What to Do When Your Church Hits a Plateau

By

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November 16, 2017

I hear it frequently: “My church has hit a plateau. What can I do to get it moving again?”

While this can be a common crisis, it’s not unfixable. There are several things you can do to help your church move beyond its growth block.

First, though, it’s important to understand that the longer your church has been plateaued, the longer it’s going to take to get it going again. There is tremendous power in momentum.

At NASA, most of the energy—the jet fuel—in a rocket engine is used up in the first several hundred yards. It takes all that fuel just to get the thing off the launch pad. Once it’s in orbit, it takes very little power to keep a rocket going. But you still have to get the thing going, and that initial push takes a lot of time and energy up front.

If your church has been plateaued for six months, it might take six months to get it going again. If it’s been plateaued a year, it might take a year. If it’s been plateaued for 20 years, you’ve got to set in for the duration!

For a church to turn around it may take many, many small degrees of change and a long time to make a complete turn around. I personally believe you have to be called to a church like that.

People ask, “Is it easier to start new churches, or is it easier to take existing churches and turn them around?” My answer is this: “It’s always easier to have babies than to raise the dead.” However, God is in the business of raising the dead! He’s a pro at resurrections, but it just might take some time.

So what do you do with a church that has plateaued? I believe you need to do three things:

First, as we’ve just discussed, understand that it will take time.

As pastor of an existing church that needs to be turned around, you must pray for an extra amount of patience. People change very slowly. They are resistant to change because they recognize that life as they’ve known it will cease to exist. So the very nature of the primary group is to fight change. It can take time to win them over.

Second, you love everybody, but you move with the movers.

Pastor everybody, hold everybody’s hand, don’t show partiality, and continue to care for everybody. But you move with the movers.

Jesus spent the maximum amount of time with those who would bear the maximum amount of responsibility. Even though he fed the 5,000, he spent most of his time with the 12. Even with the 12, he had the inner circle with Peter, James and John. Paul, in the book of Galatians, calls Peter, James and John “pillars of the church” because they were the ones who would bear the maximum responsibility.

You need to be perceptive of these people in your church. Find out who the legitimizers are; the ones who are willing to go for change. Find these people and start pouring your life into them. Build your vision in them. Love everybody but move with the movers.

Continue

What About Preteens?

By

Kenny Conley

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November 16, 2017

One of the greatest children’s ministry challenges is deciding what to do with preteens. Forth and fifth graders (or fifth and sixth graders depending on schools in your area) are losing interest in your church. They WANT to attend your student ministry, but they’re not old enough yet. They don’t want to be in your children’s ministry, it’s too juvenile. They’re far too mature for that. They’re “tweeners.” They don’t fit anywhere. They’re in between.

Here’s the interesting thing about preteens. They’re still kids. They are really active. They love to jump around, giggle and act crazy. But they want to be seen as more than kids. They are open to having deeper conversations. They don’t want to be talked down to like when they were kids. It’s just different now. This can be really confusing for a ministry leader. Tweens attend your children’s ministry, but you don’t want to treat them like you do the other kids.

Whether you have your preteen in their own specialized environment or they’re combined with all of elementary, groups should look a little different. You actually should consider raising the bar for this age group. They need something different, better even. It’s time to double down to prepare them for the shift to their next phase in life:

DOUBLE DOWN ON ENVIRONMENTS

Environments matter at every age. However, something shifts with the preteen kid. This is an age where kids begin to see their environments differently. It’s at this age where kids want more say in how their room looks. They have their own opinions. Having a “cool” space for your preteen kids is subjective. This is an opportunity to win with your preteens by setting them apart from the younger kids.

Change up the environment, even if they are small changes. I’ve seen churches install large restaurant booths (to fit 10-12 kids) along the back of the large group room. I’ve seen churches move to bean bag chairs instead of carpet circles. Other ministries have gotten extra creative with Ikea products to make the environment a little more special. Preteens aren’t teens yet, but our environments can communicate to them that we see that they’re different.

DOUBLE DOWN ON CONVERSATIONS

Take conversations to the next level. Elementary kids are concrete thinkers. However, preteens are shifting more toward abstract thoughts. You can begin to explore ideas and concepts that are less concrete. They can comprehend a metaphor. This is the perfect age for helping kids understand a story or principle and translate that to their life. They are actually at an age where they can “discover” context and application if guided appropriately with well-crafted questions.

Teaching is never really the point of the small group. However, leaders in younger groups often teach or reinforce concepts during small group time. Preteen groups are perfect environments for discovery. Small group leaders are guides, constantly asking questions that help kids learn something not because it was taught to them but because they figured something out.

DOUBLE DOWN ON RELATIONSHIPS

They say the average kid attends 40 times a year. I think that number is actually starting to slip. More and more families are attending less than twice a month, yet they still see themselves as regular attendees. Influence is diminishing, yet there is a great opportunity to double down on relationships. Summer Camp, Winter Camp or whenever you do camp, is the perfect opportunity to double down on relationships. Your small group leader will possibly get more time with their group of kids in one week at camp than they will during the entire year in small groups. Other special events like game nights, swim parties or other events are key. These don’t have to be things your church organizes either. Empower small group leaders to plan two to three events a year.

Every hour a small group leader has with a kid is relational credit earned. Create opportunities unique to preteen to build extra relational time.

This article originally appeared here.

3 Ways Churches Can Use Facebook Well

By

Chris Martin

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November 16, 2017

My primary work is helping authors with their social media, but as anyone who works in social media will tell you, when you work in social media, you get questions from all kinds of people.

One of the groups that asks me questions most often is local churches. Church leaders often have a dozen good, relevant questions about social media, but one of the most common is simple this: “How should I use Facebook?”

To many (especially young people), that may seem like a simple question. But for church leaders who spend the majority of their days trying to counsel hurting people and prepare for weekly church events, Facebook strategy is one of their least concerns.

Here are three basic ways I think churches can cut through the complexity and use Facebook well:

1. Share gospel content.

Anyone who spends any amount of time on social media can attest: Social media can be a dark place more often than not.

For many Christians, this has made them leave social media platforms altogether—they simply cannot justify willingly coexisting with such darkness. I get that.

At the same time, I think the common darkness of social media creates an even stronger case for Christians to be involved in these online spaces.

One of the best ways a church can use its Facebook presence is to share encouraging, gospel content such as blog posts, Scripture or sermon videos. This lets the church shine the light of the gospel in the darkness of social media conversations.

2. Create gospel conversations.

When churches share gospel content on Facebook, gospel conversations often result. Whether in the comment sections, privately via private messages or offline, churches can create gospel conversations with a healthy Facebook presence.

If you’re unsure about what to post on your church’s Facebook page, just post Scripture or ask people for prayer requests. Know that Facebook’s algorithm favors videos and images, so the more of those you post, the better. But, creating gospel conversations usually starts with sharing gospel content.

Along these same lines, be sure to avoid unnecessarily controversial content. Yes, the gospel is going to be offensive to some people no matter what, and you’ll have to deal with conflict of that kind at some point. But church Facebook pages need not be a battleground for political or cultural skirmishes. This often does more harm than good.

