Tag: Leader

Three Thoughts About Your Next Hire

If you’ve been involved in ministry for very long, you know that people come and go. And not just church members, I’m talking about pastors and staff as well. In the church I serve, we’ve had five youth pastors in the past 10 years. Let me just tell you, that’s not ideal for the church or youth ministry. But that’s reality sometimes.

Sometimes you’re going to need to replace people, and sometimes, as your church grows, you’re going to need to hire for positions you’ve never had before. Hiring staff can be tricky. You make the right hire, and your church continues to get healthy and grow. If you make the wrong hire, your church can quickly be headed in the wrong direction. This is especially true when hiring a new senior pastor.

So, with that in mind, I want to share with you three thoughts about your next hire.

  • Clearly define the role and expectations beforehand.

Before you begin looking for someone to fill the position, make sure the role and expectations are clearly defined, written down, and agreed upon by all the decision makers.

Here’s why, in many churches, different people have different ideas about what they want. Someone may want a pastor who is a great teacher, while another would prefer a pastor who may be more relational. When every decision maker is not on the same page, it creates confusion and chaos, not just for the church but for the potential hire as well.

  • Do your research.

You know what the best indicator of future performance is? You guessed it, past performance. So, make sure to ask for references, and actually check them. I’m amazed at the number of churches that don’t check references.

Also, check their social media accounts. Do some Facebook stalking. What are they posting? What are they commenting on? What are they sharing? This will tell you a lot about a person.

Ask good questions. What’s been your greatest success? What’s been your greatest failure? How are you currently investing in yourself?

  • Check for spiritual health.

Don’t assume because someone is applying for a job at a church that they have everything together. There are plenty of people who are working in ministry who shouldn’t be. Some have huge character flaws, while others burned out a long time ago.

Ask them, what does your prayer life look like? Who was the last person you invited to church? What fruit of the spirit do you struggle with the most?

I believe if you will take these tips and use them, it will save you a lot of potential headaches. Hiring new people to work in the ministry should be one of the most rewarding things you get to do. Make sure you do it right.

What was the biggest hiring mistake you ever made? What did you learn from it? Take a moment, and share in the comments below. While you’re here, make sure to subscribe to the blog to get tips on church growth, leadership, and more delivered to your inbox each week.

Written by Travis Stephens – to find out more about Travis and read more of his writings, check out his blog!

Looking for a new position? Stop by MinistryJobs.com and have a look at the jobs that are available! Ministry jobs are hard to come by and job hunting is no fun. We help ministry job seekers find their ideal role in their next ministry – for free! More than 6 million search for a job every day. Be found! Looking to list a job or an open position? We help churches and organizations get job openings in front of potential candidates. We have several plans and packages available. Today is the day!

5 Signs You May Be Growing Weary as a Leader and What To Do About It

Ministry is full of amazing moments where we get to participate in God’s kingdom work. As leaders, we experience many great things as we proclaim and live out the Gospel. Is it always easy? Nope. However, we have been called into a life of opportunity. 2020 has been an opportunity like no other to lead and minister to people in new and exciting ways.  

As I talk with other ministry leaders, I hear some of the same themes and patterns. Many of us are tired and weary as this season continues. There is no book on leading ministry through a pandemic. We have never done this before. Added to the uncertainty of the pandemic is a growing list of political rhetoric, racial tension and growing division in our world.   

If you find yourself growing weary, lean in hard to the Lord and ask for energy and strength that only He can give. Here are five signs you may be growing weary as a leader and what to do about it.   

1. You are not sleeping well.  

One of the first psychological signs of stress is an impact on sleep. There is a reason many counselors and doctors often first ask, “How are you sleeping?” If you continue the routine of poor sleep, it affects everything. This is a huge sign of weariness.  

What to do about it? I don’t have to tell you to go to bed early, but I’m going to anyways. Get off the devices, count sheep, do what you need to do to get some sleep.  

2. You are starting to feel isolated. 

Offices are closed, teams are meeting virtually, and you miss people. Alone is dangerous, and even if you have the best staff in the world, it is vital to do life and ministry together. Feeling lonely not only affects you mentally and spiritually but medical experts say that it is harmful to your health. Isolation will drain you and leave you unmotivated and weary. When you are lonely, your mind will start to create storylines and scenarios leaving you with increased anxieties. You become skeptical or passive to everyday events. Remember: alone is dangerous.  

