How to Go from Two Services to One
Some churches are looking to go from two services to one. I know going from that can seem like a downer. It looks like you’re taking a step back. However, this isn’t always the case. In my experience, I’ve seen two reasons why a church will move from one service to two.
6 Steps to Effectively Delegate in Ministry
But over the years, I’ve realized I can’t do everything. I’m not good at everything and nor are you. The mission God has given us is too big for one person. Jesus even said the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. (Matthew 9:37) See that? “Workers” is plural. We were never meant to do ministry alone.
Lessons Learned from a Year of Church Planting
About a year ago, I accepted an executive pastor position at a small church plant. The church was barely a year old and had a good thing going. My second Sunday there we baptized 13 people. Over the next year I learned a lot.
Making Your Vision Stick: 3 Essential Elements
One of the keys to sharing your wins is linking them to your vision. However, casting your vision that is compelling and memorable can be difficult. You want it to be short enough to evoke emotion, but long enough to encompass all you’re trying to do in your ministry.
Sharing Ministry Wins Part 2: The Where
Knowing how you’re successful is vital to your ministry. But you don’t want to just collect all that data and sit on it. You’ll be like the foolish man in the Parable of the Talents. He kept his master’s money and buried it. The Master was furious and took it away. If you don’t talk about how your successful, people will draw their own conclusions. Unfortunately, they may assume you’re doing a horrible job. No one wants that.
Sharing Ministry Wins Part 1: The How
One of my biggest problems was no one knew what was going on in kidmin. You could attend my church for years and never visit the kids wing. Many didn’t even know it existed. You may have a similar problem in your ministry. God is doing great things. But because you’re in the basement, meet on another night, or for some other reason, the congregation doesn’t know it. Or worse, seem to care.
What I Read in 2024
This year was an interesting year for me. I started teaching high school math full-time while serving in ministry part-time. It’s been a struggle finding a balance between school, church, this blog, and family. I hit many of my goals and accomplished many things I never dreamed of doing. However, many goals went by the wayside.
Winning the Annual Review
It’s the end of the year and your pastor may be setting up an annual review. The annual review can be scary. Recently, I saw a Facebook post where a person asked if it’s natural to feel like you’re going to get fired.
My response?
How to Follow Up with Your Missing People
As a pastor you’re a shepherd. It’s your job to take care of your flock. In my own experience (and even in my writing) I talk about reaching out to new people and caring for them. However, Jesus gave us the example by sharing the parable of the shepherd who leaves the 99 to go after the one.
4 Steps to Mastering Your Ministry To-Do List
One thing about ministry is that you’re busy. Depending on how small your church is you can find yourself doing a lot of things that don’t fit within your “job.” Even if you work at a large church you can look up at the end of the week and wonder where the time went.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Conference
One of the best things you can do for your ministry and leadership growth is go to a conference. Whether it’s a small regional conference like the Orange Tour or a large national conference like Kidzmatter, you can find something that will make your ministry better.
But how do you get the most of your experience?
Avoiding Failure on Your Next Ministry Idea
I had a great idea. A God idea. What if we got the whole church together on Saturdays for an hour of prayer? It would be easy to continue the practices started with 21 Days of Prayer. We could cover our services in prayer. Lives would change. More people will believe in Jesus! But...
4 Steps to Overcome Ministry Disasters
On Sunday, disaster struck my church. We had a huge storm blow through, and the power was out for several miles around the church. The power company said the power would be on at 10:45, 15 minutes after our start time. Then it was 11:45. Then 4pm. I got the news as I pulled into the parking lot at 9:30am.
3 Essential Elements of a Volunteer Training Meeting
A new school year is starting, and this is a great time to hold a volunteer training meeting. The training sounds like a great idea, but what are you supposed to talk about? What can you talk about? What’s the most important thing?
3 Questions to Declutter Your Ministry Closet
There’s one ministry duty that we all have to do that no one really talks about. Everyone at the church knows about it, but no one wants to do anything about it. Then in staff meeting, the leader makes the announcement. It’s time to clean out that closet.
4 Early Signs Your Church Might Be Missing Young Families
None of the indicators I’ll talk about today are a sure sign you’re in decline. Rather, they are a warning flag that maybe you’re not reaching the lost and unchurched. There are still things you can do to get your church back on track. I won’t talk about those strategies today, but rather focus on warning signs and how to find them.
Life Lessons at 40: 16 Nuggets of Truth
Of all the decisions I’ve made, I realized that those 16 statements I shared with my students have shaped my life. Most of them I’ve gleaned from other sources, but I’ve found myself saying them over and over. Whether you’re in ministry or serve God somewhere else, I hope you can use them to find your own success.
5 Discipleship Principles I Learned in the Classroom
I’ve been in-between churches since July. In January, I took an executive pastor role at a small church plant, Christ Chapel East. But that was only part time. Since my degree is in high school education, I decided to put it to use and began to substitute teach. One fateful January morning, I took a math job at a high school I didn’t normally sub. By the end of the day, I had a long-term sub job and by the next week I was responsible for the math education of 150 seniors and sophomores.
5 Steps to Pre-Service Meetings Your Team Will Love
No matter how long a lead team meeting is you need to have an agenda, and pre-service meetings are no different. But what should you talk about in those meetings? How do you make them engaging and enjoyable so that your volunteers are willing to show up 30-45 minutes before the service, just to meet?
Leader Fails: 4 Steps to Navigate the Chaos
The kidmin world was rocked last week with the news from Orange. Another leader has failed, and we’re left wondering what happened and what will happen. I usually don’t say anything when this kind of news breaks, but if you’ve followed any of my content you know I’ve been a fan of Orange for years and have recommended their content over and over. I feel I need to share my thoughts.
To have a great Easter Outreach, you need to have a plan. This field tested and approved Egg Hunt Service Schedule will give you the outline your need for your outreach.