3. Buy Facebook ads.

Stop.

Breathe.

You may be thinking, “The church doesn’t need to do any marketing! The gospel is attractive enough itself!” OK. I understand. But hear me out.

If you’re spending hundreds of dollars on paper flyers to post at coffee shops or post cards to put in mailboxes, I would contend that your money would be better spent on purchasing Facebook ads.

When used correctly, Facebook ads allow your church to reach people in your communities more effectively than paper flyers or post cards, and with less hassle.

Really, buying a Facebook ad really just amounts to you promoting a piece of content on Facebook so that it can be seen by more people in your community that use Facebook and may be interested in checking out your church.

But, buying Facebook ads and figuring out the best audience to which you should boost your content can be overwhelming if you don’t know what you’re doing.

A while back, I announced that I’m launching a new service through LifeWay called LifeWay Social. The purpose of LifeWay Social is to help Christian leaders, including local church leaders, better use social media to serve other people.

Next week, the LifeWay Social site will launch. I’m super excited.

This article originally appeared here.

7 Practical Indicators of Good Leadership Character

By

Dan Reiland

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November 16, 2017

Good leadership character is the indispensable quality of leadership.

Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out. – Proverbs 10:9

It doesn’t matter how intelligent, talented or successful a leader is, if they lack integrity, over time they will lose influence. In fact, one of the fastest ways for a person to lose influence is when their talent rises above their character.

When we talk about leadership character, we very quickly come to the issue of trust. People don’t follow leaders they don’t trust, at least not for long. Good character doesn’t mean you don’t make mistakes, but it does mean people can trust your heart.

Good character doesn’t imply perfection. You don’t have to be perfect to be trustworthy. The passage where the Lord speaks to Solomon offers us helpful insight.

4 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, 5 I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’ – I Kings 9:4-5

We know David was human, he was not perfect, but he possessed integrity of heart. Good character leaves room for human imperfection, but not a consistent pattern of dishonesty, putting self before others, and the lack of confession and a contrite heart.

Indicators of Good Leadership Character

1) You live by the same standards that you expect of others.

When leaders are under pressure, short on time and face many demands, temptation can increase. One of those temptations is to cut corners and lower standards; this will quickly erode character.

Good character requires that you personally practice the same lifestyle that you expect of others.

2) What you do when no one is looking is pleasing to God.

A person’s character is never any better than their secrets. Secrets slowly eat at your soul, erode character and in time are discovered.

On the positive side, your character is developed when you intentionally live to please God in the moments when He is the only one who sees and knows.

3) Those who know you best trust you the most.

One of the greatest compliments to your character comes from family and close friends who see you close up. For example, my wife’s opinion of my character is of upmost importance to me. She knows me better than anyone else. If she fully trusts me and is proud of my integrity, I know I’m on the right track.

Dear Church, We WON’T Be Back! And Here’s Why…

By

Christine Yount Jones

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November 16, 2017

Dear church, my husband and I are new to town and we’re looking for a church home. We visited your church three months ago and we’ve never been back. And I know for certain that we won’t be joining your church.

Dear Church, We Won’t Be Back! And Here’s Why…

There are some very specific reasons—things you do that just didn’t work for us. For example…

Dear Church #1: Your worship was TOO loud!

My husband and I come from a church that had the lights, fog, and rockin’ band. But in this new season of our life, we both looked at each other after 20 minutes and said “you wanna go?”

So we did.

The funny thing is that you have such a welcoming atmosphere, your children’s ministry looks top-notch, and you seem to be one of the “happening” churches in town.

But we left…and we won’t be back.

Dear Church #2: Your dress was TOO formal!

You have an older congregation and it looks like you enjoy dressing up for church–suits, ties, dresses. I have to tell you that my husband and one other person were the only men in shorts. He felt a tad self-conscious. Or maybe I did for him.

Your service was more formal also. The music and the sermon. And that was okay; what was so cool was how everything you did was infused with Scripture!

Even so…we left…and we won’t be back.

Dear Church #3: Your congregation was TOO young!

Is that possible? I loved everything about your church—the younger demographic, the worship style, and even the rented setting. My husband, on the other hand, realized that the one small group for men that you offered was probably not his demographic. And that’s something he’s looking for—a place to connect with men in his life stage.

If I could choose, we would’ve settled there. But this isn’t a decision that we’ll make individually. We’re a couple and we’ll decide together.

We left…and we won’t be back.

Dear Church #4: Your church just didn’t do it for us!

We loved your worship…that people actually sang…that a lot of people brought their Bibles…the teaching was solid. And it didn’t hurt that it was less than five minutes from our house!

I can’t really tell you why you didn’t become our home church. It was something intangible. Call it God’s leading or the Holy Spirit’s prompting—or even the absence of those things. But there was nothing that made us feel “led” to your church.

So we left…and we won’t be back.

Your church wasn’t the right fit for us.

We did find our church, though. We’re happily settling into a church community where we love the worship, the teaching, the style, the leadership, the outreach, and so much more. We go every Sunday with an anticipation that God is going to meet us there. And we love it!

So should your church become more like the one we ended up at?

Absolutely not!

The things I pointed out aren’t the only reasons we’re not coming to your church. In fact, your church was amazing—it just wasn’t our church home.

There are three compelling reasons I’m telling you: DON’T CHANGE A THING!

1. Your church is never going to appeal to everybody. And that’s OKAY!

I’m grateful that your church is THE church for the people whom God draws every Sunday—and they’ll never leave!

2. Your church is what God has called you to be. And that’s more than OKAY!

I hope you’ll never change God’s vision and call for your church—simply to meet consumer demand! Stay the course!

3. Your church is perfect for the people who land there. And that, of course, is OKAY!

This great big beautiful organism called the body of Christ has so many different flavors and expressions. Yours is necessary—just as it is!

I’m thankful we got to visit your churches as we hunted for our new home church. I’m thankful that the body of Christ is bold and beautiful and formal and active and present for the right people who belong there.

We left your church…and we’ll never be back (well, maybe to visit)…and that’s OKAY!

Church Musician: You’re Leading Worship, Too!

By

Worship Cohort

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November 15, 2017

There are few things more confusing to me than watching a worship team standing on the platform, and seeing the face of a worship leader who has all of his being engaged in worship of God. But then as I survey the rest of the team, I see a bass player with a too-cool-for-school scowl on his face or a guitar player with a sheepishly bewildered or bored look on his face. Or a keys player whose face is completely expressionless, glued to a sheet of music.

They are all worshiping the same God, right?

As believers, we are all leaders of worship. Whether standing on the platform or in the congregation, we are all collectively encouraging one another to enter into the kind of full heart, mind, soul and strength demonstration of adoration that our God desires.

This is magnified from the platform. As the privilege of influence increases, so does the responsibility of leadership. That is not confined to vocalists.

The “worship leader” is not the only one leading worship. Bass players… Keys players… Drummers… Guitarists… You’re leading worship too.