What to do about it? If you feel isolated, reach out to your staff and leadership to set up a lunch or some type of gathering.  Confide in someone you trust about the way you are feeling. Sometimes all you need to do is vocalize what’s going on inside. If you let loneliness fester, it will only get worse. Be proactive.  

3. Every negative email, text or phone call hits you hard personally.  

Chances are that your emails are full of people sharing love and support for you, your church and everything you are doing. That same inbox is probably full of people sharing conspiracy theories, frustration and blatant disregard for decency. If you are like me, you do not receive the love but take the negativity personally. A phrase that I got from Carey Nieuwhof’s book, Didn’t See It Coming, is that “loud is not large.”  What this means to me is that often when I get those texts that cut deep, the volume I hear in those words may be loud, but they do not speak for the majority. This is a lesson I’ve had to learn even before the pandemic.  

What to do about it? When you get encouragement, embrace it and accept the fact that someone really does care about you and wants to encourage you. Do not blow that off. When you receive negativity, read it all and look for truth. Address the truth and throw out the rest. Never respond back via email or text. Always pick up the phone or ask for a meeting to address it. Lastly, bring in other staff or leaders to the conversation. You do not have to carry the load by yourself.  

4. You are struggling to do the small things. 

You get the major things done each week, but those little extra tasks have gone by the wayside. Those follow-up texts encouraging leaders. The thank you notes. Don’t forget about those small things that make you a great leader. When you are fatigued you can easily talk yourself out of doing those tasks. They matter and your people need them.  

What to do about it? Think back to before the pandemic. What were the small ministry details you did that you are no longer doing? These small things may not work in the current context, but you could probably think of a creative way to do them differently. Do them and do them well. 

5. Your family can see it.  

Someone recently asked my wife how I was doing. She has been a pastor’s wife for almost fourteen years and is good at protecting me. However, she told the truth in her own frustration with everything going on. The reality: she is weary, too. I have had to work extra hard not to neglect my wife and kids even though I recognize being tired. At the end of the day, all we have is those under our roof and nothing else matters. What are they going to remember about 2020?  

What to do about it? For some, you may need to ask for forgiveness. For others, you may need to reassess how you have been treating your family. Dig deep and evaluate how you have been at home throughout this. You may need to add or subtract some habits in the days ahead. Huddle up with your family this week and plan something special. May this pandemic draw you even closer together and not apart.  

Written by Bobby Cooley, a Discipleship Pastor in Katy, TX. Check out his DYM resources here! 

Looking for a new position? Stop by MinistryJobs.com and have a look at the jobs that are available! Ministry jobs are hard to come by and job hunting is no fun. We help ministry job seekers find their ideal role in their next ministry – for free! More than 6 million search for a job every day. Be found! Looking to list a job or an open position? We help churches and organizations get job openings in front of potential candidates. We have several plans and packages available. Today is the day!

Letters from a Pastor’s Daughter

Dear pastors, elders, deacons, and ushers,

Secretaries and choir directors, Awana leaders and Sunday School teachers,

Sinners becoming saints gathered under the banner of Christendom;

I am the girl sitting in the front pew, wearing thick leotards, a red corduroy skirt her Mum sewed, and a mushroom cut, and I’m staring out the stained glass window as my Dad preaches from the pulpit.

We look pretty good, shined up and sitting neatly with our practiced smiles beside Mum. Our family lives in a Glass House called a “manse” owned by the church, and I feel it, down to my second-hand shoes with the scuff marks on the toe.

I feel it, with every stare across the aisle and I’m the girl sitting in the front pew, homeschooled and raised on Dr. James Dobson and Scripture verses, who’s starving herself to death.

I turned anorexic at nine years old. Stopped eating because I didn’t have a voice. The manners, and an inscribed Bible; I had awards from Brownies and Guides and Scripture memorization; but I had no friends because we’d moved 10 times before I turned seven, and we were homeschooled in the days when no one else was. I had no self-esteem because I was told it was vain to want to be beautiful. I had no relationship with my father who babysat us once a month when Mum took the afternoon to shop at Salvation Army and before she left, she would have to remind him, “Now remember, they’re your kids too you know.”

