Two posts in one day??? I can't help it. After my last post I read an article about Nancy Pelosi claiming to "know something about Newt Gingrich" that will cause him to be defeated if he is selected as the Republican nominee. I am not a supporter of Gingrich, and I don't care one way or the other if he is selected by the voters to run against President Obama or not, but reading that article really ticked me off.
With the important issues facing this nation here is a former Speaker of the House playing what I call playground politics. It reminded me of hearing a small child on a playground taunting others by saying, "I know something you don't know." (It helps if you repeat that in a whiny, nasal voice.) It's no wonder that the approval rating for Congress is as low as it is with this kind of leadership. When asked, her office tried to claim that she just knew Gingrich would not win election, but she has repeated this twice for the media insinuating she knew things about Gingrich which she would reveal if he is selected as the Republican nominee. In typical Gingrich fashion he has responded if she knows anything she should reveal it now. He also said that he would rather have Pelosi opposing him than supporting him, and on that point at least I can agree with him.
It is just this kind of childish behavior on both sides of the aisle that prevents this Congress from doing anything of substance. Someone once said that a nation gets the leaders it deserves, so I'm not sure what this says about our nation or its future. With continued high unemployment, continuing foreclosures, and a growing deficit is it too much to ask that our elected officials begin to act like grown-ups and work together to improve the situation our nation finds itself in? It's time our elected officials remember they are in office to represent the people they serve, not their own self-interests or the interests of their party. Maybe the voters need to begin saying, "I know something you don't know," and that something is that if they can't represent their constituents we are ready to replace them with people who are.
Enough political talk. The truth is that I've also seen such behavior occur in churches when people are resisting some change. I've seen church members, supposedly mature Christians, withhold their giving to force a pastor to resign. I've seen church leaders force out pastors who they could not control, and I've seen pastors abuse church members who opposed their wishes. I've sat in church business meetings that turned into shouting matches. I've witnessed churches leaving their denominations because of misunderstandings and erroneous information that someone with an agenda presented to the congregation. Unfortunately, I've seen plenty of playground politics in churches, and it's just as sad when it happens there as when it occurs in Congress.
We have important work to do, but we live in a society that is growing more and more disenchanted with the church. They see us as irrelevant and unnecessary. Petty personal preferences and playground politics will do nothing to change that perception. People need to be introduced to the person of Jesus Christ and invited to enter into a relationship with Him, and the church will only be successful in doing that if we are led by spiritually mature individuals willing to set aside their personal preferences in order to touch other's lives in a meaningful way.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Boundaries for former pastors
I recently received an e-mail from a pastor struggling with how to best minister to a former congregation. His successor passed away a few months ago and now a family with close ties to the congregation died in a accident. The church is still seeking a pastor. The former pastor lives in a nearby community and sees former members occasionally in shopping centers and other places in their small community. The pastor is not only grieving over the loss of this family but also for the pain he knows the congregation is feeling. His question was how, and if, he could minister to those former members.
My response was that I have faced the same situation in my own pastoral experience. I continue to live in a small community in which I pastored a church for 20 years. It is inevitable that I run into former church members and talk about their lives. There have been funerals and weddings I would have liked to have been included in but could not due to boundary issues. What I have tried to do is separate pastoral ministry from normal Christian care and concern. I avoid weddings of former members completely. When a death of a former member occurs I will go to the visitation but not to the funeral service. The vistation allows me an opportunity to express my sorrow and enter into their grief as a fellow believer, but by not attending the funeral it enables me to avoid any appearance of involvement in the service. I believe this is fair to the current pastor, and it allows me to address my own grief at the person's passing as well as an opportunity to express support to the family as a fellow Christian. I encouraged this person to walk with people from his former church in their grief as a fellow believer but to not accept any leadership role in ministering to them. Another area pastor has already been asked to conduct the funeral service so that will make that easier for this former pastor.
I often say that bivocational ministry is very geographic. Many bivocational ministers will serve churches within a few miles of their home. Seldom does a person travel across country to accept the call to a bivocational church. In many cases, the bivocational minister will not move from his or her home when leaving a church. That means the problem of boundaries is one that often confronts the bivocational minister.
Does the way I've handled this situation make sense? What have been your experiences with maintaining proper boundaries with former churches you've served? I think this could be a good forum question that would be helpful to those who regularly read this blog so feel free to jump in with your experiences and thoughts.