Because of the various religious and cultural backgrounds the people in our churches are coming from, the need for unapologetic demonstration of “all-in” worship from the platform becomes increasingly important. Many people are longing to express this type of worship, but are simply looking for permission. Others have been burned by disorderly displays of emotional hype and need to see this done in a genuine, authentic and helpful way. Still others have never had a point of reference for this and need to see it for themselves and be coached along.

No matter where our people are on the spectrum, it is imperative that everyone on the platform is putting forth every effort to serve and lead them. Here are three simple ways to do this more effectively.

SING LOUDLY. No believer with a voice is exempt from the scriptural call to sing the praises of God loudly. So even if you’re playing bass or keys or any other instrument—sing along! Not only will this enhance your own experience of worshiping God as you meditate on the truth of the lyrics you are singing, but you will also visibly demonstrate to the congregation the value of singing out loud the praises of God. You don’t have to have mic or even a good voice, but as you play your instrument, belt it out with all you’ve got!

SMILE BIG. Your countenance says a ton about how you feel about God. For example, if you look bored, you are communicating that God is boring. It makes no sense to sing about how great and awesome God is with a smoldering scowl on your face. On the other hand, if you are delighting in God, people will see it in your countenance and know that God is a God to be delighted in. I’m not saying fake a cheesy grin, but I am saying, let your enjoyment of God show. Obviously you should use wisdom; for example, if you’re singing a lament of repentance, a smile might not be fitting, but let your countenance reflect what you are singing.

SHOW ADORATION. True adoration is not limited to our songs and our faces. The idea of loving God with all your strength is using your entire body to express adoration to God. So while you are likely to have your hands occupied for the majority of the songs, try to find moments to raise your hands and worship in other full-body-type ways. You are an example for the church in what is appropriate expression of praise, adoration and thanksgiving to God. So don’t just stand there petrified like a statue—move around.

Musicians, we are on the platform to worship and lead worship, not just to play music. So let’s do everything we can to do this well for the glory of Christ.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:

As a church musician, do you see yourself as a leader of worship? Why or why not?

As a musician seeking to lead your congregation in worship, are there things you would add to this list?

This article originally appeared here.

How Can Youth Leaders Set and Keep Emotional Boundaries?

By

Rooted

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November 15, 2017

We asked several experienced student ministers how they practically set and keep emotional boundaries—like getting too close to a student, or leaving one’s work at the office—in their ministries. We hope their wisdom sparks insight and ideas in your own ministry.

Kendal Conner (Student Ministry Girls’ Associate at Henderson Hills Baptist Church in Edmond, Okla.) said:

Emotions can be one of the most challenging issues in the work of the gospel. While we recognize emotions as valid, because of who we are as created image bearers of the God who cried over death (Jn. 11:35), became angry over injustice (Ezk. 5:13), and loved/loves His people deeply (Isa. 43:4), we also recognize the danger of emotions, as the saving grace of the gospel is not based on them. As we care for our students, we must find the balance. There is great importance in lamenting and rejoicing with them, and never negating the joy of walking through all seasons of life with them. However, emotions can draw unhealthy attachments. So ultimately, just as fences give us the freedom to run freely within a safe space, so do established boundaries in our ministries. Each person must make clear lines for their own (and their leaders’) interactions with students from the start—such as no late night conversations, no snapchatting, no extended text conversations, or specific cross-gender interaction lines. These lines may look different based on your individual ministry. If you establish them from the start, you will give yourself freedom to run joyfully and without fear in your work, knowing the boundaries you will not cross.

Jonathan Clubb (Pastor of Student Ministries at Kindred Community Church in Anaheim Hills, Calif.) said:

Every relationship you have in student ministry has to have accountability built in. Whether it’s a spouse, another pastor, a trusted volunteer or a friend, you need to have someone that you’re sharing details of your leader-to-student relationships with, who can help you look for anything that could push boundaries. Make sure you have people in your life who can give you a fresh set of eyes on each relationship, and are willing to let you know when they see an issue.

Alice Churnock (Licensed Professional Counselor at Covenant Counseling and Education Center in Birmingham, Ala.) said:

After a long day of absorbing the emotional hurt and pain from client after client, it can be difficult to leave the trauma that was said and felt at the office. But real life continues—my own kids have baseball practice and the dinner table is often my only time to even look at my husband. So in order to switch from professional care giver to personal care giver, I’ve found that I need a separation ritual. There’s something powerfully therapeutic about merely changing from my work attire to my work OUT attire. I change clothes. My hair gets thrown in a ponytail. Symbolically, spandex pants = bedtime stories. My home “job” is equally, if not more, important than my counseling practice, so I dress accordingly. For some it may be a nightly beverage or a warm shower, but I practice self-care with a ritualistic wardrobe change.

Jon Coombs (Youth and Young Adult Pastor at Rowville Baptist Church in Melbourne, Australia) said:

I set and keep emotional boundaries in ministry by (1) having a dedicated day off and taking vacation time, (2) regularly catching up with someone older in ministry to talk through various aspects of the work, (3) having friendships and activities that are life giving outside of the church, and (4) making sure I am getting enough sleep and exercise.

Liz Edrington (Coordinator of Girls’ Discipleship & Young Adults at North Shore Fellowship, Chattanooga, Tenn.) said:

This question gets at one of the most important things to address in ministry: our story and our relationship to ourselves deeply impact the way we relate to others. Are we aware of what causes us to react intensely, defensively or self-protectively? Are we aware of what is emotionally draining and what is emotionally life-giving? Do we believe that our emotions are equally as valuable and connected to our spiritual health as our actions, will and thoughts? Setting and keeping emotional boundaries first involves processing (and continuing to process) our own story with older, wiser, safe folks who can support us in our wounds, help us navigate situations as they arise, and remind us of who we are and where we’ve been forgiven in and through Jesus. We are not meant to do this on our own, but to engage other parts of the body to walk alongside us. We need to know our triggers and weaknesses, know who (peer or mentor) we can go to when we’re struggling, and know that confession and repentance are super important to being whole people who minister to other whole people. And we need safe people to help us to stay accountable to the healthy boundaries we set in our ministries, for the sake of the gospel and unto the glory of God—not unto shame, self-centered perfectionism or fear-based rule-following. In short, we set them with safe, trusted, wiser-than-us people (for the sake of loving well), and we keep them by the grace of God in and through Jesus with those same people.

Shaun McDonald (Youth Pastor at Open Arms Church, upstate New York) said:

It is certainly a balance. I don’t want to close off emotionally, but I don’t want to be so emotional that I am unable to be objective and appropriate. Reminding myself constantly that although I work with teens, I am not one of them, helps me to find that balance. My students are looking to me to be their shepherd, not their friend. One failing moment in this early on helped me draw some clearer boundaries. A graduate of mine said to me (and I am paraphrasing), “I was put off by how you interacted with me. You are my pastor.” I can love them. I can rejoice with them. I can laugh with them. I can cry with them. But I cannot become too familiar with them. When I do, I am no longer shepherding them.

