Four years ago, our staff huddled up in the Senior Pastor’s office to answer one question: What are the marks of a disciple? The person leading the meeting drew a figurine on the board then […]
Dave Travis has a great e-book on Smart Succession. This is available for a free download from this page. Dave successfully steered Leadership Network for many years and now is the Director of Strategic Counsel […]
One day, you may have the conversation. This is one of those ultimate conversations in your ministry life. It may come out of the blue. You may have some signs it is coming. You may […]
You heard the calling. You received the commission. You found the location. Your team is now gathered and serving the community, and God is moving in amazing ways! But then, you receive another call. The […]
How healthy is your team? Today, organizational culture is more important than ever in attracting and retaining the best team members. Vanderbloemen Search Group has a free Culture Tool to help. Get real answers about your […]
A few weeks ago, Fletch had the pleasure to be with multisite Chapelstreet Church of Geneva, Illinois. While there, he saw a 10-page magazine, Neighbor, summer 2018 […]
Questions have a curious function in the life of a leader. A good question can often propel us forward more than a great answer. Our roles in leading our churches requires us to not only […]
Speed Racers are just getting started at 60 mph. Racers are built for speed, topping out at over 200 mpg. While you can go fast, it’s easy to run out of gas—or worse, crash!
At the 2018 […]
The monthly board meeting is coming up on Tuesday night. The agenda is packed and you have key items to bring before the board. Your items could take thirty minutes to two hours to discuss! […]
Trucks are built solid. On a dirt road, you can easily drive from 30 to 60 miles per hour. On a paved road, a truck could top out at 100 mph. Trucks are built to […]
Driving 80 miles per hour in a Soapbox Racer is absurd. You will quickly crash. Accelerate your Soapbox Racer from 10 mph up to 30 mph. You will rejoice at going 30 mph. But your main […]
Excerpt from Culture Wins: The Roadmap to an Irresistible Workplace
I’ll never forget the first time I hired someone and felt good about it. We shook hands over a cup of coffee, and I walked away […]
I have seen article after article about how to reach millennials in church, how to speak to them, how to create events for them … it just goes on and on. One thing […]
Do you arrive at work hoping to tackle your to-do list, only to slog to your car feeling defeated? Do you look back on your days and feel disappointed at how much time you wasted—or […]
Even this title, Volunteer Hiring, probably gets a lot of strange looks and you can hear the words, “You don’t hire volunteers, they volunteer. Their help is a service and a gift to you.” Their […]
A variety of paths can lead to the role of executive pastor (or executive director) in a church. One of the most common is the businessperson who is already a volunteer leader in the church […]
Ministry is more than numbers. Yet church leaders are, by nature, scorekeepers. We use dashboards to evaluate how well we’re doing at church. We use numbers to get to know one another at conferences. What […]
Think about your church for a minute. How are decisions made? Not the little ones, like who’s going to watch the two-year-olds next weekend, but the big ones: should we start that new ministry, how […]
It’s a dirty word in some circles. “They mostly grow by transfer.” This critique implies that the church is not reaching people with the gospel, just “stealing” people from other churches like TMobile does to […]
Death is not a topic we enjoy. Death of churches is not a topic I enjoy. You see, I love the local church. I love it, despite its flaws, sins and hypocrisies. Jesus loves me […]
“To organize or not to organize? That is the question.” While this may be a bad take-off on Shakespeare, it’s a key issue for second chair leaders. One possible response to this question is, “Don’t bother […]
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a meeting with a pastor, told him what I do as a consultant and watched him perk up. I recently had a meeting with a Senior […]
From Back-to-School parties, to Thanksgiving outreaches, Christmas Eve candlelight services and more, churches host many events throughout the year. These special events are a great way to reach more people, disciple various groups within the […]
Few Christian leaders set out to promote or speak falsehood. I believe that falsehood among Christian leaders comes about more often by omission than commission (what is allowed to remain undone versus what is done […]
Amazon continues to be a force in our culture. In the run up to Christmas, they sold 426 items per second! I just finished reading Brad Stone’s fascinating study of Amazon called The Everything Store. […]
Do you want change? Most people will say they don’t. If they do, generally it’s limited to changing a small section of their lives. When it comes to our organizations, as well as our careers, change […]
“I wasn’t able to lead my church during the Christmas Eve service this year.”
