Entries from Off the Agenda tagged with: pastors
Have you ever had what you thought was a great idea for your church, only to see it deflated by a board or committee? I just stumbled across an article by a former senior pastor, Jerry Ousley, giving advice...
Tags used in this post:
boards, communication, dialogue, humility, pastors,
Our friends over at Leadership have teamed up with the folks behind the Catalyst conferences to start a new digital magazine for ministry leaders, Catalyst Leadership. The debut 31-page issue includes articles from respected voices like Francis Chan, Andy...
Tags used in this post:
leadership, pastors,
A couple weeks ago, we talked here about reasons you'll want to leave a ministry position but shouldn't. Today we're publishing a condensed version of an article, excerpted from When It's Time to Leave, that takes the opposite approach:...
Tags used in this post:
burnout, change, decision making, leadership, pastors,
Do you feel isolated in your ministry? Ken Fong, pastor and a member of our Ask the Experts panel, reflects on his blog about how easy it is for pastors to feel alone, or just dazed by the position's...
Tags used in this post:
blogspotting, burnout, church leaders, encouragement, pastors, relationships,
April 17, 2009
Book Corner: Learning from the Mistakes of Others
A collection of advice from 30 pastors and preachers.
I have learned many things the hard way. No amount of buffing will remove the car wax that you forgot about and has been baking into your hood for several hours. The wrappers you get from Arby's contain metal,...
Tags used in this post:
advice, book corner, pastors, preaching,
April 3, 2009
BlogSpotting: How to Close a Worship Service
James MacDonald on "meshing" the sermon with the final song.
James MacDonald, founding pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel, shares in the video above how his team thinks about closing a worship service. "I am always amazed at pastors who put hours into their sermons and then kind of 'wing...
This week's featured resource, Strengthening Small Churches, includes an interview with John Koessler, who is chair and professor of pastoral studies at Moody Bible Institute. He previously spent nine years pastoring a small church in central Illinois. Below is...
Tags used in this post:
leadership, pastors, small church, vision,
For you wordsmiths out there, Mark Batterson lists his five rules for writing. If you prepare sermons, most of these apply. Here's a summary: 1. Start bright and early, well before your "official day" begins; for afternoons, grab a...
Tags used in this post:
blogspotting, communication, pastors, study, writing,
January 7, 2009
BlogSpotting: Scot McKnight Isn't Happy with Pastor Bios
How should church leaders portray themselves online, or anywhere?
Churches are increasing their visibility online these days, but Scot McKnight is frustrated with how some choose to do it—that is, at least on pastor or staff bio pages. McKnight argues that many of these pages reflect a trivial...
Tags used in this post:
blogspotting, church leaders, communication, pastors, technology,
June 25, 2008
The 8 Marks of a Robust Gospel—Part 2
Reviving forgotten chapters in the story of redemption.
In our last post, Scot McKnight shared his first four marks of a robust gospel. To read those, click here. To continue on with his thinking, refresh yourself with this summary before you dive into points five through eight. I...
Tags used in this post:
evangelism, pastors,
June 22, 2008
The 8 Marks of a Robust Gospel—Part 1
Reviving forgotten chapters in the story of redemption.
I sometimes worry we have settled for a little gospel, a miniaturized version that cannot address the robust problems of our world. But as close to us as the pages of a nearby Bible, we can find the Bible's robust...
Tags used in this post:
evangelism, pastors,
I haven't seen MTV in years, with no regrets, but I recall a show on the network that impacted me like a train wreck. It was awful, gruesome, and terrible - but I couldn't look away. "Celebrity Deathmatch" featured clay-animated...
Practices vary for church leaders seeking to hear God's call. The most radical method is "the lot," used by many Anabaptists since their early days in Europe. This method of discernment, taken from the example of the eleven disciples in...
Tags used in this post:
leadership, pastors, vision,
I have this cartoon strip coming together in my mind. It has three frames: Frame 1: A well-dressed man - your stereotypical church leader - is taking in a worship service. His wife is sitting next to him. The congregation...
Tags used in this post:
burnout, pastors, volunteers,
February 21, 2008
The Best Defense for Conflict is a Good Offense
Church leaders who focus first on building a healthy church stand a better chance of weathering warranted--and unwarranted--battles.