Nick Conner (Youth Pastor at Grace Church of DuPage in Warrenville, Ill.) said:

My short answer to this question is that emotional boundaries are kept by reminding myself how students need Jesus far more than they need me. For example, there is a student in my group who lives with an absent mother and verbally abusive stepfather. This student has developed a strong connection to me and I, in turn, have developed a heart for this student. I’ve had the opportunity to see him come to Christ as well as baptize him and take him on his first mission trip. When he texts me at night asking me to pray for him, letting me know how hard it is at home, I can be tempted to try to be his savior. I want to get in the car, go pick him up and pull him out of his misery. But that is only a temporary fix. Only Jesus can be his Savior, and so rather than seek to save him, I continue to point him to Jesus time and again in the mist of his struggles and then pray for him, committing him to our Savior and asking Jesus to guard and guide him through his trials. Finally, I need to go to sleep trusting that Jesus can care for my students far better than I ever could.

This article originally appeared here.

8 Ways to Promote Marital Unity When Disagreement Occurs

By

Chuck Lawless

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November 15, 2017

I’ve always wanted to be a good husband. I’ve found, though, that marriage cannot truly be a blessing if my wife and I don’t handle disagreement well. Here are a few lessons I’ve learned that have allowed our marriage not only to endure disagreement, but also to flourish in spite of it.

Remember that it’s not about being right or wrong; it’s about being one. Our goal must never be to “win an argument”; rather, it should be to seek reconciliation and unity.
In the midst of conflict, give your spouse the benefit of the doubt. When your spouse acts out of character, remind yourself that this isn’t normal behavior. Instead of choosing to retaliate, offer grace and seek to find out the root issue. Overreacting disrupts the opportunity for unity.
Always affirm your spouse’s feelings. Regardless of whether or not you understand why your spouse is hurt, always seek to see their point of view and validate it. A surefire way to disrupt unity is to make your spouse feel ridiculous or stupid for feeling the way they do.
When you apologize, make sure you do it wholeheartedly. Half an apology is really no apology at all. We can’t fool our spouses into thinking a fake apology is authentic.
Let your actions communicate your desire for unity. When you apologize to your spouse, show your commitment to unity in an appropriate way. For example, when I humble myself enough to hug my wife, hold her hand, touch her shoulder, etc., it communicates to her that I seriously mean what I’m saying. Sometimes, one simple touch can change the whole mood of the conversation.
Never raise your voice. Talk to your spouse; don’t yell. Love never needs to wield such a weapon. If you raise your voice, very soon you will lose it.
Never seek to punish your spouse because you’ve been hurt. Pouting or ignoring your spouse is never a sign of maturity; it’s a sign of pride.
Remind yourself that every moment you spend with your spouse is a blessing from the Lord. None of us is guaranteed to wake up another morning beside our spouse. Don’t let petty arguments drive you away from each other. Each day is an opportunity to either grow or stifle your love for one another.

What lessons have you learned that you could add to this list?

This article originally appeared here.

Killing the Competition Between Ministries

By

Church Fuel

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November 15, 2017

Your church should have a clear purpose, a specific mission and a defined strategy.

But no matter how clear things are at the top, if each ministry in your church is not aligned with your overall plan, the result will be chaos.

Organizational clarity isn’t enough.

It must be visible within every ministry.

Your student ministry goals should support your overall church goals.

Your women’s ministry calendar needs to run in tandem with your overall church calendar.

Your plan for recruiting volunteers to serve in the children’s ministry must align itself with the volunteer needs for all the other ministries in your church.

You can have clarity at the top, but if your ministries aren’t on the same page, there are some big time consequences. Here are a few.

Ministries compete over dollars, volunteers and communication. If each ministry is not truly a part of your overall church strategy, it will not receive proper funding and promotion. Leaders will constantly angle for more money or more people.
You’ll create silos and turf wars. Tony Morgan says misaligned ministries can create ministry silos. When ministries don’t work together, the result is a silo mentality. And a collection of good people trying to do good things doesn’t necessarily translate into a successful ministry.
Misaligned ministries require individual systems. One ministry with one leader will function one way, and another ministry with a different leader will function another way. This is how churches end up with multiple websites, competing databases and processes that don’t play nice with each other.

Misaligned ministries, no matter how passionate the leader may be, just won’t work.

A lack of alignment is rarely due to bad people; it’s usually due to a lack of planning, focus and clarity.

The good news is this problem is entirely fixable.

You can get all your ministries aligned and operating off the same page.

Start With a One Page Plan

It starts with creating a one page ministry plan for your church. You’ve got to get clarity at the church level first. And you must put all those things down on paper.

We recommend a one page ministry plan that answers eight things.

Purpose: Why do we exist?
Mission: What is our current objective?
Vision: What does it look like to win?
Values: How do we behave?
Ministries: What do we do?
Strategy: How will we win?
Goals: Where do we want to end up?
Metrics: What are we going to measure?

We created a template for you and it looks like this:

It’s not easy to answer and agree on these questions, but it’s absolutely a necessary first step.

This one page template is bundled with some practical coaching for you and your team. You can buy the template, along with the coaching, right here.

Continue

Why Failure IS an Option

By

Michelle Geoffrey

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November 15, 2017

In 2007, I met with my cell pastor and asked what kind of group I should start, after taking a short leadership hiatus. He encouraged me to begin a women’s group for 30-somethings. At the time, we had no groups for that age group. That day I left our meeting with a mission; I was going to follow all the cell principles and begin this explosive cell group that was desperately needed. It was time to prove whether this cell group idea was really going to work. I picked my day and time and spoke to a couple of church friends. We met and after one month, it was me and one other young lady. I had done everything that was taught in Cell Leader Training by Joel Comiskey. Yet, after four months, it was me and one other young lady. (Sometimes just me!) I was ready to throw in the towel!

We are taught all our lives that failure is not an option. When we fail, we tend to beat ourselves up and often want to give up or quit. This is certainly true in cell ministry. Failure takes place on every level of cell ministry. Leaders fall, ministries go under and people walk away, but when God has called us, we can fail, but we must not quit. Cell ministry is a marathon, not a sprint, and there are no overnight solutions. Jesus spent three years with the disciples to raise them up to be who He had designed them to be. Look at your cell ministry in the same way: Disciple, build and equip your congregation to pioneer cell ministry in your church and community.

Whatever you do, don’t compare your failures to someone else’s success. We can’t imagine what one church has gone through to have the large numbers of cells that they have and what it took for them to reach that amount. Rejoice with them and continue with the vision and mission God has given to you. After all, comparison is the killer of contentment!

Going back to how this started. God pushed me not to quit and to push through to the other side. After four lonely months, my group exploded! We had 12 ladies coming each week. The group multiplied in a matter of months and then again within the next year. After three years, we were 12 groups strong! God did it, and reminded me that we may fail at times, but we must not quit.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. – II Timothy 4:7

This article originally appeared here.

5 Things You Can Do Today to Make Sunday Easier

By

Missy McKinnon

-

November 15, 2017

Sunday Mornings. They are game day for us KidMin folk.

Growing up, I loved Sunday mornings. I could sleep in. My school started at 7:50 a.m., so I had to get up early. But on Sunday mornings I could sleep in a little. There was no traffic on Sunday Mornings. They were so chill.

