Some church leaders love to swim in a sea of spreadsheets. If you are among them, then October is likely your favorite month. The vast majority of churches budget on a calendar year, which means the spreadsheets come out in full force about the same time as pumpkin spice lattes. Creating a church budget is a laborious—and somewhat thankless—task. At West Bradenton, our stewardship committee is hard at work refining the 2020 budget. It takes several weeks to finalize our annual budget. Every Read more [...]
The best leaders for the church are those who demonstrate a willingness to serve first. Is servant leadership necessary in every situation? No, but pastors and church leaders should have a default posture of service. If you’re unwilling to be a servant leader, then you are not fit to have authority and influence within the body of Christ. Serve first; lead second. It should be the leadership theme of every pastor. I understand the tension with servant leadership. Serving a church means sacrificing. Read more [...]
In this week’s show: We discuss the idea of competition and ministry. Is it healthy for us to compete with one another? Is it ever appropriate for churches and church leaders to have a sense of competition with one another? Special Est.Church discount – Available only to our listeners! Four Steps to Revitalizing Your Church with Thom Rainer More than seven hours of step-by-step training & instructionDownloadable notes, practical examples, audio files, and related bonus contentFive Read more [...]
Vision is overrated. Too many leaders put too much weight on their vision and not enough on other important matters of leadership. Culture, discipline, accountability, and creativity are just as important as vision. That being said, leadership does not happen without vision. Vision is meant to inspire, engage, and capture the heart. In the church, vision statements are common, but not enough of them move the congregation to action. How do you know when vision is working? When it’s Read more [...]
Both extroverts and introverts can lead well. Both can lead poorly. Personality is only one part of leadership. However, your personality as a leader comes with intrinsic advantages and challenges. For example, the extroverted pastor tends to work a room better than an introvert. The introverted pastor tends to listen better one-on-one. Partly because they are more outgoing, I believe extroverted pastors get the benefit of the doubt in leadership—more so than introverted pastors. Many have Read more [...]
Through Church Answers, I receive a lot of questions about churches. I also ask a lot of questions when I’m consulting and coaching. Over the years, I’ve refined the types of questions I ask and the way I ask questions. Some questions don’t elicit much of a response. Other questions cause people to pause and think. Then there are the questions that get people talking. Some of the best learning experiences as a leader come when you ask a good question and listen. After twenty years of researching Read more [...]
Our staff meetings lacked something, but we couldn’t put our finger on it. The time together was not a disaster. There were ups and downs, good days and tense days. Things got done. But spiritually, something was missing. That’s when our new senior adult minister, Jim, pointed to our problem—prayer. We were praying in every meeting, but we weren’t praying for specifics in each other’s lives. He came up with a plan. His plan revitalized our staff meetings. The plan was simple. Every Read more [...]
In this week’s show: When should you consider moving to a larger church? We share some of the reasons why you should move and why you shouldn’t move. The grass isn’t always greener, but it can be tempting! Special Est.Church discount – Available only to our listeners! Four Steps to Revitalizing Your Church with Thom Rainer More than seven hours of step-by-step training & instructionDownloadable notes, practical examples, audio files, and related bonus contentFive Read more [...]
Easter is big. Most churches pour more energy into the resurrection celebration than anything else. We should! Jesus’ resurrection is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. My body feels like it hums following a full day of Sunday preaching. I’m not sure if it is physiological, but the rush of preaching makes it hard for me to sleep on Sunday nights. I preach three back-to-back services, then I get wired, and then I crash sometime after midnight. I enjoy Mondays, but I’m usually not all Read more [...]
There are two kinds of restaurants. Those that embrace children, and those that tolerate children. If you’re a parent, especially if you have multiple small children, then you know this reality. When my family of six storms a restaurant, I can tell immediately whether the establishment will embrace my children or tolerate them. In a recent occurrence, the host looked at my brood with eyes wide: “Oh, my. You have . . . a lot of kids.” I was not offended. Serving large families at Read more [...]