After looking at the diverse dragons that can threaten a church, what are the best defenses? Landscapers know the best way to prevent weeds is not to attack them individually. Uprooting stubborn dandelions or chickweed one by one will improve...
Tags used in this post:
boards, community, compromise, difficult people, mediation, pastors, politics, vision,
February 11, 2008
Holding Leaders Accountable
Picking up the church discipline conversation where the Wall Street Journal left it
In mid-January, the Wall Street Journal published an article about church discipline, choosing for its focus a case in which a 71-year-old woman was expelled from her congregation. The article made almost no use of concepts that are central to...
Tags used in this post:
community, difficult people, failure, pastors, politics,
January 10, 2008
Remembering the Pastor’s Spouse
Leaders can ease the burden by asking the right questions
The number one reason that pastors leave their ministries is "wives issues," according to a 2007 Time magazine article. I would take some comfort in that statistic - that the number one reason they leave isn't sexual sin or burnout...
On Friday, Amy Simpson wrote a post on our sister blog, www.giftedforleadership.com, about a leader's responsibility to those they lead. Her insights were too good not to share on Off the Agenda: As a leader, it's easy to understand and...
Tags used in this post:
burnout, pastors, recruiting, staff, team, volunteers,
Last spring a man came to see me. It was the beginning of Lent, the original "40 Days of Purpose-Filled Repentance." "Pastor," he said, "I want to confess my sins." And in tears, he spoke honestly and openly about the...
Tags used in this post:
devotions, failure, meditation, pastors, prayer, quiet time,
December 3, 2007
Directionally Impaired Leadership
Church leaders can’t afford not to ask for directions.
It was 2:45 p.m., and my son, Cameron, and I were lost and already 15 minutes late for a birthday party for his 7-year-old friend. True to the male stereotype, I was bent on finding my way without directional assistance....
November 5, 2007
Stop Oiling Your Church's Squeaky Wheels
Learn to honor those who minister, not those who demand it
A ministering laity doesn't happen naturally. Many people still expect the pastor to do the ministry while they watch - and criticize. Changing that image requires shaking up time priorities. Pastors who develop strong lay leaders have learned to honor...
Tags used in this post:
administration, boards, burnout, difficult people, mediation, pastors, recruiting, training,
October 18, 2007
The Looks in Our Eyes
The look of bewilderment and hurt in my friend's eyes caught me off guard as we ate lunch together last April. It was just after Easter, yet that look still remains vivid in my memory five months later. And our...
Tags used in this post:
burnout, community, difficult people, pastors, staff, stewardship, team, vision,
Off The Agenda: Conversations for Building Church Leaders is a blog where people in church leadership positions — pastors, staff members, and volunteers, among others — gather for discussion, where they encourage, equip, and prepare each other for the joys and challenges...
Tags used in this post:
administration, Bible study, boards, budget, buildings, burnout, children's ministry, community, compromise, current events, devotions, difficult people, elections, evangelism, failure, family, fund-raising, giving, hiring, legal, liability, mediation, meditation, men's ministry, missional, missions, money, multimedia, outreach, pastors, politics, pop culture, prayer, quiet time, recruiting, risk, sample forms, seniors, small groups, spiritual gifts, staff, stewardship, study, team, technology, time management, tithing, training, vision, volunteers, women's ministry, worship,
October 15, 2007
Let's Do Lunch
"Schedule time together between official meetings, whether one-on-one or with a few. It can be in the pastor's or a member's home for an evening (with spouses), or over lunch. Tomorrow morning, for example, I have initiated a breakfast meeting...
October 15, 2007
Leith Anderson
Leith’s many interests involve him in pastoring, teaching, writing, speaking, and leadership. Leith earned a master of divinity from Denver Seminary in Denver, Colorado, a doctor of ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, and a doctor of divinity...
Tags used in this post:
boards, community, elections, evangelism, family, outreach, pastors, staff, stewardship, team, time management, training, vision, volunteers, worship,
October 15, 2007
Rev. Lynne M. Baab
Lynne M. Baab served in pastoral roles in two Presbyterian congregations in Seattle and is currently lecturer in pastoral theology at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. She is the author of several books, including Fasting: Spiritual Freedom...