Somehow between getting married and having kids, I was shocked at how crazy Sunday mornings had become. Someone in our house has a melt down every Sunday morning. Whether it is my daughter who cannot find her favorite pink socks, or myself, who cannot finish getting ready without a little one asking for a cup of milk.

Scouring Pinterest and mommy-blogs, I soon learned that I needed to start getting ready for the day the night before. I started laying out my daughter’s clothes the night before. I would pack the diaper bag with everything we need for the whole day.

As a KidMin Pastor, how can I make Sunday mornings easier when I get to church? I can hear one pastor that I had in my head right now, “If you can do it before Sunday, do it!”

So, here is my list of five things you can do today to make Sunday easier.

1) Call your volunteers
The volunteers in your ministry have so many things going on. Take two minutes out of your day and text, or call your volunteers. You actually accomplish two things by doing this.
A) It reasures you that the volunteer will show up on Sunday.
B) It lets the volunteer know that you are thinking of and care about them.
Now, be sneaky with your words. You do not need to come right out and say, are you gonna be there on Sunday? No, that is rude. Say, “I am so excited about Sunday, we are going to be teaching about (fill in the blank). Hope to see you there.”

2) Pray
This is pretty obvious. But pray through your morning. Pray for all of your volunteers helping you. Pray for every child who walks in your building. Pray that your pastor does not preach too long (JK), but seriously pray that your pastor preaches exactly what needs to be said. Pray for the greeters that they are extra perky. Pray for the parking lot attendants that they direct the cars perfectly. Pray for the people who make the coffee that they make extra strong coffee on Sunday.

3) Set up
If you are able to, set up for your service today. Fix chairs, get check in supplies ready, etc.

I have been at two different churches where that is not possible, a mobile church and a church where our room was a multi-use room. But there are things you can do to make the set up easier. Organize your stuff to make it smoother. I know when we set up and tore down every day, our boxes of stuff grew with a bunch of stuff that we don’t use every single weekend. Take out everything that you do not use and put it in a separate box, a just-in-case box.

Label every single box with what comes in each box.

If you are not organized, find someone who is! I am not, so I ask my mom to come over every couple months to help me organize all the toys that are taking over my house. She thinks differently then me and it is amazing how organized my house is when she leaves.

4) Make a check list
Think through everything you do on a Sunday morning, get as detailed as you can. Do you say hello to the greeters? (Maybe you should—just to make sure they know where to bring the new kids.) Do you check that the bathrooms are clean? Do you refill the check-in desk supplies? Do you have a 10-minute huddle?

Write everything down, so you won’t forget anything. All of my professors in college would tell us to take handwritten notes, even though everyone had a laptop. The reason for this is that when you are physically writing things down you will remember it better. Something about the act of doing and seeing it.

5) Delegate
Take that list you just made and start assigning them to other people.

If the service falls apart when you are not there, you HAVE to change that. I can only think of one thing that only you can do every week, and it may surprise you.

Teaching – You should be mentoring someone else. Don’t have any volunteers that want to teach? Find a high schooler that loves to talk, and have them start with an object lesson. I am not saying you should never teach, just that at least once a month you NEED to go into the adult service and sit under your pastor’s teaching. You need to have a pool of teachers that you can pull from. Will they be able to teach as well as you? Maybe, maybe not. But here is the amazing thing about God—He can still use people who are not as talented as you!

Cleaning – Someone else should be cleaning. And it should not be done on Sunday morning. Find someone who wants to serve, but they don’t want to be up in front of people.

Getting supplies stocked – Again something you should not be focusing on during Sunday morning. If you are focusing on trivial things, you will not be able to focus on the big God things. Please don’t misunderstand me, stocking supplies is very important, but it should be done on a different day, not Sunday morning.

Greeting – This is the one thing that no one else can do for you that I mentioned earlier. Trust me, I have tried to find someone to do this for me, to no avail. There is no replacement for you getting out and talking and greeting people.

You have to be greeting people, not just the kids as they walk in the room. Go out of the kids area and greet adults. Let the parking lot attendants see your face! Go chat with the greeters. Say hello to the coffee people and thank them.

I know your title is Children’s Pastor, but you need to talk to adults too.

There you go! There are five things you can do right now to make Sunday go smoother.

This article originally appeared here.

The 1 Tactic Your Church Needs to Do to Boost Year-End Giving

By

Rich Birch

-

November 15, 2017

We are just heading into the largest giving period of the year for charities across the country. In fact, 30 percent of all charitable giving will be done during the month of December. [ref] Many nonprofits have been working, for months, on the plans for these last 31 days of the year. Their strategies and tactics have become almost stereotypical; you can see the marketing machines turn up the pressure to encourage people fund their causes:

The “gift” catalogue where you can purchase a goat and somehow send it to a kid in a developing country.
Social media barrages of heart warming stories delivered with an elegant ask to fund the mission.
Multiple direct mail pieces landing at the perfect time to encourage you to help with a special project that launchs soon.

We’ve talked in other places about the importance of designing and executing a year end giving campaign. Over the years we’ve been attempting to help churches add it to their funding flywheel in order to increase the generosity of their people and we’ve seen a 10-15 percent increase in giving in several churches. Here are a few examples of resources, which are designed to help your church raise additional resources in the last 45 days of the year:

If you haven’t planned a full year end giving campaign—you’re probably too late. But there is one tactic you need to plan now.

Effective year end giving campaigns need to be thoughtfully planned out and elegantly executed. If you don’t have one planned out at this point and you attempt to rush it you would be risking doing damage to your donor relationships. But don’t worry there is one tactic you could still pull together and see it encourage more generosity as we approach the end of the year.

Ten percent of all charitable donations will be given during the last 48 hours of the year.1 That’s $625 million an hour for the last two days of December. A total of $30,000,000,000 in such a short period of time. [ref]

Send an email to all of your people during the last 48 hours of the year, asking them to invest in the mission of your church.

That’s the tactic. Sending an email to your church community, in the last two days of the year, will encourage your people to give to the good things that are happening at your church. It also reminds people, when they are thinking about their last-minute giving, of the amazing ministry your church has performed and inspires them to be included in the plans.

Continue

What to Do When You’re Tired (and the Battle Rages)

By

Kurt Bubna

-

November 15, 2017

Yesterday, while I was reading what the Apostle Paul wrote regarding making sure we are fully armored-up for the spiritual battle, it dawned on me that my armor is old, rusty and dented. Yes, old armor is better than no armor, but mine is ugly. Really ugly.

The Spiritual Battle

For a long time, I’ve been in a spiritual battle.

Battling evil in this world and beyond.

Battling the nasty ways of others.

And battling my flesh (which is not nearly as satisfying as battling yours).

At times, I’ve grown weary in well-doing. It’s not as easy to swing the sword as it once was. Frankly, I’m a mess. A bloody mess.

If you’re reading this and thinking, What’s wrong with him? then you’re probably a bit too young to understand. Give it a few decades, and you’ll figure it out.

If you’re reading this and wondering, He probably has sin in his life! then you’re right, I do. But we all do. Wrestling with sin will always be a present reality on this side of eternity.

