3 Challenges of Being a Pastor’s Wife
Ministry can be hard on families. The constant burden of loving and leading a local church is taxing, and the pressure a pastor feels inevitably impacts his wife. In recent years, my wife has frequently facilitated groups for pastor’s wives. As she has interacted with them, she has found the three most common challenges to […]
Why People Are Not Sharing Their Faith
For years, I have heard church leaders bemoan the reality that the majority of Christians never or rarely share their faith with unbelievers. Though declaring the good new of Jesus to others is the responsibility of every Christ-follower, few people in our churches embrace the holy assignment. Why? In his book Contagious, author and professor Jonathan […]
Three Keys to Defining Your Ministry Process
Defining the process is formulating a strategy. It is agreeing to a blueprint. And this blueprint describes not only the kind of disciple that will be built but also how. Church leaders must define more than the purpose (the what); they must also define the process (the how). My coauthor of Simple Church, Thom Rainer, […]
Four Reasons Church Leadership Is Tougher Than “The Real World”
Before becoming one of the vice-presidents of LifeWay, I served on church staff teams for 17 years. I still serve as teaching pastor at a local church, but my responsibilities are far less than they were in the past. Many times I have heard businessmen in churches reference “the real world” as if those of […]
Three Common Mistakes Pastors Make
I was recently honored to discuss leadership on a panel at the Southern Baptist Pastors Conference with Greg Matte, Rodney Woo, and Jack Graham. People submitted questions beforehand, and one of the questions that Pastor Greg sent my way was “What are the most common mistakes pastors make?” Here are three: 1. Not offering clarity Marcus […]
Is a Pastor a Leader?
Sadly in many contexts, pastors either fail to exercise leadership or are stripped of their leadership. Those who fail to lead their congregations are often content to be chaplains who feverishly run from need to need without leading the flock in a particular direction. In other cases, a local church greatly hampers the leadership of […]
Two Dangers of Copying “Ministry Practice”
Here is a typical scenario in local church ministry… In the spring, while at a conference, Danny attends a breakout session on small groups. Though the breakout session leader spoke passionately about the “why” of small groups and the importance of a solid ministry philosophy beneath the surface, the vast majority of the questions from […]
Three Essentials in Healthy Kids and Student Ministries
A local church is wise to focus on ministry to children and students. And while the form and practice of that ministry may look different in various contexts and be guided by unique ministry philosophies, I believe there are at least three essentials in a healthy kids ministry and a healthy student ministry. 1. Kingdom […]
Ministry Calling: Who, What, and Where
Through my years in ministry, I have noticed people describe their commitment or calling to a specific place of ministry differently. Some speak of a calling to a specific task or role, such as “I am called to preach” or “I am called to work with teenagers.” These are the “what” leaders who focus on […]
Five Questions to Discern Ministry Idolatry
Local church ministry can be thrilling, even addictive. Seeing the Lord transform lives and bring people into a relationship with Himself provides a buzz that nothing in this world can provide. And because we are prone to replace God on the throne of our lives with something else, something lesser, ministry can easily become the […]