Tags used in this post:
burnout, community, devotions, meditation, pastors, prayer, quiet time, staff, team, training, volunteers,
October 15, 2007
Ruth Haley Barton
Ruth Haley Barton is co-founder and president of The Transforming Center, a ministry dedicated to caring for the souls of pastors and the congregations they serve. She is a teacher, spiritual director, and retreat leader trained through the Shalem Institute...
Tags used in this post:
community, devotions, evangelism, family, meditation, outreach, pastors, prayer, quiet time, spiritual gifts, staff, team, training, vision, volunteers, women's ministry,
October 15, 2007
Chris Blumhofer
Chris Blumhofer is assistant editor for BuildingChurchLeaders.com, where he began working in February 2006. In his role, Chris coordinates and edits many of the articles and training downloads that reach Building Church Leaders' customers. Chris attends College Church in Wheaton,...
Tags used in this post:
Bible study, boards, budget, children's ministry, community, devotions, elections, evangelism, family, meditation, missional, missions, outreach, pastors, pop culture, prayer, quiet time, staff, stewardship, team, training, vision, volunteers, worship,
October 15, 2007
Mark Buchanan
Mark Buchanan is an author and pastor living on Vancouver Island with his wife, Cheryl, and their three children, Adam, Sarah, and Nicola. Mark graduated from the University of British Columbia’s Creative Writing Department, and he holds a master’s degree...
Tags used in this post:
Bible study, devotions, evangelism, family, meditation, pastors, prayer, quiet time, training,
October 15, 2007
Gary R. Collins
Gary R. Collins is a licensed clinical psychologist with a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Purdue University. He is the author of about 200 articles and more than 50 books, including The Biblical Basis of Christian Counseling and Christian Coaching:...
October 15, 2007
Dave Ferguson
Dave Ferguson is the lead pastor of Community Christian Church, a multi-site, missional community in Chicagoland that draws more than 5,000 people every weekend at eight locations. The church recently was recognized as one of the most influential churches in...
October 15, 2007
Gordon MacDonald
Gordon MacDonald is an author, speaker, and teacher. He was a pastor for more than 40 years, most recently the senior minister at Grace Chapel, Lexington, Massachusetts. When he stepped down from that position, the Grace Chapel congregation honored him...
Tags used in this post:
Bible study, boards, budget, community, elections, evangelism, family, outreach, pastors, politics, quiet time, staff, stewardship, team, time management, training, vision, volunteers,
October 15, 2007
Reggie McNeal
Reggie enjoys helping people, leaders, and Christian organizations pursue more intentional lives. He currently serves as the Missional Leadership Specialist for Leadership Network of Dallas, Texas. Reggie’s past experience involves more than a decade as a denominational executive and leadership...
Tags used in this post:
boards, community, current events, evangelism, missional, outreach, pastors, stewardship, vision,
October 15, 2007
Kevin Miller
Kevin A. Miller is editor-at-large of Leadership journal and executive vice president at Christianity Today International. Kevin writes for Leadership journal and PreachingToday.com, and he is a featured speaker for Preaching Today Audio. Kevin is also the author of several...
Tags used in this post:
boards, burnout, community, elections, evangelism, hiring, multimedia, outreach, pastors, politics, staff, stewardship, study, team, technology, time management, training, vision, volunteers,
October 15, 2007
Marshall Shelley
Marshall Shelley is editorial vice-president of Christianity Today International, and editor in chief of the Leadership Media Group, which includes Leadership journal, PreachingToday.com, BuildingChurchLeaders.com, FaithVisuals.com, SmallGroups.com, and ChristianBibleStudies.com. He served as general editor of The Quest Study Bible, a best-selling...
Tags used in this post:
boards, burnout, compromise, difficult people, evangelism, family, outreach, pastors, staff, stewardship, team, time management, training, vision,
October 15, 2007
John Sommerville
John is the pastor of City Church in Minneapolis, Minn. Prior to leading the founding of City Church in 2005, he was executive director of Wooddale Center, a ministry to churches and church leaders at Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie,...
Tags used in this post:
administration, boards, budget, elections, pastors, staff, stewardship, team, training, vision,
October 15, 2007
Angie Ward
Angie Ward is a "leader of leaders" with more than 15 years of leadership development experience in a variety of ministry settings. She is the founder of Forward Leadership and is a contributing editor for Leadership journal. Angie is passionate...
Tags used in this post:
administration, pastors, team, training,
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