One of my favorite authors and bloggers, Scott Saul, recently wrote, “Ironically, the more like Jesus we actually become, the more unlike Jesus we realize that we are.”

Yup.

When I was young, I thought way too highly of myself. Now, I realize how kind and merciful God is to this recovering idiot. Every stinkin’ day.

In his blog, Scott also pointed out that “even the greatest heroes of faith were also flawed and broken—wrecked, weary, restless and sometimes tortured sinners—even at their spiritual peak.”

Hillsong Marches on after Australia Same-Sex Marriage Vote

By

Bob Ditmer

-

November 15, 2017

The long awaited and long lasting national postal survey on same sex marriage in Australia is finally over. The results are clear. More than 70 percent of Australians participated in the non-binding referendum and an overwhelming 61.6 percent voted to allow same sex couples to wed.

Polling in late September suggested “no” votes were growing and the number of people planning to participate was shrinking, sending fear throughout the LGBT community. Those trends did not hold.

For Australian Christians, and in fact Christians worldwide, how church leaders responded to the same-sex marriage survey was as important as the vote itself.

Brian Houston, head of the Hillsong Church Movement, waded into the debate in August supporting traditional marriage as the biblical example. He also encouraged his Australian congregants to voice their opinions, “whatever your view.”

STATEMENT CRITICIZED BY BOTH SIDES

The criticism from many in the church was immediate and forced Houston to clarify his position.

He was also criticized by homosexual marriage supporters. Chris Graham of the liberal website New Matilda.com called Houston’s missive, “How to dog whistle hate without even really trying.”

Houston said in the statement released on Wednesday: “I believe every person is created by God with a plan and purpose, and the focus of Hillsong Church has always been—and will always be—to point people to Jesus.

“As we move forward as a nation and put what has been at times a divisive debate behind us, my prayer is that we replace anger, criticism, hatred and intolerance with love, understanding, acceptance and kindness.”

However, Houston maintained that his personal belief on the biblical definition of marriage will not change and urged the government to protect churches who do not agree with gay marriage.

He added: “The work of our church will continue as usual as it does in many parts of the world where same-sex marriage is legal.

“It is vital however, that legislation protects the rights of churches, pastors and others to hold contrary beliefs based on the traditional teachings of scripture.

“Freedom of religion is a fundamental part of a democratic society and must be upheld. Any attempt to force Christians to compromise their faith would be wrong.”

Houston reminded Christians, “Jesus taught us that holding firm to our convictions, and respecting and appreciating other people who hold different views, are not mutually exclusive.”

MISSION OF THE CHURCH UNDAUNTED

Whether you agree with Houston’s recent positions on homosexuality or not, it is clear he is not going to allow this decision to impede the work of Hillsong and what he believes they’ve been called to do around the world.

Perhaps that is also the takeaway for church leaders following the Australian same sex marriage survey; no matter what position you take you will be criticized, but the criticism should never stop you from fulfilling your God-given ministry.

Warren Bird: If You Want Your Church to Grow, Don’t Neglect This

By

Jason Daye

-

November 15, 2017

Dr. Warren Bird is the Director of Research and Intellectual Capital Support for Leadership Network. He is widely recognized as among the nation’s leading researcher of megachurches, multisite churches, large church compensation and high-visibility pastoral succession. Warren has also authored or co-authored 29 books on church leadership topics like multisite, healthy leadership teams, church planting, pastoral succession, and mergers. His latest release is How to Break Church Growth Barriers.

Key Questions:

Some pastors struggle with the concept of church growth. What is your take on having church growth as a goal?

Can you explain how leadership development might work in a church under 200?

How can a pastor tell if he or she is truly discipling someone?

[SUBSCRIBE] For more ChurchLeaders podcasts click here!

Key Quotes:

“Your vision of God’s harvest and what God wants to do through you and through the church that you serve is smaller—far smaller—than the impact that he would like to entrust you with.”

“80 percent of churches in attendance are less than 200.”

“Do you see yourself as the minister or as the maker of other ministers?”

“Pastor, in all your doing of modeling, could it be that you excel in modeling far more than you excel in truly handing the baton to someone else, and saying—as Jesus said to his disciples—‘You feed them. You heal them. You do this.’?”

“If I’m discipling someone, the true test of whether I’m really discipling someone is if they begin discipling someone else. Likewise, if I’m developing a leader…the true test of how I’m doing is whether they are in turn apprenticing, developing another leader.”

“Jesus spent 75 percent of his ministry focused on developing the 12 and helping them then develop the next generation. Not the crowds.”

Mentioned in the Show:

How to Break Growth Barriers by Carl George and Warren Bird

Leadnet.org/advance

3 Reasons Why Jesus Was Hated

By

Dr. Josh Buice

-

November 14, 2017

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why Jesus is so hated in our culture? We must remember, hating Jesus has always been a popular position by many different cultures. In fact, any society that rejects God ultimately rejects Jesus. This has been the case from the beginning of time.

As we read through the Bible, we see three main reasons why the people of Jesus’ day hated him. That same hatred continues to compound from generation to generation.

Jesus Confronted Empty Religion

One glance at the 23rd chapter of Matthew’s Gospel will reveal the polemical style of Jesus’ ministry. While Jesus was not always polemical in his approach to preaching and teaching, he certainly did confront the empty religiosity of the scribes and Pharisees. On one chapter alone (Matthew 23), Jesus is recorded as having used the “woe to you” bombshell seven times. In Matthew 23:27-28, Jesus said:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

It was John Calvin who said, “A pastor needs two voices, one for gathering the sheep and the other for driving away wolves and thieves.” [1] Jesus certainly possessed both voices. As the Good Shepherd, Jesus called his sheep to him and they heard his voice clearly. As the Prophet greater than Moses, Jesus spoke with authority and defended the truth of God’s Word from the hypocrisy of the legalists and false teachers of his day. For that, Jesus was hated.

Jesus Loved the Outcasts

The religious leaders of the day hated Jesus. He did not spend time with them nor did Jesus show them honor as they were accustomed to receiving from the community at large. Instead, Jesus spent time with the outcasts, the poor, the lowly, the sick, the needy and the helpless. Consider the fact that Jesus called a group of disciples together from the fishing industry and tax collection. Those people were looked down upon greatly—yet Jesus called them to himself, and after discipling them—he sent them out on a mission. Their mission turned the world upside down.

According to Matthew 11:19, “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.” The religious establishment did not know what to do with Jesus—he broke their categories and confounded their minds. Since the rabbinical society was the highest ranking class in the Jewish society—for Jesus to be a powerful teacher and to associate with the lowly and sinful was taboo. While it was considered out of bounds by cultural standards, Jesus literally exemplified how the church of Jesus should engage all classes of society. For that, Jesus was hated.

Jesus Forgave Sinners

Out of all of Jesus’ miracles including turning water into wine, walking on water, feeding the 5,000, raising Lazarus from the dead, causing the lame to walk, the dumb to speak and the deaf to hear—the greatest miracle was when Jesus revealed his power and authority to forgive sin.

