Stepping into, or leading through, the role of an Executive Pastor can be one of the most challenging yet rewarding positions in ministry leadership. If you’re navigating this path, you’re likely familiar with the mix […]
For the last few years, I have spoken at the XP-Seminar, except for the Snow-Covid Seminar a few years ago. The seminar is one of my few live speaking gigs every year. David and Tami […]
Taking time to visit other churches in your area or across the country is a great way to grow in your leadership. I love seeing a church in action and I always come away with […]
Let’s look at seven surprises that will give encouragement, challenge, and ideas to ponder as we move forward in this uncertain season. Jesus often used in his […]
Like it or not, Executive Pastors are coaches. You can embrace your role as a coach and improve your effectiveness by coaching your team.
I’ll admit it. The word coach used to make me cringe. And […]
A quaint story circulated among Methodists describes a young pastor, fresh out of seminary, who had just begun his first pastorate. As he drove up to the small church, he noticed an old tree blocking […]
Recently, after eventful days at the church office, David and I have compared those events to the movie, Grand Hotel. Grand Hotel, which came out in 1932, is the movie in which Greta Garbo famously […]
Let’s face it—life happens. We all get off track at one time or another. And it’s always more difficult to get back on track the second time. Third time. Fourth time. Several weeks ago, a […]
To all my fellow XP’s out there—many who, like me, have come out of marketplace—I say, “If you ‘wanna learn’ what you need to know to be an effective pastor, administrator, leader, and coach, look […]
Peter Drucker’s goal in The Effective Executive seems so simple; as he states in the preface, “The subject of this book is managing oneself for effectiveness.” It does not take long to realize, however, that […]
Leaders can effectively communicate their mission with people from all walks of life by using several different methods of communication. One of the best ways I’ve found for communicating your message is through networking and […]
Matt Steen and Todd Rhodes are putting together an interesting concept. In XP Ministry Briefing, they summarizing 200+ articles that you need to know as a church leader from the past thirty days. It […]
I’ve been somebody’s “Number Two Guy” for the majority of my career. I’ve been someone’s “Commander Riker” to their “Captain Picard” for almost twenty years. And, yes, I realize I’m dating myself with this analogy—Star […]
The following is a dissertation written by an Executive Pastor. To aid in making the information more readable on the web, the footnotes have been removed.
Leadership and management […]
Executive Pastor David Troublefield read a comment on XPastor that said, “And if you want to forget all your troubles, eat a cherry popsicle while running through the sprinklers barefoot!” So David put on his […]
Many capable, idealistic, servant-minded people find themselves in “second chair” management and leadership roles within Christian organizations and churches across the country. For many, this is a positive, fulfilling experience; for others, it is frustrating […]
If you ask most Executive Pastors to show you their radars, they’d look a lot like FAA snapshots charting planes in flight across the country. While I know you’re as stressed as a control tower […]
One of the least understood roles in churches is the “second chair” role—the person who reports directly to the Senior Pastor (or sometimes the church board) and oversees a large portion of the church staff. This […]
One of the greatest privileges of serving as an Executive Pastor is the opportunity we have to come alongside men and women and help them develop in their leadership. The first few months of the […]
Nathan Baxter is a former Executive Pastor that has a heart for mentoring. One tool that he uses as he helps pastors is the Birkman Leadership Assessment Tools. Here Nathan outlines some of the available assessments, […]
