Just a note: In 2025 we launched “The Revitalization Playbook.” The “Playbook” is similar to the ones used by football coaches on the sidelines. The coach’s playbook contains all the plays that the coach is confident that his team can run. Conditions on the field determine which play he chooses next. In my “Playbook,” knowing […]
Recovering From A Pastor Disaster
The parsonage was empty…again… This time it was left a little dirtier and messier than it was a year ago. It looked like somebody had departed in a hurry, and they had. The rookie pastor’s first year with the church turned out to be his last year with the church. He loaded the moving truck […]
What Can We Do About Our “Bad Pastor”?
“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity.” Psalm 133:1 This is my sixth post in six weeks on the subject of “bad pastors.” I’m putting the term in quotation marks because we’re dealing with a subject which is – admittedly – highly subjective. A “bad pastor” is a pastor which […]
Why Did A Good God Send Me To Pastor A Bad Church?
I recently dedicated four posts to the question of “Why would a good God send us a bad pastor?” (Click here for the first of the four.) I followed it up with a post on how to recover from a “bad pastor” and what a church member should and should not do if his church […]
Why Did A Good God Send Me To Pastor A Bad Church? (Part Two)
Back in my childhood there was a TV show called “Queen for a Day” which I watched with my mother when I was home sick from school. Each show was a contest between women – mostly housewives (we called them back then) – who had endured miserable lives, dealing with one catastrophe after another. After […]
Why Did A Good God Send Me To Pastor A Bad Church? (Part Three)
Back in the 1990’s, I attended the same big, wonderful pastor’s conference year after year. I often showed up at the conference in tough shape physically, for it was always held during the peak days of my “big-time” allergy season. I would cough all night – sleeping in a storeroom at times so as to […]
Why Did A Good God Send Me To Pastor A Bad Church? (Conclusion)
I would guess that most pastors have believed, at one time or another, that they have been sentenced to serve as the pastor of a “bad church.” The problem is inherent in the job itself: In the best-case scenario, serving as the solo or senior pastor of a church is a challenging role. In far […]
Why Did Our Good God Send Us A Bad Pastor? (Part One)
I confess that no one has ever put it quite that bluntly as my title, but I’ve heard a number of softer versions of it over the years. It usually sounds something like this: “We prayed and worked through our pastor search process but the guy we got was not what we were looking for […]
Why Did Our Good God Send Us A Bad Pastor? (Part Two)
One week ago, we began wrestling with this painful question. While I’ve seldom had it put to me as bluntly as my title, I’ve heard little speeches like the following, several times: “We prayed and worked through our pastor search process but the guy we got was not what we were looking for or expecting […]
Why Did Our Good God Send Us A Bad Pastor? (Part Three)
I’ve heard my share of horror stories about bad pastors. Very few of them are as unfortunate as one I was involved in personally. Near the end of an interim pastorate, when we were just getting our pastoral search team organized, our church was approached directly by a young man who seemed like God’s special […]
Why Did Our Good God Send Us A Bad Pastor? (Part Four)
Here’s the last “bad pastor” horror story I’ll share for a while: Even before I completed the interim pastorate, Donna and I were beginning to have concerns about the new long-term pastor who had taken my place. He had expressed anger with our church members for not hosting him as enthusiastically as he thought they […]
Give Your Pastor The Gift Of Reasonable Expectations
Pastor Appreciation Month is already behind us, but the “holiday season” is coming on fast. Many church members gave their pastors a gift in October, even if it was just their well-wishes. Others are thinking about what they might give their pastor for Christmas. If that’s you, this post is for you. If you’re a […]
“Our Pastor’s Gone; We Got Our Church Back!”
Television’s Art Linkletter used to say that “kids say the darndest things.” He was right of course, but the same could be said of church members who are being interviewed by interim pastors, denominational leaders or consultants: “Church members say the darndest things!” The first time I heard this phrase I was gob smacked. I […]
Six Reasons Why We Struggle With The Coming And Going Of Pastors
The recent home-going of Dr. John MacArthur, senior pastor of Grace Community Church of Sun Valley, California, has reminded us of a perennial challenge which I call the coming and going of pastors. After twenty centuries of struggling with the coming and going of our pastoral leaders, we’re still not very good at pastoral transitions. […]
Ten Temptations Of The Departing Pastor
I wish this post was a short one: “Two Temptations Of The Departing Pastor,” or something like that. In truth, departing pastors have all sorts of temptations. All sorts. I’m going to dive right into my subject, and you’ll see what I mean. These are not exclusive to pastors who are leaving in disgrace or […]
The Last Temptation Of “Pastor Last”
Years ago, LEADERSHIP Magazine published a cartoon which depicted a grumpy looking pastor asking a colleague, “Ever have one of those days when you just HAVE TO rebuke someone?” Many pastors experience “one of those days” just after they’ve announced their resignation. They feel like they have to rebuke their church’s board, staff or maybe […]
Three Of The Devil’s Plans For Your Church
“Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.” II Corinthians 2:10-11 “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take […]
Three More Of The Devil’s Plans For Your Church
“He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.” I Timothy 3:6,7 “Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I […]
Even More Of The Devil’s Plans For Your Church
“He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.” I Timothy 3:6,7 “Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I […]
Seven Reasons To Not Publicly Criticize Your Pastor
Here’s something that never ceases to amaze me. Church members sit in their favorite spot in the worship service on Sunday morning. They pray, praise, sing, listen and, through the words of hymns, creeds, prayers and covenants, they commit themselves anew to following Jesus and loving the brethren. The service ends, there’s a ten-minute break, […]
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. […]
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