At Mariners Church, the church I serve as senior pastor, we have directional elders and shepherding elders. Directional elders set the overall direction of the church and shepherding elders provide care for people (directional elders also serve as shepherding elders). I am so grateful for these people and am honored to serve alongside them. I…
Pastors
4 Systems Church Leaders Should Care About
Some church leaders resist systems because systems can feel “unspiritual” or “corporate.” I have heard the critique for years. Yet church leaders who are critical of systems enjoy their systematic theology textbooks while blood flows through circulatory system and the sun is held in perfect distance from the earth in the solar system. In other…
Church Ministry and When “An Affair” Is Worse Than “An Affair”
Imagine that Danny (fictional name) is one of the pastors on staff at a large church. He is personable, kind, hardworking, and has invested his life into others. People enjoy being around him and respect him, both in the church and in the broader local community. Over time Danny develops a relationship with a woman…
3 Reasons Your Church Should Care for First Responders
Last Monday was national first responder day. The church where I serve as pastor devoted time in the weekend services, the Saturday and Sunday before, to honor first responders and pray for them and their families. The moment in the worship service was a weighty one as we reflected on the sacrifice and commitment of…
3 Warning Signs You Could Love Your Title More Than Your Task
In his famous work, City of God, Augustine penned this challenge: No one can be a good bishop if he loves his title and not his task. It is entirely possible for a ministry leader to love title more than task. Because we can make idols of anything, we can certainly make our titles the…
One Thing We Know For Sure Is God’s Will for You…
Pastors are often asked questions about God’s will for a particular decision someone is facing. “How do I know which job is God’s will for me?” Or which relationship? Or which city to live in? Often I do not know the answer to a question about God’s will in a specific situation, but I can…
5 Reasons Not to Give Announcements in Worship Service
Several years ago my former boss and wise sage, Thom Rainer, made the observation that large churches (700 and up in average worship attendance) are highly unlikely to have announcements as a part of the worship service. Thom always has a keen sense of what is happening in large number of churches, so while many…
4 Advantages of Advanced Planning for Sermons/Teaching Series
When I served as an executive and teaching pastor in Miami, I learned the benefit of planning sermons and teaching series months ahead. I don’t mean the entire sermon completely prepared, but a specific direction for a teaching series and a general direction for each sermon within the series. The advanced planning was not only…
Pastors, Conferences, and Coaching Networks and What I Look for in One
Pastors get hit up with lots of promos for conferences. We get email invites in our inbox and full color brochures to our office. The response of a pastor to these promos falls somewhere on a spectrum. One on end is the pastor who goes to tons of conferences. The conference junkie pastor lives for…
Church Leaders: Ministry Is From God, But It Is Not God
When I first began serving in local church ministry, a pastor told me that “church is a great place to hide out and a great place to burn out.” He further explained that ministry can attract workaholics, those who live off affirmation from others for the work they do. And that ministry can also attract…