My response was that I have faced the same situation in my own pastoral experience. I continue to live in a small community in which I pastored a church for 20 years. It is inevitable that I run into former church members and talk about their lives. There have been funerals and weddings I would have liked to have been included in but could not due to boundary issues. What I have tried to do is separate pastoral ministry from normal Christian care and concern. I avoid weddings of former members completely. When a death of a former member occurs I will go to the visitation but not to the funeral service. The vistation allows me an opportunity to express my sorrow and enter into their grief as a fellow believer, but by not attending the funeral it enables me to avoid any appearance of involvement in the service. I believe this is fair to the current pastor, and it allows me to address my own grief at the person's passing as well as an opportunity to express support to the family as a fellow Christian. I encouraged this person to walk with people from his former church in their grief as a fellow believer but to not accept any leadership role in ministering to them. Another area pastor has already been asked to conduct the funeral service so that will make that easier for this former pastor.
I often say that bivocational ministry is very geographic. Many bivocational ministers will serve churches within a few miles of their home. Seldom does a person travel across country to accept the call to a bivocational church. In many cases, the bivocational minister will not move from his or her home when leaving a church. That means the problem of boundaries is one that often confronts the bivocational minister.
Does the way I've handled this situation make sense? What have been your experiences with maintaining proper boundaries with former churches you've served? I think this could be a good forum question that would be helpful to those who regularly read this blog so feel free to jump in with your experiences and thoughts.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
New Executive Minister for American Baptist Churches of Indiana and Kentucky
After a year long search our Region has voted to call the Rev. Soozi Whitten Ford to become our new Executive Minister. Soozi brings a lot of pastoral, judicatory, and denominational experience to her new position. As an Executive staff member in our Region I attended the Board meeting when they interviewed Soozi and voted on her call, and I was very impressed with her responses to their questions. This is the first time I've had a new boss in a long time, so I was quite interested in hearing her comments and her responses, and I must say that I was very pleased with what I heard. I am looking forward to working with her in the fulfillment of the vision of our Region. It is expected she will begin her new position in mid-March.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Big-E
In 1968 I boarded the USS Enterprise off the coast of Vietnam as an Electrician assigned to the Catapault and Elevator Shop. At the time it was the largest warship in the world and had the most modern weapons and technology available. Three years later, after two trips to Vietnam and thousands of miles on the ocean, I left the ship when I was discharged from active duty. This weekend I read it is now the oldest active duty ship in the Navy and will be decommissioned after one final deployment to the Persian Gulf later this year. Talk about something that makes you feel old!
When I told my wife about the 2013 decommissioning of the Enterprise she said she bet I would like to be on that last deployment, especially if it would be with my former shipmates. I certainly would. I can't remember all their names, but I can still see their faces and remember a lot of the times we shared. I can vividly remember the bunk that I slept on for three years, the way our shop looked, especially after we remodeled it in 1970, the main mess deck, and hangar bay and flight deck. I remember going up on the viewing level and watching flight ops, and I can remember the catwalk along the side of the ship where we would sometimes sleep at night to enjoy the warm breezes and hear the sounds of the ship cutting through the water. I remember the fire and explosions that rocked our ship and took the lives of two dozen of our shipmates and the weeks spent in Pearl Harbor repairing the damage so we could return to the Tolken Gulf. So many memories. It would be great to be back on the ship one more time. But, not to do the job I did for three years.
See, everything on that ship has changed. The technology has changed. The elevators I used to work on operated from a complicated series of switches and relays. I'm sure those have been replaced with electronics. The F4 Phantoms that were the pride of our air wing have been replaced with much more sophisticated aircraft. I'm sure many of the rooms I remember have been moved to other locations on the ship. The guages and tools I used have all been replaced with much better equipment. A treat for me when I was on the ship was to receive a reel-to-reel tape from my wife and family that I could play on a small player. Now, crew members can communicate through computers, Skype, etc. I have many wonderful memories of my time on that ship, but none of them reflect the reality of today's Enterprise. For me to be effective on the ship's last deployment I would have to learn a whole new way of doing things.
