Most church-going people want their congregation to have a great preacher. Good for them. Why would we want anything less? The wrong way to make this happen is to get rid of your current preacher and go find one who is already great. There are all sorts of problems with this approach which we won’t […]
Leadership In A Crisis: Ten Ways To Succeed
Leadership in a crisis is hard. Very hard. In a crisis, the norm for us laughably flawed human beings who are trying to lead entire groups of laughably flawed human beings, is to make a mess of things. In a crisis, mistakes are normal, wisdom is exceptional and brilliance is almost unheard of. But if […]
Leadership In A Crisis: Ten Ways To Succeed, Part Two
Last week I shared that leadership in a crisis is so hard that it’s normal for us to use this opportunity to make a mess of things. In a crisis, mistakes are normal, wisdom is exceptional and brilliance is almost unheard of. But if you lead anything – from a family to a church to […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Address Your People Problems
In some congregations it’s just one person: one controlling Diotrephes (III John 12), one harmful Alexander (II Timothy 4:14), one willful, rude, thoughtless bully, somebody who wants to be a big fish in a small pond. In other churches, it’s one family which thinks that First Church is their own personal piece of property, like […]
Three Misunderstood Truths About Servant Leadership
One of the least understood concepts in the Christian world is that of “servant leadership.” While the term isn’t used in the Bible, the concept certainly is, and it’s very important. The context for the following passage was the “power play” by brothers James and John to secure the top spots in Jesus’ Kingdom cabinet. […]
Please, Ask For Help, Early
“There’s no cure for stupidity.” I don’t know who said it first, but a lot of people have said it since. There are even some takeoffs on the original observation: “There’s no vaccine for stupidity.” “Stupidity is terminal.” “You can’t fix stupid.” “Stupidity is the only universal, capital crime.” I think you get the idea. […]
The Year in Review of the Pastor’s Ministry
Brian’s note: My friend, Dr. Randy M. Keeley, creator of my favorite church health evaluation, the Ministry Mapping Survey, has created this great tool for the oftentimes difficult task of pastoral performance reviews. It looks like it should lead to some great, in-depth discussions. You’ll find Dr. Keeley’s bio at www.randywkeeley@weebly.com Dr. Keeley’s email address […]
The Menu From The Pastor Café
Note: A number of years ago I wrote the Parable of the Headhunter (republished on this blog on November 29, 2023) to help congregational pastor search committees to have realistic expectations as they look for their next solo or senior pastor. The response to the “…Headhunter” was good, but I found that many church members […]
Models of Board Member Ministry
Almost every church has some variety of leadership team which meets regularly (or occasionally) to make decisions and help and/or hinder the work of the congregation’s professional staff. These groups are variously called: the board, the elders, the deacons, the consistory, the session or the council. The degree of authority which they wield varies greatly. […]
Models of Board Member Ministry – Brian’s Notes
Two weeks ago, in a post called, Models of Board Member Ministry, I wrote about the endless variations in expectations and assumptions among incoming board (council, consistory, session, elders, deacons) members. Working through my post – as a group exercise – can be a helpful way to movefrom board confusion, disunity and dysfunction to clarity, […]
“Pastor: How’s Your CHURCH Doing?”
I have many conversations with pastors which include this question. We talk about lots of other things, from illnesses to children to football, and then I invariably get around to the “How’s your CHURCH doing?” question. Some pastors have the privilege of leading churches which are building the Kingdom of Christ with some real God-given […]
How To Not Get Fired Next Time
This is going to be a long post. I know it’s not for everybody but it might be for you, or someone you love, so please read the next paragraph. A couple of weeks ago I read a new post by Thom Rainer, founder and CEO of Church Answers and the author of over 40 […]
Ending Pastor Abuse
Pastor abuse is a serious problem, but there’s nothing new about it. Old Testament prophets – spokespersons for God – and even Old Testament-era Jewish kings, who were shepherds (“pastors,” in Latin) of God’s people, endured harsh treatment at the hands of those who should have respected them. Mocked, thrown in pits, beaten, stoned and […]
Why Pastors Should Commit Themselves To “Extended Stays”
Pastoral terms are too short. The average tenure of three to five years1 is not working well for anyone. There are, of course, no Bible verses that say that this is too short, for the pastorate as we know it today was not yet commonly practiced when the New Testament was completed. So I’m not […]
How We Can Do Better With The Coming And Going Of Pastors
I mentioned last week (Six Reasons Why We Struggle With The Coming And Going Of Pastors) that: After twenty centuries of struggling with the coming and going of our pastoral leaders, we’re still not very good at pastoral transitions. The grieving which pastors and church members experience when a beloved pastor moves on is only […]
Some Churches Don’t Deserve To Have Pastors
According to Ephesians 4:7-16, the gifted church leaders whom we typically call “pastors” are gifts of the risen, glorified Jesus Christ to his churches. According to Ephesians 2:10, each of them is a custom-designed “masterpiece” and Acts 20:28 adds that each one has been appointed an overseer by the Holy Spirit himself. The great pastoral […]
Spiritual Leadership: What It Looks Like In A Church
Spiritual leadership is one of those nice, amorphous, high sounding Christian terms. It’s rather like the weather: “everybody’s talking about it, but nobody’s doing anything about it.” I don’t think the term is in the Bible, so is there such a thing at all? And, if so, does it matter? Personally, I think that it […]
The Nitty-Gritty Of Spiritual Leadership In A Church
Last week I wrote about spiritual leadership in the context of the local church. I conceded that the term isn’t in the Bible, but I insisted that the reality is, and I described it by way of Scriptural citations. Let’s try this for a definition: Spiritual leadership is influencing others to join you in obeying […]
An Extremely Helpful Leadership Initiative Which Any Pastor Can Take Right Now
“Extremely helpful” – “Really?” “Any pastor” – “I don’t think you know me!” “Right now” – “There must be a catch here!” Let me explain. I’ve been doing a lot of research lately on the subject of pastoral transitions, a.k.a., pastoral succession. It’s a big important subject that most pastors and churches avoid most of […]
Crisis Succession Plan Template For Church Boards
Scripture clearly indicates that no pastor – except Jesus – is a “permanent pastor.” As many have put it, “every pastor is an interim pastor.” Jesus went to great lengths – throughout the gospels but especially in the “Upper Room Discourse” of John 13-17 – to warn his leaders-in-training that He would be leaving them […]
Seven Ways You Can Trust Your Church Board
Trust in authority figures in the United States is probably at an all-time low. I can’t prove that, but I doubt that any of you will challenge my assertion. I’ve recently been the victim of a very clever scam artist and a big corporation which seems to not care a whit that it was complicit […]
