry sometimes throws people off, but suffice to say Jesus didn’t just walk up to Peter and Andrew out of the blue and say, “Come follow me!”

No, he had gotten to know them and they had gotten to know him. They had seen several miracles and heard many teachings by the time he asked them to follow him. In a very real sense this was a persuasion process. After months of being around Jesus they knew he was the real deal and he knew they were sincere and serious…serious enough to make great disciples and eventual world-changers.

In the same way, as we begin to pray for wisdom and build a ministry profile as to what the best volunteers look like in our particular ministry context, we can identify and get to know those we are praying about recruiting. And they can get to know us. At the right time we can have a conversation and gently persuade them to say “yes” to joining the volunteer team.

It’s so important to get this right. Doing the youth ministry volunteer “altar call” on Sunday morning can get you all the wrong kind of volunteers. Instead pray for God’s wisdom and write a ministry profile of the characteristics of the ideal candidates (which should include a combination of spiritual hunger, true humility as well as a heart for teenagers and THE Cause of Christ.) Then set out to gently persuade these candidates to say “YES!” to being a volunteer in your youth ministry.

Nobody in history did a better job at recruiting the best volunteers than Jesus. Let’s learn from him!

For more information on how to build a Jesus-centered, Gospel Advancing, disciple-multiplying ministry, click here.

Back-to-School Blessing for Volunteers, Parents and Kids

By

Christina Embree

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August 14, 2018

In many places around the country, schools are gearing up to re-start sometime in the next month. For churches, that often means a re-boot as well as they move from summer mode into fall programming and the start of a new academic year. With that can come a whole range of “new” things! Kids promote to the next class, new volunteers come on to serve or they begin serving in a new capacity, and parents begin to navigate new experiences with new teachers, new schools and new grade levels for their kids.

A few years ago, the church I worked at was able to hold a time of commissioning and blessing over these groups as the new school year kicked off and we began to embrace all of these “new” things. The entire time of blessing takes about five minutes and can be a way for your whole church to come together and let the kids, parents and volunteers know that they are being held up and prayed for and sent out as God’s lights of love as the academic year begins.

Feel free to adapt this script to your own church’s service and needs, and blessings to all as we encounter all the “new” things!

An All-Church Blessing for Parents, Children and Volunteers

Purpose – To recognize kids who are promoting to new classes/small groups, to pray over kids, parents and volunteers at the start of a new academic year

Children’s Pastor/Family Minister – We are excited to be able to celebrate with you the growth of our kids and families this year and recognize them as they promote to new classes and small groups within this ministry and some to youth group. But before we bring up the kids, can I ask all of our ministry volunteers to please stand and make their way to the center aisle?

(as volunteers are moving)

It is a blessing to serve with this group of people. The love they show our kids and the grace with which they serve is a testimony of the love of Christ in their lives and to the children. So, I’d like to not only say thank you, but briefly pray for you as you serve this upcoming year! Church, will you join me?

(PRAYER – Lord be with and bless these who serve. In their service, give them strength and by your Spirit give them grace. May the love they give be returned to them in greater numbers and may your joy fill their hearts.)

Volunteers if you will please line each side of the center aisle and get your high five hands ready, we will bring in our kids!!

(If you have some fun music, you could use this here. This is based on our structure with small groups. It can be adapted to fit whatever age groups, classes or sections a church has for their programs. It can also be done as one large group which will reduce the amount of time needed for this commissioning and blessing.)

Joining us for the very first time as they are just starting school, we give you our preschoolers!