A client recently posed a staffing question and asked me to address it. “Why should the first hired staff positions be (1) a worship leader for a non-traditional style worship service; and (2) a children’s director?” The answer is as simple as it should be self-evident.
Without a steady influx of young families to the […]
I suspect no church intentionally goes about barring their doors to keep new people out, but given the poor first-time visitor numbers in most churches, it sometimes seems like that might be the case. A healthy, growing church should be seeing enough first-time visitors each week that they make up 3 percent or more […]
I recently received a note with a question that I’m sure most pastors have asked themselves at one time or another.
I’m afraid there are many answers to this question.
The congregation is paying the pastor’s salary – so they’re the boss (or at least they think and act like they are).
The congregation is an all-volunteer organization – if they […]
One of the recommendations we make to pastors with churches under 200 is this: learn to do sermon and worship prep in less than two hours each week so you can spend the vast majority of your time reaching people for Jesus Christ.
It’s not a popular recommendation. Homiletics professors faint. Long-time pastors just shake their […]
We don’t normally do this, but since the Harvard Business Review “Daily Stat” blog has been broken for over three months, instead of just posting a link, we’re reproducing a GREAT mini-post here.
Asking for Advice Makes You Seem More Competent
Most people assume that asking for advice will make others think poorly of them. But […]
The church had done all the hard work of building a solid foundation. They identified their mission, vision, and values and they developed both membership and leadership covenants. It looked like they were ready to move to the next steps of growth.
Enter the nominating committee.
There were several leadership positions that needed to be filled, but few […]
When I’m coaching or consulting and make the recommendation that pastors need to spend significant time hanging out wherever it is their targets are hanging out, it tends to raise a host of questions. Where should I hang out? When? What do I need to stop doing so that I have time?
All those are […]
I imagine that it’s no surprise that many (dare I say most) seminary trained pastors – and even business trained pastors – lean toward the verbose and the grandiloquent. In some writings, I suppose, that’s acceptable. However, when it comes to defining a church’s mission, vision, and values, our over-learnedness often gets in the way.
In fact, I […]
A Personal Note to ALL Church Leaders
Church leaders need to remember that they have a different mandate than the average church member. At large church members are charged with the care of one another (other Christians and fellow church members in particular, among other responsibilities). Church leaders, however, are charged with the care of […]
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