Category: Ministry

Ministry

Leading with Care

Chris

We are in the midst of our first Christmas season in a new pastorate. This week my wife spent an extra day or two buying and arranging decorations for the church. Last night we had our midweek Bible study, and many were glad to see the sanctuary looking so nice.

While I appreciated their joy at the decorations, a comment was relayed that broke my pastoral heart. My wife was told that the church hadn’t looked so beautiful in many years. During one of the decorating days, we heard ladies in the church say that it was so refreshing to have a pastor and wife who cared about how the church looked, because the people were so used to doing it on their own.

Leadership means many things to many people. We lead through vision-casting, administration, calendar setting, ministry creation and development, staff and leadership meetings, facilitation of seminars and workshops, or even assigning a book to read as a team. I know a pastor in his early seventies who told a group of fellow pastors, “I still don’t know what leadership is.”

How many of us think to lead by caring?

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Ministry

Before You Delegate – 1

Chris

Have you heard the news? When you are the “senior,” “lead,” or only pastor at your church, you do not have to do everything. Isn’t that great news?

So many of us have learned to be a jack-of-all-trades: preaching, counseling, Bible study, youth group, worship, kids’ church, home/cell/life groups, finances, building repair, janitor . . . The list can get long when you stop to put it all together. One of the loudest messages for leaders in the last several years is simply this: Do what you do best, and delegate the rest.

We’ve heard a lot about teams, teamwork, delegation of authority and responsibility, and everyone focusing on their strengths instead of dragging themselves through the mud of their weaknesses. Our offices have filled with rejoicing over the chance to work less than 80 hours a week, to spend time with our family, to enjoy life, and even to have a few hours to ourselves each week.

However, there is a key element that we can forget to implement before we delegate: training. To help us and our team members, we must learn to follow an important rule: Never delegate before taking the time to train.

Continue reading “Before You Delegate – 1” →

Ministry

Can’t Wait for Sunday?

Chris

I recently attended a conference with fellow pastors, and part of the day involved group discussions around tables. During these discussions I started talking about elements of our current preaching series that were pertinent to the discussion. At times I had trouble keeping the previous sermon separate from the one to follow the next day, and eventually said, “I can’t wait to preach tomorrow.” Several lay leaders were encouraged by my . . . enthusiasm. One or two of the pastors at the table just looked at me blankly.

What about you? Are you excited to preach your next sermon? What about the coming installment of your weekly Bible study? If you’ve lost the fire in your bones to speak, you may be in serious trouble, or on the verge of it.

Continue reading “Can’t Wait for Sunday?” →

Christian Living, Ministry

Worship Theory on your Kindle

Chris

Worship Theory is now available on the Kindle from Amazon. That means you can read Worship Theory on your iPhone or iPad, your PC or Mac, and other smartphones like your Android and Blackberry. Besides the portability of reading on your Kindle or Kindle app, you save money. Worship Theory‘s Kindle Edition sells for just $4.99 USD.

Want to know what you’re getting into? You can see a preview of Worship Theory thanks to Amazon’s Kindle for the Web. The preview is available here, at the Worship Theory page on Amazon. At your right is a green box, with the button “Read first chapter FREE.” Click that button, and enjoy!

If you don’t already have the Kindle app that best meets your needs, just go to Amazon’s Kindle Store.

Ministry

A Simple Touch

Chris

We’ve wrapped our first full week at Gateway. It was quite full between unpacking the house, getting into the office and trying to unpack and organize there, getting ready for Thursday Bible Study and Sunday morning. Our home voicemail wasn’t working and I recorded a new message at the church. But all in all, that was to be expected. Then came the unexpected.

Continue reading “A Simple Touch” →

Ministry

On the Move

Chris

You may have noticed that the blog has not seen a lot of udates or articles lately. No, I have not taken the summer off. Things are changing around here.

The weekend of July 4th we made a trip up to Campbellton, New Brunswick. It is located on the northern border, where New Brunswick meets Quebec, on the Restigouche River. We were invited by the congregation of Gateway Assembly. This was our second visit to Campbellton and Gateway, and while there the church voted in favoring of asking us to pastor their congregation. We accepted and will start as the lead pastor of Gateway Assembly on Sunday, August 1.

We are excited to be moving on to a new challenge that fulfills God’s call on our lives. At the same time, we are sad to leave family and friends in St. George. We look forward to what God has in store for us and the city of Campbellton.

With a change in role you might notice some changes to the blog. Topics will be more sermon and issue driven, and focus less on some of my primary themes (e.g. worship). I will continue with book reviews, and will be adding some new regular segments.

Thank you for continuing with us on life’s journey. Don’t forget you can subscribe to posts via RSS and email, and you can also follow us on Twitter.