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.
7 Essential Details for a Seamless Ministry Transition
As you’re leaving, you need to also think about the person that’s coming behind you. Will they be able to pick up where you leave off? Will they have access to the necessary resources, websites, social media profiles and more? Will they know who their volunteers are and where they like to serve?
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.
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.
Boost Your Team with Pre-Service Meetings
What If I told you there was one thing you could do this Sunday that would improve your volunteer morale, orient everyone towards your vision, and make sure all your volunteers are cared for? Such a thing exists. It’s called a pre-service meeting.
5 Hacks for Streamlining Church Event Childcare
Being in kidmin, it’s natural for people to ask you to also provide childcare for events. It can be frustrating because that’s not what you signed up for. You are the kid’s pastor, spiritual leader, and discipler, not their babysitter. And yet, the requests still come, and the expectations are still made. Children’s ministry is not childcare, it’s discipleship.
3 Personality Tests for Ministry Leaders
I love these tests so much because they help me better understand myself and those around me. It’s natural to think that everyone is just like you with the same thoughts, motives, talents, and passions. However, we soon learn, many times painfully, that this is not the case. As a leader in ministry, it’s imperative that you know your people.
The Secret Weapon to Leading Volunteers
Volunteers are just that, volunteers. They can leave whenever they want. So, what is a pastor, leader, coordinator, director, leader supposed to do? There are things that need to be done and you can’t do all of them. It all comes down to one simple idea…
How to Deploy Planning Center Check-ins in Your Kidmin
I don’t work for Planning Center nor is this a sponsored post. However, I am a huge fan of the product and have implemented the program at three different churches. You may have someone at your church that knows how to use all of its modules, but many times check-ins falls on the kids pastor.
4 Questions to Handle Church Complaints
The dirty little secret about ministry and leadership in general is that whatever you choose to do someone is going to hate it. They’re going to think it’s the worst decision ever and by extension you are too. It just comes with the territory.
4 Steps to Scheduling Your Volunteers
When you’re the leader and the pastor, you have a push and pull. You want to make sure all your positions are filled, but you also don’t want to burn out your volunteers. What is the best way? Does everyone serve with the same frequency? What about if you have multiple services? Multiple days? Or just one? And what about fifth Sundays?
4 Steps to Rediscover Hope and Rebuild Faith After Ministry
Last year, I lost my ministry job. I was at a church hoping to become the next senior pastor, and I didn’t get enough votes. The following day, I resigned. The subsequent 6 months have been some of the hardest months of my life. But now looking back I see it was also a gift. Let me show you what I mean.
5 Keys to Teens Serving Successfully in Your Kidmin
One thing that is an absolute certainty in kidmin is a general lack of volunteers. No matter how big your church is, there is always a shortage. However, there is a treasure trove of possible volunteers that we may overlook. Teenagers.
What I Read in 2023
I’ve been a reader for as long as I can remember. I read John Maxwell’s book 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership for the first time when I was 16. It’s become a habit to read multiple pages a day, which turns into multiple books a year.
How to Set Ministry Goals that Lead to Growth
At the end of the year, one of my favorite things to do is to look back at the year that was and the year to come. What were my wins and losses? What worked? What didn’t? What curveballs did I knocked out of the park and what ones slipped by? It usually takes a few hours for me to go through it all, but my overall effectiveness as a leader and minister has increased every year since I started this practice over 10 years ago.
5 Must Have Security Policies For Kidmin
One of the three questions parents ask about your children’s ministry is “is it safe?” Now, more than ever before, parents want to know that their precious little ones will be safe in your care. Even more important, your environment needs to be one of the safest places in your church.
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