Mission
Perfect or Growing Leaders? Three Tips To Get You There.
The expectation that we are all highly functioning leaders, at all times, has to die. I certainly don’t want my volunteers trying to live up to that impossible expectation, so we tell our leaders and volunteers that our expectation for them is that they aren’t perfect, just growing. Yet, when it comes to the expectations…
Read More3 Tips For Cultivating a Healthy, Fruitful Team-Based Ministry
I believe it was Jethro who came up with the concept of doing team-based ministry first. You remember the unwise, all-too-familiar scene unfolding in Exodus 18 don’t you? Moses, with admirable motives and the greatest of intentions, was wearing himself out – working morning ‘til evening and frustrating all of the people he tried to…
Read MoreDo Numbers Matter? 8 Ways To Measure Success In Ministry.
Let’s be honest… We don’t like to talk numbers. We’re afraid that if we talk about the numbers, then the numbers are the only important thing when measuring the success of a ministry. If we focus on size, then the size of the ministry will determine its value or importance. But we all know the…
Read More6 Ways To Be Smarter About Difficult Conversations
What is the essence of ministry? How do you define it? A definition we’ve come to appreciate at our church goes like this: Ministry is a series of difficult conversations. The easy stuff works itself out. But the entrenched patterns, the destructive habits, the corrosive relationships, those don’t seem to go anywhere. Until there’s a…
Read More3 Ways To Mobilize and Show Value To Your Young Adults
Millennial. It’s become something of a dirty word in traditional media and a buzzword to play with in marketing. For others, such as myself, it’s an integral part of our identity. But much more important than articles and buzzwords is the question — how do we value and mobilize millennials (read: young adults) in our churches? …
Read MoreHow To Provide Pastoral Care Without Burning Yourself Out
I still remember the time I was snared by an article written by Carey Nieuwhof, “How Pastoral Care Stunts the Growth of Most Churches.” Carey writes, “If pastors could better handle the issue of pastoral care, many more churches would grow. Caring for 30 people personally is possible. Caring for 230 is not. Many pastors…
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