So I stopped eating, because a daughter finds her greatest sense of identity in her relationship with her father. And if that doesn’t exist, she often feels she doesn’t either.

Dear church, I implore you:

  1. Encourage your leaders to put their families first.

     Be there for the leader who’s weighed down by expectations and pressure, who’s forgotten about 1 Timothy 3:5 which says, “If a man doesn’t know how to manage his own family, how can he care for God’s church?” (NIV) Help him to combat the belief that he needs to serve at the expense of his wife and children, and remind him that home is his first calling.

  2. Allow leaders some privacy.

    Respect your leaders and their need for some quiet. Don’t call after suppertime unless absolutely necessary. Don’t gossip about their families in the parking lot, and respect the ministry as a job, giving leaders time in which to rest.

  3. Give leaders permission to break.

     Rick Warren says “Your greatest ministry will likely come from your deepest pain.” Let’s allow our Christian leaders to hurt, to need, to want, to struggle. Let’s offer a soft place for when they do. God is always in the place we least expect it. He’s in the middle of nowhere. He’s in the desert with Hagar, and He sees her. He sees this female slave who’s been used and then rejected, and he knows her name. And she calls Him, “El Roi—the God who sees me.” Let’s be people who see each other.

  4. Become friends with the leader’s wife.

    She is human, just like you, and is crumbling from the pressure put on her. When my Mum discovered her own mother had committed suicide, she had no one to tell. No one to be real with. Befriend your leader’s wife before she breaks for the loneliness.

  5. Provide a support system for your leader’s kids.

     It is not easy being taught about God every Sunday but not given a chance to need him the rest of the days of the week. Jesus did not come to save the saints, but the sinners. Give your leader’s kids mentors, who can make the journey a little easier, allowing the kids to question, to doubt, to express, without judgment. Give them permission to be sinners, so they might discover a need for the Savior.

It’s been more than a decade since I ran away from home and I’m finding it again, in the Church. I love her, with all of her idiosyncrasies. But it wasn’t until my father needed his kids and his congregation to come alongside him to care for my Mum that I realized—the pastor was human too. And the congregation realized it, and we became like a family, leaning on each other.

This, the most beautiful kind of worship: when God’s people come together as one and do communion.

Bread is not eaten whole, friends. It is broken, so we might feed off of it.

In the same way, we need to be broken, so in turn, souls might be filled.

All my heart,

 –A repentant and forgiving PK.

Article written for Catalyst Leader by Emily T. Wierenga. Emily is an award-winning journalist, blogger, commissioned artist and columnist, founder of the non-profit, The Lulu Tree. She lives in Alberta, Canada with her husband and two sons. For more info, please visit www.emilywierenga.com. 

Half-Hearted Builders

While the architects were planning and the builders were building, I’m sure neighbors wondered a few things.

How did they know the bridge would stand? Who would be the first car to drive over hoping not to fall into the river? Why did they choose to make the pass there and not 10 feet over? Why arches instead of squared-off angles?

But the builders could trust in the plans – in the carefully thought out blueprints that were researched, rewritten, and finalized by the architect before a seal of approval was stamped in the lower right-hand corner.

Builders keep their heads down and they build. They keep their eyes on the plans and their minds focused on the task. The first task and then the next.

Because usually, you just can’t see the whole thing.

You might see today or a baby step or a choice… .but until you start to chip away, you’ll never see the final product.

And I want to see the final product.

Sitting here mostly wondering who drove over the bridge first. I’m self-assessing if I’m being a builder – for my family, within my business, in my calling, during my day-to-day, through my relationships. Sometimes it’s a yes, sometimes it’s a no.

Because the choices are to build, to leave it alone and watch decay set in, or to demolish… .and that doesn’t leave much room for distracted, apathetic, or half-hearted builders.

Blog written by Ariel Kuhn. Ariel is over Business & Communications at Polaris Church. She also owns and operates Ariel Kuhn Creative Co. For more information or to get in touch with Ariel, have a look at her work here.