It was just a few short weeks into the New Year and I was with a pastor friend from a neighboring community. […]
You spend a great deal of money on team meetings. Add the salaries and benefits of everyone invited to a meeting. Divide that total by 2,080, the number of work hours in a year. You […]
Having an excellent Executive Pastor can dramatically increase the health and growth of a church. Similar to the relationship between a COO and a CEO, an Executive Pastor oversees all administrative and operational aspects of […]
Why are people leaving your church? Every church has a back door. But do you know why they are leaving? Have you ever done exit interviews? A number of years ago, Bill Hendricks wrote a […]
Throughout my many years of ministry, I have had the opportunity to coach executives of Fortune 500 companies and church leaders. My vantage point is fascinating; I enjoy the challenge of identifying best practices that […]
While circulating in our church atrium, greeting people as they strolled in for Sunday worship, a woman came up to me and timidly asked, “Do you remember me?” I had to apologize for not recognizing […]
Sadly, it appears church after church is having to respond to immoral actions of pastors falling from grace. It deeply grieves me and causes me to really hurt for those churches. Young Christians and seekers […]
What ingredients make an effective senior leadership team? There’s no better person to ask than Jimmy Collins, past president of Chick-fil-A. Collins was second-in-command under Truett Cathy, the man who invented the chicken sandwich. Together, […]
Pastor, can you pinpoint the hidden sources of conflict in your congregation? If not, how will you manage them? Thankfully, you’re not left to your own devices on this one! The Bible lays it out pretty clearly.
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Are you a ministry leader looking for practical insight and direction on the topic of succession planning? If so, I would like to make you aware of a new resource offered by Succession Framework℠. They […]
We all love to deliver good news—a successful event, a budget overage, finishing a building project early and under budget, or a ministry initiative that exceeded expectations. But what do you do when you need […]
The truth is that we are all interim pastors. There will come a day when you are no longer the pastor of your church. The key to a successful pastoral succession plan is to start […]
Meetings. And lots of them! You know what I’m talking about. Meetings are a reality of life and leadership. We’ve all been in meetings that were engaging, stimulating, and productive. And we’ve all been in […]
This month my vision for serving and supporting leaders took a huge step! For several years, I have been working toward launching an annual event for business, government, non-profit, and ministry leaders. Like most endeavors, […]
Moving from the rural Midwest to Southern California changes your definition of “normal.” When the move includes connecting with a church that’s twice the size of the town you moved from, the redefinition demands a […]
My top two spiritual gifts are leadership and administration, so the subject of organization is something I love and gravitate toward. If you have the spiritual […]
Each of us has big things we want to accomplish. At the end of the day, some of us accomplish those things. Others do not. Why? It all boils down to alignment. Simply put, alignment […]
The majority of meetings are lame. They suck the time, energy, and productivity right out of you and your team. Plus, too many ministries have way too many meetings to begin with. Realistically, we are […]
Not everyone is qualified to serve on a church board and choosing the wrong people condemns the board to dishealth and frustration for years to come. It is easy to put someone on a board […]
Recently, Matt Branaugh of Christianity Today interviewed David Fletcher, asking a variety of questions for Executive Pastors, including his thoughts on compensation increases, health care coverage, giving trends, staff ratios, and the importance of having […]
