Leadership

Jethro, Moses and the Hands-On Pastor

/ 4 minutes of reading

In a big church, Jethro’s 10, 50, 100 and 1,000 level leadership model can, and should be fully implemented. When it is, there are at least four levels between the members and the pastor, meaning only the most vital, big issues get to the pastor. And rightfully so in a church of 2,000 or more.

But in a church of 50, even if the pastor has done a superb job of training, discipling and delegating 10-level leaders, the pastor is still dealing with all the 50-level problems. That means the Small Church pastor deals with a lot more personal and family issues than a megachurch pastor will ever see. And those are the issues that require a lot of time, patience and emotional fortitude. You know, the hands-on stuff.

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The Growing Disconnect Between Spiritual Hunger and Church Attendance

/ 6 minutes of reading

Doing church together is an essential aspect of what it means to be a Christian. But church attendance rates keep dropping in most of the developed world.

Why? I often hear it’s because people aren’t as spiritually-minded as they used to be. After all, if it’s not their fault, then some of it might be our fault. And that can’t be.

But the evidence doesn’t support that. In fact, it suggests that people’s spiritual hunger may be growing, not shrinking. Spiritually-themed books, movies, TV shows and blogs are having a major resurgence. Alternative spirituality is booming.

Spiritual hunger isn’t a cultural thing. That God-shaped hole is hard-wired into every one of us. Church attendance isn’t down because people have stopped caring about spiritual things. It’s because we haven’t done such a great job at showing them how church attendance will help them answer that longing.

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Let’s Ask Better Questions About Church Size

/ 3 minutes of reading

Instead of asking “what’s the best church size?” we need to ask “what’s the best church size for a given situation?” The best size for one church may not be the best size for another church. Even the church right across the street.

Better questions might include

What’s the best church size for the people we’re called to reach?
What’s the best church size for this pastor’s leadership gifts and calling?
What’s the best church size for our church’s purpose and philosophy of ministry?
What’s the best church size for our church right now?

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Living In the Dynamic Tension Between Pastor and Manager

/ 4 minutes of reading

I did not leverage my time well this week. It was wasted in personal pastoral care. Over a dozen hours were squandered in pastoral counseling – marriage, pre-marriage, divorce recovery, and some harrowing life challenges that they wouldn’t share with anyone but their pastor. I lost additional hours helping a new believer sort out the next steps in their spiritual life.

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Megachurch Pastors: Heroes, Villains or Something Else?

/ 5 minutes of reading

Megachurch pastors are a step beneath used car salesmen and ambulance-chasing lawyers in the eyes of many people in our culture. On the other side, we have a church growth culture that idealizes megachurches almost to the point of idolatry.

So who are these megachurch pastors? Villains who have corrupted the Gospel? Or heroes of the faith?

Here are 5 principles that help me avoid either extreme in my attitude towards megachurches and their leaders.

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Pastors, We Don’t Expect a TED Talk, But We Need a God-and-You Talk

/ 5 minutes of reading

Pastors face a lot of pressure to perform. Some of it, admittedly, is self-imposed.

One of the main places this pressure is felt is in the demand to research, write and deliver a great sermon every week. In fact, several times in the last few months, I’ve read blog posts that have suggested that every Sunday sermon should be like a TED Talk.

In today’s post, I’d like to do two things that may seem impossible to accomplish simultaneously. Relieve some of the performance pressure and challenge us all towards something better.

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Stop Thinking Like a Big Church

/ 7 minutes of reading

In a big church, the ranching/spiritual triage model makes sense. There’s no way one person can care for thousands of people individually. A well-trained team of staff and volunteers is essential to every aspect of ministry.

In a Small Church, when the pastor stops doing hospital visits, ceases having an open door policy and starts delegating those responsibilities to others, the congregation members feel neglected and unimportant.

Then they start looking for another church. I know. I’ve experienced it first-hand.

I’m not the only one with this experience. I’ve talked to many discouraged pastors with stories just like mine, who tried the rancher model only to find their congregation members feeling neglected.

That neglected feeling is understandable. After all, when Jesus commissioned Peter, he told him, “feed my sheep” not “tend my ranch”. The ranching model tells us that our primary focus needs to move from “doing the caring” to “develop and manage a system of care” for the body we serve. There’s just one problem with that. As a pastor friend of mine says, “People want to be pastored, not spiritually managed.”

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I Am a Small Church Pastor and I’m Calling Out the Church Leadership Bullies

/ 7 minutes of reading

There are some bullies in the church growth movement. No, not most of them. And even those who are bullies probably don’t realize it. But they’re bullies, just the same.

It’s because I don’t think they intend to be bullies that I’m using such a strong term – to help them see the hurt they’ve been causing to their fellow Christians and church leaders.

Small Churches and their leaders have suffered under this problem for years. But no one has dared say it out loud. So I’m saying it today, because we can’t fix a problem until we acknowledge it.

Small Church pastors often feel bullied and insulted by the very church leaders we go to for help.

This problem is real. It’s hurtful. And it needs to stop.

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