What has any of this to do with a blog that addresses bivocational ministry and smaller churches? Very often we have people in our churches with memories of wonderful ministries that made a difference in people's lives. They can recall the faces and names of people long since gone and how important they were to the life of the church while they were there. These memories are exciting and meaningful to these folks, but unfortunately they do not reflect the reality of the needs of the church in the 21st century. Everything about our society has changed since the days they remember so well. The needs of both the unchurched and often the churched as well have changed. New ways of doing church have been identified that are more effective in reaching people for Christ. Flannelgraph lessons in Sunday school have been replaced with video projectors and class blogs. Websites, Facebook, and Twitter have replaced Tuesday night visitation as a means of reaching out to unchurched people. Denominational loyalty is much less important today to the average church member than it was even ten years ago which means new ways of funding denominational work and mission work must be found. Many unchurched people have little, if any, biblical frame of reference one can use when trying to explain the Christian faith. We have entered into a pre-Christian, post-modern world where all belief systems are considered equally valid and true, and the only absolute truth that is acceptable is that there is no longer absolute truth.
I could go on and on about the changes that have taken place in the church and society over the past two decades, but the fact is that if we continue to try to do ministry as we did twenty years ago, and maybe even ten years ago, we will have little impact on today's society. It would be the same as me returning to the Enterprise and trying to perform my previous tasks with the same training, tools, and equipment I had when I left there forty years ago. That great ship is still doing the same task it did when I served aboard it: protecting and defending the national interests of the United States, but today it is doing it with new methods, and it will soon be replaced with a new aircraft carrier that will have even more improved technology and greater means by which it can protect and defend our nation. Our task as the church is the same today as it was when the church began in Acts, but it must accomplish that task with new methods and a new understanding of our present culture, or it will never be as successful in changing people's lives as it could be.
When I told my wife about the 2013 decommissioning of the Enterprise she said she bet I would like to be on that last deployment, especially if it would be with my former shipmates. I certainly would. I can't remember all their names, but I can still see their faces and remember a lot of the times we shared. I can vividly remember the bunk that I slept on for three years, the way our shop looked, especially after we remodeled it in 1970, the main mess deck, and hangar bay and flight deck. I remember going up on the viewing level and watching flight ops, and I can remember the catwalk along the side of the ship where we would sometimes sleep at night to enjoy the warm breezes and hear the sounds of the ship cutting through the water. I remember the fire and explosions that rocked our ship and took the lives of two dozen of our shipmates and the weeks spent in Pearl Harbor repairing the damage so we could return to the Tolken Gulf. So many memories. It would be great to be back on the ship one more time. But, not to do the job I did for three years.
See, everything on that ship has changed. The technology has changed. The elevators I used to work on operated from a complicated series of switches and relays. I'm sure those have been replaced with electronics. The F4 Phantoms that were the pride of our air wing have been replaced with much more sophisticated aircraft. I'm sure many of the rooms I remember have been moved to other locations on the ship. The guages and tools I used have all been replaced with much better equipment. A treat for me when I was on the ship was to receive a reel-to-reel tape from my wife and family that I could play on a small player. Now, crew members can communicate through computers, Skype, etc. I have many wonderful memories of my time on that ship, but none of them reflect the reality of today's Enterprise. For me to be effective on the ship's last deployment I would have to learn a whole new way of doing things.
What has any of this to do with a blog that addresses bivocational ministry and smaller churches? Very often we have people in our churches with memories of wonderful ministries that made a difference in people's lives. They can recall the faces and names of people long since gone and how important they were to the life of the church while they were there. These memories are exciting and meaningful to these folks, but unfortunately they do not reflect the reality of the needs of the church in the 21st century. Everything about our society has changed since the days they remember so well. The needs of both the unchurched and often the churched as well have changed. New ways of doing church have been identified that are more effective in reaching people for Christ. Flannelgraph lessons in Sunday school have been replaced with video projectors and class blogs. Websites, Facebook, and Twitter have replaced Tuesday night visitation as a means of reaching out to unchurched people. Denominational loyalty is much less important today to the average church member than it was even ten years ago which means new ways of funding denominational work and mission work must be found. Many unchurched people have little, if any, biblical frame of reference one can use when trying to explain the Christian faith. We have entered into a pre-Christian, post-modern world where all belief systems are considered equally valid and true, and the only absolute truth that is acceptable is that there is no longer absolute truth.