Luke, in his Gospel, records a story about Jesus healing a paralyzed man who was brought to Jesus on his bed. Because the crowd was so dense, the friends took the man onto the roof and took apart the roof and lowered the man in before the presence of Jesus. Sitting around on the peripheral were scribes and Pharisees watching the whole scene unfold. When Jesus saw their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Your sins are forgiven.” Immediately, the scribes and Pharisees protested. They said, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone? (Luke 5:21)” As everyone was intently watching the whole drama-filled scene unfold, Jesus responded to the religious leaders.

Why do you question in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins—he said to the man who was paralyzed—’I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.’ And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God (Luke 5:22-25).

Jesus was hated for many things, but at the heart of the religious community was an intense hatred for Jesus’ authority to forgive sins—an authority that transcended their own and it caused jealousy. They didn’t believe Jesus looked like the promised Messiah. And when Jesus taught, he did so with authority—unlike the scribes (Mark 1:22). The reason Jesus was eventually nailed to a Roman cross was based on a fundamental rejection and hatred of Jesus’ divine authority.

When Jesus died, they thought their problem was finally gone. When they heard news of the resurrection, they were greatly troubled. Their only response was to lie.

While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day (Matthew 28:11-15).

The world continues to find Jesus’ authority troubling. They continue to spread and believe lies about Jesus ignorant of the reality of what will happen before the throne of God in the near future.

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11).

This article originally appeared here.

New to Leading a Small Group? Read This

By

Daniel So

-

November 14, 2017

Small groups can be completely life-transforming—communities where followers of Jesus build godly friendships, share with honesty and transparency, and put their theology into action.

However, starting a small group gathering can feel daunting, maybe even impossible, for those new to leadership. How often have you asked someone to lead a small group only to hear a response like, “Oh, I could never do that,” or, “I don’t feel qualified for such an important task”?

Here are some of our best resources for people who are new to leading small groups. Share these practical tips and insights with them, both to ease their transition into leadership and to help equip them for long-term success.

The 10 Best Icebreaker Questions, by Jim Egli

After a hectic week of ups and downs, it can be hard to jump right into deep Bible discussion or life-sharing. “Icebreaker questions, whether shallow or deep, goofy or profound, all have potential to help people to relax, learn to know one another better, and get ready for a great small group meeting.”

7 Tips for Leading Worship in Small Groups, by Rick Muchow

Don’t worry if you’re not the next Chris Tomlin or Kari Jobe! One of the most powerful ways your group can grow together is through worship. These real-world tips for leading worship through songs will help rookies and seasoned vets alike.

52 Ideas for Fellowship in Your Small Group, by Josh Hunt

Your group doesn’t always have to meet in the same place. In fact, one of the best ways to build friendship is through shared activities, including service, spiritual growth and just plain fun.

The Absolute Best Discussion Question You Can Ask in Small Group, by Tim Thornborough

Tim includes five ways to craft great discussion questions, but you will definitely want to read the two simple words that can change your small group forever.

5 Myths About Introverts in Small Groups, by Amy Jackson

If you’re a leader, having introverts in your group can be a confounding mystery. Learning to appreciate the benefits of having all introverts in your small group will depend on dispelling a few common myths about them. For example, did you know that introversion is not the same thing as shyness?

The Single Most Important Thing in Leading a Small Group, by Jim Egli

These insights from a survey of over 1,800 small group leaders will revolutionize how you lead your group. Leaders who do this have groups that grow significantly faster.

7 Words of Encouragement for Small Group Leaders, by Rick Howerton

Leading small groups is, of course, very rewarding—but it can also be tiring at times. If you are a small group pastor (or a member of a small group), these seven phrases can be a breath of fresh air to your leaders. As Howerton notes, “A word of encouragement that is personal, genuine and spoken while looking into the eyes of a small-group leader will build relational equity and will motivate a small group leader in ways few other actions will.”

The 1 Tactic Your Church Needs to Do to Boost Year End Giving

By

Rich Birch

-

November 14, 2017

We are just heading into the largest giving period of the year for charities across the country. In fact, 30 percent of all charitable giving will be done during the month of December. [ref] Many nonprofits have been working, for months, on the plans for these last 31 days of the year. Their strategies and tactics have become almost stereotypical; you can see the marketing machines turn up the pressure to encourage people fund their causes:

The “gift” catalogue where you can purchase a goat and somehow send it to a kid in a developing country.
Social media barrages of heart warming stories delivered with an elegant ask to fund the mission.
Multiple direct mail pieces landing at the perfect time to encourage you to help with a special project that launchs soon.

We’ve talked in other places about the importance of designing and executing a year end giving campaign. Over the years we’ve been attempting to help churches add it to their funding flywheel in order to increase the generosity of their people and we’ve seen a 10-15 percent increase in giving in several churches. Here are a few examples of resources, which are designed to help your church raise additional resources in the last 45 days of the year:

If you haven’t planned a full year end giving campaign—you’re probably too late. But there is one tactic you need to plan now.

Effective year end giving campaigns need to be thoughtfully planned out and elegantly executed. If you don’t have one planned out at this point and you attempt to rush it you would be risking doing damage to your donor relationships. But don’t worry there is one tactic you could still pull together and see it encourage more generosity as we approach the end of the year.

Ten percent of all charitable donations will be given during the last 48 hours of the year.1 That’s $625 million an hour for the last two days of December. A total of $30,000,000,000 in such a short period of time. [ref]

Send an email to all of your people during the last 48 hours of the year, asking them to invest in the mission of your church.

That’s the tactic. Sending an email to your church community, in the last two days of the year, will encourage your people to give to the good things that are happening at your church. It also reminds people, when they are thinking about their last-minute giving, of the amazing ministry your church has performed and inspires them to be included in the plans.

Continue

What Are You Teaching Your Leaders?

By

Jenny Funderburke Smith

-

November 14, 2017

Hopefully, as a leader you are teaching those you lead many great things. Hopefully, they are growing closer to Jesus through your discipleship and your example of an authentic Christian walk. Hopefully, they are learning good leadership, communication and interpersonal skills.

As we all know the majority of what we teach is not necessarily said out loud. More is “caught than is taught.”

I am confident that all of your best leadership qualities are leaking down to your followers and they are better because of your influence. However, a quote from Jenni Catron’s book Clout caused me pause today.

“That’s the problem with life as a leader—none of my issues impact just me. Every issue that we wrestle with as leaders impacts those we influence…. If I’m not purposeful to sort out the good and the bad, I will pass on the good and the bad to those I lead.”

Ouch.

Because I have to be honest with you. As much as I feel I have grown in leadership over 15+ years in ministry, I know that there is a whole lot of “bad” mixed in with the good. I don’t know that I have been very intentional about sorting out the bad from the good I want to pass onto others.

What are some examples of “bad” leadership characteristics that we could pass on?

If I complain and grumble about volunteers who don’t show up when they are supposed to, guess what the level of leadership under me will do?
If I keep my ministry siloed, or intentionally separated, from other ministries of the church, what am I modeling?
If I am too busy on a Sunday morning preforming tasks and not connecting with people, that is what I am teaching my leaders to do.
If I make excuses when I mess something up, I can’t expect those I lead to own their mistakes.