Emerging research tells us that successful turnaround pastors differ from their colleagues in temperament and emotional intelligence. The data imply an easy way for pastors to avoid the many challenges of a growing church. All […]
First of all, I believe momentum is usually a byproduct of great vision … and great vision needs momentum to move forward. There is definitely a relationship between vision and momentum. For context, I define […]
Recently, I was talking to Kevin Peck, the Lead Pastor of Austin Stone Church. Back in 2005, they were a church of about 800 in worship. Now they have six campuses with about 6,000 or […]
Before even opening this book, the title caught my eye. Whenever we think of words with the prefix “re” before it—words like review, rewind, re-do—we automatically […]
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 has been said that there are three kinds of leaders—the kind that makes things happen, the kind that watches things happen, and the kind that asks, “What just happened?” The shifting economy demands that […]
One of the most challenging things in service planning for pastors and communication leaders can be managing stage announcements. Without a system and strategy in place, you can quickly find yourself stuck in a rhythm […]
As an avid sports fan, one aspect of coaching that I always look forward to evaluating is halftime adjustments. These adjustments can be the difference between victory and defeat, especially in closely-contested match-ups of two […]
Do you want to be more effective as a church? Few things will give you a better return on your investment than improving communications. Communications isn’t about spending a lot of money. Rather it’s about […]
Up until now, I have for no good reason avoided reading Sticky Teams by Larry Osborne. Yes, I had heard it was excellent. Okay, more than […]
When it comes to funding your ministry and reporting on the finances of your church, few questions matter more. Making clarity your passion as you communicate your church’s finances equips the people of your church […]
Andy Stanley is fed up. He is fed up with churches that are more interested in protecting the way “we have always done […]
In The E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber recognizes three primary roles in any successful business: the entrepreneur, the manager, and the technician. He describes these roles but is more concerned that small businesses fulfill all three and […]
The only good thing I can say about hurricanes is, unlike many other of nature’s forces, they give you some time to prepare. Preparation, however, means different things to different people—some stay, some evacuate, some shutter […]
The question we all have as we lead is how can we make a lasting impact. What I have learned over the years is that to make a lasting impact, you have to learn how to […]
For years, budget planning followed the same pattern for many ministries: Review last year’s budget, gather all wish lists, and increase the budget accordingly. Then we were hit with the worst recession in decades, and […]
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 […]
Do you believe in slavery? Because we believe in the dignity of all people, we have enacted various laws to protect our workers. Whether you want to read this article or not, you need to! […]
It seems like a regular occurrence that I hear about a youth pastor or a youth leader messing up with a teenager sexually. It is sad, but it is the reality. The reality is simple. […]
When I accepted the role of Executive Pastor at EvFree Fullerton two months ago, everybody forgot to tell me that I would be the staff contact on the Worship Center remodeling project. I started getting […]
I think everybody has a certain perception of symphony orchestra directors, especially the top-end professionals. People probably view them as suave, sophisticated, jet-setters who have a pretty cushy job (yeah, sure, that’s me!)
