Church Leadership

So Pastor, You’re Not Billy Graham…

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Evangelist Billy Graham - So, Pastor you're not Billy Graham

As I watched the Funeral of Billy Graham I was filled with sincere and heartfelt thanksgiving for all God accomplished through the life of this giant of the Faith, but I wanted to take a few moments to provide some “Pastor Encouragement” while you celebrate the life of this Godly man and again enter the pulpit this Sunday.

I heard the many reminders throughout the week as television news commentators reminded us of the facts that he had personally ministered to 12 Presidents in his lifetime, as well as the Queen of England. He is also only one of 4 non-politicians to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington D.C.

He had ministered the Gospel message in 185 countries of the world and an estimated 78 million people heard the Gospel, with many of those millions giving their lives to Christ. Many of those millions who gave their hearts to Christ have also been instrumental in souls coming to Christ through their witness!

Listening as well to his children sharing of their love for “Daddy” as they called him was very inspiring, especially as his daughter, Ruth shared of her arriving home following 2 failed marriages. Her Father was standing at the door and went to greet her with open arms and the words, “welcome home”.

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Church Board with Relatives Serving… Good Idea?

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One of the issues a church will wrestle with (in a Christian kind of way hopefully), is whether it’s a good idea or not to allow members to serve on the church board.   Regardless of what you may call this group, whether it be elders, deacons, or board members, the challenge is still very real in that the desire is to have the most capable, qualified and spirit-led leaders as possible serving.

Below are a few of the issues to consider as your church possibly decides if this is a practice to be avoided or embraced.

  • Update Constitution and Bylaws

Of course, as a church, you will want to make sure you have an updated Constitution and Bylaws in place.  This goes far beyond the requirements of the State and Federal Government as a 501c3 organization that provides giving reports for your donors.  You will find it of great value to take a look at your Constitution and Bylaws on at least an annual basis with a Revisions Committee for any recommended changes.  We meet at the end of each year.  When you meet on a regular basis, it won’t ever be portrayed that “they met just to put in changes to deal with a situation”.  The steps we take are:

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3 Reasons Why Giving Someone a Ministry Position Because They are Persistent is a Bad Idea

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As Pastors, we’ve all been there at one time or another. There’s that one person who has asked over and over again to be part of a ministry that we know would be a bad idea. However, their persistence has turned into insistence and word is starting to filter out into the congregation about the situation. While you know the “back story” of why you would rather they don’t serve in that particular ministry, others have not been filled in, and of course, you’re not going to do that either.

Let’s face it… there are ministry opportunities that exist within the church that you have been attempting to fill for a long time, but it seems that to find a person passionate about a particular ministry, who is also gifted to serve can seem like an impossible task.

So we relent and give them what they’ve been asking for, or more to the point… demanding.

Here are 3 reasons why that’s a bad idea, AND you should leave ministry positions unfilled until you are sure you have the passionate person serving in the proper ministry.

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8 Reasons Why Pastors Leave

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8 Reasons Pastors Leave

I always used to wonder why pastors leave. If you have attended church for any amount of time, you will probably have experienced this event at least once. There was a stretch, when I was younger, that we had 4 different pastors in a 5 year period. It’s also possible that you have never experienced a pastor resigning and may be asking why.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but here are 8 reasons I have encountered myself or seen in others:

1. Burn-out

Although you may feel that a pastor has an easy job, there is much more to it than meets the eye. Preaching, teaching, counselling, praying, fasting, visiting, leading, training, and organizing can take a tremendous amount of time and effort. If a pastor doesn’t have a strong ministry team and/or volunteer team then he may find himself in a state of burn-out. Burn-out is when you just hit that brick wall where you have nothing left to give and you realize you have been leading on empty. The book below describes this in great detail from a pastor’s perspective.

2. Discouragement

Pastors take on new works or churches with the goal of succeeding in winning people to Jesus. Any pastor wants to win souls. That goes without saying, but everybody has a different tolerance for timelines for that growth. One man may be working on a 10 year plan while another may expect immediate results. Either way, once they reach the end of that timeline, or even before, if the results aren’t what they expect, discouragement sets in.

Another type of discouragement is not number related. Pastors invest time training, counselling, and working with people to grow their walk with God or their ministry. Sometimes many years are invested and if somebody decides to give up or turns their back on the pastor, it can be very demoralizing.

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The 5 Reasons Pastors Do Not Lead Their Churches

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Reasons pastors don't lead their church

THE 5 REASONS PASTORS DO NOT LEAD THEIR CHURCHES

(Guest Article – Credits at bottom)

I know this sounds like an upside down topic but bear with me. Many senior pastors all over the country have the title of Senior Pastor/Leader but many do not have the authority to truly lead the churches they serve. The consequences of this lack of leadership at the local church level are too devastating to ignore.

Many churches are run by outstanding pastor/leaders. Too many, however, forfeit leadership either because of the pastor’s own propensity to not lead or the church’s propensity to usurp leadership from them. Whichever the case, the church suffers.

Here are the five (5) reasons senior pastors don’t lead their churches.

1. The board runs the show and the pastor lets them.
2. The congregation wants to vote on everything and the pastor lets them.
3. The staff runs the show and the pastor lets them.
4. Nobody runs the show and the pastor is one of the nobodies.
5. The pastor leads by consensus – takes a vote on everything from everybody and until everybody agrees.

So which one are you? After you sufficiently get over the shock of thinking of yourself in one or more of these terms give the following recommendations your consideration in navigating to a higher level of leadership in the church you serve.

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Want to Make Your Pastor’s Day? (Great for Pastors Appreciation)

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Thank your Pastor

WANT TO MAKE YOUR PASTOR’S DAY? (GREAT FOR PASTORS APPRECIATION)

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Here are nine quick ways to show your appreciation throughout the entire year… not just Pastors Appreciation Day!

1.  Write a note telling the pastor how good a particular sermon was.

2.  Invite others to church.  Nothing says, “The pastor is doing a great job” louder than asking your friends and business acquaintances to visit.  Be sure to introduce them to the pastor after the service.

3. Pray for your pastor and his family daily.  Take a few minutes to pray with your pastor whenever he is available during the week.  Stop by the church office early enough on Sunday morning to pray briefly before the service.  Or make arrangements to come to the pastor’s house and pray for his entire family.  Make your visit brief.

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