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The most generalized common complaint I hear about church operations from staff and pastors is: “I hate meetings.” Especially those who consider themselves leaders along the “driven”-spectrum or who are more task-focused. Let’s be honest: most of us really don’t like meetings. But perhaps it’s less about the meetings themselves and more specifically about two typically unspoken questions: “Why are we meeting?” and “Why am I in this meeting?” I believe the problem is more

In our work with churches, we primarily assist with what we call “organizational discipleship”. It’s the idea that pastors and church leaders know what it means to follow Jesus and shepherd others along the path, but leading and managing an organization—whether it’s ten people or ten thousand—is a different skill set. Often it’s about staffing, or systems, or infrastructure, or budgeting, or leadership development, or a myriad of operational issues that can drive you crazy.

I’m writing this on MLK Day. The non-violent protests for voting rights in the 1960’s, particularly in Alabama, had raised the ire of white pastors. Having recently re-read his Letter From Birmingham Jail (addressed to his “Fellow Clergymen”), there were two sections that leapt off the page for me. A primary concern was what he called “white moderates” and their half-hearted concern for the blatant injustices shared by their brothers and sisters of color. As King put it, “L

I believe that a pastor’s main duty is making sure the mission of the local church is carried out, which is primarily guiding spiritually-estranged people through the process of spiritual formation. Pastors are shepherds: leading sheep to good pastures, protecting them from wolves, and finding the lost ones and carrying them back to the fold. So here are my Top 5 Things Pastors Should Stop Pretending to Be: 1. A Bible Scholar Face it: we’re not. Anytime I hear a pastor or in

At the start of a new year, rather than thinking about resolutions and future-thinking, I prefer to first mentally review the past year: What flourished, what struggled, what brought personal joy, and what were some soul-challenges? For me, that makes “predictive modeling” a bit easier. When I stepped down from leading the church I had been a part of for nearly 30 years, it was a good time to do a similar reflective exercise, but at a much bigger scale. Because of the crazy