While that may […]
Change is hard. No, I mean real change is really hard! Oh sure, we all dream, imagine or wish that something in our lives will be different or better tomorrow; but taking the steps necessary […]
You know the feeling. Something is wrong. You’re the leader. You really should say something about it. But confronting someone is the last thing you feel like doing. You consider your options. Perhaps you can […]
“God has blessed me with the heart of a pastor, and I love people,” says Olson, 48, who joined the Lake Avenue Church staff last summer after eighteen years in ministry at Rolling Hills Covenant […]
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church—items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and policies. Below is the Vision Statement of Northwest Bible Church of Dallas, […]
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church—items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and policies. Below is the 2001 Deacon Policy of Northwest Bible Church of […]
Your ministry plans for the fall are either in full “implementation mode” or you are up to your upper thighs in alligators! As I write, our church is in the midst of two weeks of […]
In America we have the popular maxim, Change or Die. Solomon said there is nothing new under the sun, showing our popular American phrase has its roots in Greek antiquity. Heraclitus said, “Everything changes, πάντα χωρεῖ.” […]
In the early ’90s, I was shepherding a small Baptist church in rural Canada. In those days, being single, I lived with various families in the community. One family who owned their own meat production business […]
I recently stumbled upon something quite remarkable. My son’s marching band had just performed its last show of the season. They were in serious finals competition with the best bands from the Pacific […]
What would you say your most valuable asset is? For most leaders, the answer is (of course) their people. But as “twentysomethings” share the boardroom with Vietnam veterans, assumptions fly about what the other person […]
Remember the old Beatle’s song—All You Need Is Love?” Who knew then that John Lennon and the rest of the Beatles were all over what the Bible has to say to us as leaders? As Executive […]
John Maxwell says that everything rises or falls on leadership. Let’s test that idea on the topic of evangelism and see if it’s true. I have worked alongside pastors and ministry leaders my entire adult career. It […]
Church administration is an organizational approach that translates the purposes of God revealed to church leadership into effective ministry that reaches the unique goals and purposes of the church. Administration is ministry, not methods; people, […]
It is said that change is an inevitable part of life; it is inescapable. My experience can certainly attest to this old adage. As Gail Sheehy once said, “If we don’t change, we don’t […]
Churches just might be the least clarified organizations in our society; I believe one of the reasons is a lack of understanding among these three types of leadership—vision, management, and governance. Recently, God has given me numerous opportunities […]
Autumn Ridge Church recently celebrated its 150th anniversary; this has provided a wonderful opportunity for us—to remember with gratitude those who have come before us and to look forward to the ways in which God […]
Change—it really is hard. There are some words in church that are just inflammatory. Uttering the word “change” is the church equivalent of yelling shark at the beach. One of the reasons may be that many times, […]
Whether you realize it or not, being in the “second chair” is the ultimate leadership paradox. You are a leader: mentoring staff members, overseeing the day-to-day operations, and ensuring that the organization is running smoothly. […]
I caught a flight out of Denver, still celebrating the ministry impact that was clearly evident at the church I had just visited. As I traveled, I began to compare and contrast it with other […]
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 […]
A seasoned pastor offered an honest comment as I opened a workshop on the topic of developing a written church Position Statement regarding women in ministry: “This is the burning issue in my church. My congregation and the […]
I’m sure you’ve had unexpected changes that came into your life over the years, some which were good, while others were not so good. As you face these changes, some of which may have felt […]
I have had the opportunity to visit many churches over the last several months, both in the DC metropolitan area and in different parts of the country. Many of these churches are filled with good […]
In Harvard Business Review, Michael Porter underlines the importance of strategic planning for leaders when he writes, “If you want to make a difference as a leader, you’ve got to make time for strategic planning.” […]
Warning! Danger! Hazards ahead! God at work! Live at your own risk! Risk. The only way we can know God. You see it from one end of the Bible to the other. Look at the names in the Hebrews 11 Hall […]
Jeff Jones succeeded Gene Getz—the founder of the Bible Fellowship Church movement—as the Senior Pastor of the Bible Fellowship Church in Dallas. Their transition was a smooth, well-planned process. Below are some thoughts from Jeff […]
Ingleside Baptist Church is not your typical Southern Baptist church … anymore. Ingleside is a large, healthy, growing, and progressive church in Macon, Georgia. Macon is a small-ish town in central Georgia with a population of approximately […]
“Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons” (Phil. 1:1, NIV, emphasis added). The role of deacon varies from congregation to congregation in churches across America. […]
It’s that time of year again when, as a church staff, we prayerfully consider how we are going to take our vision as a church to the next level—how will we divide and allocate our […]
One of the greatest challenges in the business world is the exit of the founder of a corporation. Consider the words of Professor Noam Wasserman of the Harvard Business School: “My research focuses on founder frustrations in […]
With anguish in his voice, Bill said, “It’s budget time again at our church. I get so tired of working through these numbers. The pile of papers seems endless. How do I get off of […]
