Ongoing training is essential to successful ministry

This evening I ran across a figure that I've seen reported in several places: the most successful CEOs report that they read an average of 60 books a year and attend more than 6 conferences a year.  The average American reads an average of less than one book a year.  The numbers may vary a little depending on the study that is being quoted, but the differences remain roughly the same.  There is a definite correlation between ongoing training and success.

I normally read 50-55 books a year.  One of two of them may be fiction; the rest are non-fiction.  As you might imagine, most of the books I read are related to ministry and leadership, but I will also read a few books on political issues or people, self improvement, history (especially the Civil War) and theology.  In addition, I read a daily local newspaper, a few magazines, and several newsletters from churches and religious organizations.  I have a rather large stack of books I plan to read as well as a few unread books on my Nook, and I'm often guilty of adding to the stack faster than I get them read.

When I address this issue in workshops bivocational ministers often tell me they don't have time to read.  Even when I was a bivocational pastor I still read around 25-35 books a year.  I didn't know any other way of staying current on the changes taking place in society and in the church.  As important as it is to properly exegete Scripture I believe it is just as important to be able to exegete the culture in order to preach a message that is going to be relevant to your listeners.  Reading helps me do that.

You'll notice that the successful CEOs also attend several conferences a year.  In 2004 I conducted a survey of American Baptist bivocational ministers which revealed that the vast majority had not attended a single continuing education event in the previous three years that was related to their ministry.  Again, a lack of time was given as the reason.  Another reason that was frequently mentioned was that they had attended events in the past that they didn't find very helpful.  My response is that bivocational ministers need to take time to attend at least one event each year, and that even the worst events will still provide something worthwhile to take back home.  I've attended a few that were not very good, but even the worst ones still gave me at least one good idea that I could use.

A third tool I use is audio material I can listen to in my car.   Zig Ziglar used to call this Automobile University.  I download several podcasts from various ministries and other organizations that I listen to while driving.  It beats listening to most radio stations and gives me a lot of good ideas I can use in my personal life and ministry.

Part of the call to bivocational ministry includes the need to stay sharp in your thinking, and this requires ongoing training of some type.  There are any number of good resources at your disposal, but if you never use them they are of no value to you or your ministry.  If you are not a regular reader I encourage you to commit to reading one good book a month.  If you haven't attended a continuing education event recently I challenge you to commit to attending one before the year ends.  If you are not using your drive time to listen to material that will help you develop your personal life and ministry I encourage you to begin doing so.  You willl probably find that any of these will make such a difference in your life that you will begin to increase your reading, your listening, and the number of training events you attend.