I’m sure you can think of examples that fit your context.

None of us are perfect. Until Jesus takes us to Heaven we will have plenty of bad mixed in with our good. The challenge for us as leaders is to make sure we are truly modeling the leadership we want to be emulated.

Don’t be afraid to recognize weakness. Confess it to God and seek His help. Every. Day.
Tell your leaders, “I really stink at this aspect, but we will all be better if we _____” and help each other be better.
Don’t ever be blind enough or stupid enough to feel you’ve got it all together.
When you see something in one of your leaders that you don’t love, pause long enough to examine if that is something you accidentally taught them to do.

This article originally appeared here.

7 Ways to Love Your Pastor

By

Elisha Galotti

-

November 14, 2017

In God’s design for the Christian life, we don’t roam aimlessly from one pasture to the next. We’re sheep who need guidance. We’re sheep who need leadership. And God, knowing what we need, has given us shepherds to care for us, protect us and love us. Though ultimately this role is fulfilled in the eternal Shepherd of His sheep, Christ Jesus Himself, God’s good design also includes under-shepherds here on earth…otherwise known as pastors.

I’m among the many who have known the blessing of being cared for by shepherds who watch over their flocks with tenderness and love. Sometimes, as we reflect upon our pastor’s love and care for us, we wonder how we can love our pastor well in return.

When my husband (my favorite pastor!) was ordained to be a minister of the gospel, one of the elders who ordained him, Pastor Paul Martin, spoke to our congregation and charged us with this: Beloved, let me give you this one charge: Love your pastor!

In this charge, Pastor Paul shared seven ways that a congregation can love their shepherd, and his words of encouragement are applicable to every local church context.

How to Love Your Pastor

1. Love his preaching.

He may not be the most remarkable preacher you ever hear, but I cannot find a single text of Scripture that suggests he should be. I see many texts that say he must be faithful, and I can tell you that nothing will encourage his deep study and prolonged faithfulness in the pulpit more than a people who love to hear God’s Word preached. If you love his preaching, you should tell him.

You need not worry about puffing him up. There are far too many other things in his life to pop that bubble. But you will help him and strengthen him if you tell him how God is using his preaching ministry in your life. What’s more, if you love his preaching, you will pray for his preaching. And if you get to praying for his preaching every week, then you better hang on for what the Lord is going to do.

2. Love his wife.

Few things will encourage your pastor more than when you love the one he loves most of all. Remember that she helps to carry his load but is not paid for it; she enables him to be hospitable, which he must be in order to preach; she carries the brunt of raising faithful children, which he must have in order to preach. Love, honor, encourage and thank God for this woman.

3. Love his children.

There is a silent pressure on every pastor. It can weigh on him like a bag of wet cement…his children. He knows he is called to prioritize them and teach them the ways of God, but, like you, he has to learn all this on the fly while trying to have something to say to everyone else about how to do it! I have been in churches where things are not going well in a pastor’s child’s life.

Some of those churches know just what to do. They come alongside their pastor with encouraging words, and they actually get down on their knees and pray for that man’s kids. If you are going to love this man, you will truly love his children. You will not judge them or hold them to some higher standard. You will expect they need to hear the gospel as much as the other kids in the church. You will love them for who they are.

4. Love him with your complaints.

Christians have a hard time with this, but I want to call you to it. We have lost the art of disagreement. We have become numb to the Scriptural texts that teach us to speak the truth in love. We are more discipled in our methodology by Jerry Springer than by the apostle Paul. But if you love this man, you will learn to come in all humility and speak privately to him of your concerns. You will not make snide remarks or gossip or spread disunity or hold resentments that spread into gangrenous bitterness. When you truly love someone, you can come to them quietly and submissively with honest questions and self-searching that allows for disagreements to lead to agreements.

5. Love him when you don’t understand him.

It is an odd thing to be a pastor. We become involved in all the intricacies of others lives, and sometimes we know things about a person or a situation that we simply cannot divulge. Often, it is in these times when misunderstandings grow. Why aren’t you doing this or putting a stop to that? Where were you when this happened? Why didn’t you come when we asked? How come I have to wait so long to meet with you?

If you love him, you will hope all things! Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Cor. 13:7). You will bless him even when he seems to go in a direction you find less than compelling. Love him when you don’t understand him!

6. Love him for a long time.

A wise church will set her heart on loving her pastors for a long time. Not just putting up with them—but loving them. You must commit to loving him for the long term. You want a man to be here to bless your babies, baptize your believers and bury your dead. You don’t want a stranger to do that. If that is so, then you must commit to much more than tolerating this man. You must love him. Love him so much that he thinks to himself on his worst days, I’d be a fool to move on from here!

7. Love him because God loved you.

The final and great motivation for our love is never what it gets us—true love is seen in Christ. “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Eph. 5:1–2). Copy God. Do what He does. Be like Him. Walk in love. Yes, by all means, love one another. But remember to love your pastor, too.

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor (Rom. 12:9–10).

What about you? What are some of the ways you love your pastor?

This article originally appeared here.

First, as we’ve just discussed, understand that it will take time.

Second, you love everybody, but you move with the movers.

DOUBLE DOWN ON ENVIRONMENTS

DOUBLE DOWN ON CONVERSATIONS

DOUBLE DOWN ON RELATIONSHIPS

1. Share gospel content.

2. Create gospel conversations.

3. Buy Facebook ads.

Indicators of Good Leadership Character

1) You live by the same standards that you expect of others.

2) What you do when no one is looking is pleasing to God.

3) Those who know you best trust you the most.

Dear Church, We Won’t Be Back! And Here’s Why…

Dear Church #1: Your worship was TOO loud!

Dear Church #2: Your dress was TOO formal!

Dear Church #3: Your congregation was TOO young!

Dear Church #4: Your church just didn’t do it for us!

Your church wasn’t the right fit for us.

1. Your church is never going to appeal to everybody. And that’s OKAY!

2. Your church is what God has called you to be. And that’s more than OKAY!

3. Your church is perfect for the people who land there. And that, of course, is OKAY!

Start With a One Page Plan

If you haven’t planned a full year end giving campaign—you’re probably too late. But there is one tactic you need to plan now.

Send an email to all of your people during the last 48 hours of the year, asking them to invest in the mission of your church.

The Spiritual Battle

STATEMENT CRITICIZED BY BOTH SIDES

MISSION OF THE CHURCH UNDAUNTED

Key Questions:

Key Quotes:

Mentioned in the Show:

Jesus Confronted Empty Religion

Jesus Loved the Outcasts

Jesus Forgave Sinners

If you haven’t planned a full year end giving campaign—you’re probably too late. But there is one tactic you need to plan now.

Send an email to all of your people during the last 48 hours of the year, asking them to invest in the mission of your church.

How to Love Your Pastor

1. Love his preaching.

2. Love his wife.

3. Love his children.

4. Love him with your complaints.

5. Love him when you don’t understand him.

6. Love him for a long time.

7. Love him because God loved you.

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