In the area of leadership training, I found out a lot about church leaders in 2003. Here are a few bits of wisdom I gained that you may also relate to:
Church leaders are interested in assessment tools that help them address strengths and weaknesses of certain aspects of their ministry. They want to see potential areas of improvement and be given steps to do that.
Handouts that provide a simple How-To on common overlooked areas of the church are popular. Leaders want resources they can copy and pass out to their new volunteers. In 2004, we'll be adding more Practical Skills handouts on hot topics for churches.
Our adult Sunday school was losing people through the cracks. We already had two kinds of classes: electives and age-graded classes. But some people -singles, international students, DINKS (double income, no kids), and folks like my husband and me who enjoy a diverse crowd - didn't feel at home in any of them. The DINKS didn't want so much talk about diapers and schools, and the singles felt uncomfortable ...
ARTICLE The Y Factor In tough times, you need to radically increase your ministry's volunteer quotient. Bill Hybels
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Six months ago I realized our church had a problem, so I invited the senior staff to join me in a conference room. I closed the door and announced, "We're not leaving until God gives us an answer."
Part of a church leader's job is to identify and define the reality his or her church is facing. As I thought and prayed about our church's reality, I came to the distressing realization that we didn't have ...
ARTICLE Finding the Grace Gates How "lead worshiper" Joseph Garlington helps people recognize holy moments and encounter God. Marshall Shelley, Eric Reed, Joseph Garlington
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How pastor and "lead worshiper" Joseph Garlington helps people recognize holy moments and encounter God.
A Leadership Interview
The sanctuary is packed. Ushers wedge latecomers into the few empty seats scattered across the long, low room. When those seats are full, they open clattering doors to overflow rooms on the sides. There's no holy hush in this place. Even the quiet moments are accompanied by ...
Vision is essential to a church. However, unlike the values, mission, and purpose, the vision is more subject to change. It is dynamic, not static. Over time, the vision must be renewed, adapted, and adjusted to the cultural context in which the congregation lives. The change takes place only at the margins of the vision, not at its core. The core—the Great Commission—does not change. The details ...
ARTICLE Answering the Call Before taking a call as a pastor, ponder these three considerations. Doyle Tunnell
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My calling to pastoral ministry came unexpectedly enough. I labored eagerly as an itinerant preacher for four years and as a church volunteer in nearly every capacity, but a pastor I was not.
The visit came while I was at work. It was from a timid, elderly man whom I recognized from the small church I had minister at more than a month prior. To say his words were direct would be an understatement. ...
The church I grew up in was the center of our social life; I felt loved and accepted by this extended "family." That little body of believers provided an unshakable foundation of values and understanding, which I still hold firmly.
The greatest contribution the church can make is to draw families to the person of Jesus Christ in an attitude of genuine repentance and renewal. Nothing brings husbands, ...
Slip-ups haunt every pastor. Some are minor; others trigger long-term problems. But not all mistakes have to be fatal. Here are some ways to prevent them from becoming terminal.
Mistake Reflexes
Mistakes can cause our hearts to churn with painful emotions and impulses. Identifying our emotions is important in not further compounding our problems and to put us on the track of recovery. Here are several ...
No minister wants to be perceived as self-centeredly ambitious. Yet what church would want a complacent pastor with no discernible ambition? We wrestle with ambition: How much is necessary? Will we ever quit worrying about having as many in worship as the church across the street?
Good, holy ambition drives the mills of excellent ministry, helps us accomplish tasks the un-ambitious might deem impossible, ...
In When I Relax I Feel Guilty, Tim Hansel writes of his years working for a Christian organization: "I would work … six or seven days a week. And I would come home feeling that I hadn't worked enough. So I tried to cram even more into my schedule. I spent more time promoting living than I did living."
Many active church people know what Hansel's talking about. One committee meeting leads to another. ...
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