I could go on and on about the changes that have taken place in the church and society over the past two decades, but the fact is that if we continue to try to do ministry as we did twenty years ago, and maybe even ten years ago, we will have little impact on today's society. It would be the same as me returning to the Enterprise and trying to perform my previous tasks with the same training, tools, and equipment I had when I left there forty years ago. That great ship is still doing the same task it did when I served aboard it: protecting and defending the national interests of the United States, but today it is doing it with new methods, and it will soon be replaced with a new aircraft carrier that will have even more improved technology and greater means by which it can protect and defend our nation. Our task as the church is the same today as it was when the church began in Acts, but it must accomplish that task with new methods and a new understanding of our present culture, or it will never be as successful in changing people's lives as it could be.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Heartland Bivocational Resource Center
The Heartland Bivocational and Small Church Resource Center is located on the campus of Campbellsville University and led by Rev. David Sandifer. This center has been providing resources for bivocational ministers and the churches they serve since the late 1990s. Watch this video about the ministry of the Center and an interesting interview Sandifer conducts with Rev. John Chowning, a bivocational pastor and Vice President of Church and External Relations at the university. I have been friends with both of these individuals for a number of years and have appreciated their commitment to bivocational ministry. I believe you'll enjoy this video and I encourage you to check out the resources available through the Center and Campbellsville University. For anyone serving in bivocational ministry who may not have formal theological education I especially invite you to look at the certificate program for bivocational ministers available through Campbellsville. I believe you will find it affordable and very beneficial to your ministry.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Let's get serious
In the US approximately 100 churches close their doors every week. That's about 5,000 churches a year. This is happening at a time when our population continues to grow and the number of unchurched people is also increasing. Many of those churches that close are smaller churches that may have been barely surviving for a numer of years. Some are new church starts that didn't make it, and others are churches that developed problems they could not overcome. Although these churches come from a variety of backgrounds, they share some things in common. They began as the result of someone's vision that a church was needed in that location. They served a number of wonderful people whose lives had been transformed as the result of the ministry that occurred in that church. But, somewhere along the way they lost their sense of purpose and forgot why God had called them into existence in the first place. We're all familiar with the passage, "Where there is no vision the people perish." A church that has lost God's vision for its present and future ministry is a church that is destined to die. It may survive for a season because of the faithfulness of previous generations, but eventually such a church will close. As more and more Americans decide that the church is not relevant to their lives in the 21st century, more of these visionless churches will close in the future. The question for the leaders of these churches are what will you do about this?
For too many decades now the church has complained about the decline many churches are experiencing, but too often they have done little, if anything, to turn that around. It's time for these churches to get serious about this problem. Either stop complaining or do something about it. It's time to realize that what may have enabled your church to thrive and enjoy exciting ministry in the past is not going to work in the present. We no longer live in a church culture in this country. Instead we are living in a rapidly emerging pagan culture, to use the term of one writer, that does not know God and has little use for the organized church. As I told a group of church leaders recently, your church is in just as much of a pagan culture as what our missionaries in Africa or Asia work in. To think the old ways of doing church and denominational work in the 21st century is going to produce the results they did in the mid-twentieth century is just not being realistic. Our culture has changed, and the means by which we impact this culture for the Kingdom of God must also change or we will continue to sink into further decline in both numbers and impact.
For many of us in church leadership that means we need to learn new ministry skills. Most seminaries are still training ministers to do ministry in a modern, churched society, and their graduates may have great understanding of biblical languages, history, and theology, but many of them are ill-equipped to do ministry in the post-Christian culture in which we now live. They may know the "Language of Zion," but they do not know the language of the street. They may understand how to exegete Scripture, but they don't know how to put that into a sermon that speaks to current realities of 21st century life. We need to find new ways to proclaim and model the life-changing truths of Scripture. How can we best do that?
For too many decades now the church has complained about the decline many churches are experiencing, but too often they have done little, if anything, to turn that around. It's time for these churches to get serious about this problem. Either stop complaining or do something about it. It's time to realize that what may have enabled your church to thrive and enjoy exciting ministry in the past is not going to work in the present. We no longer live in a church culture in this country. Instead we are living in a rapidly emerging pagan culture, to use the term of one writer, that does not know God and has little use for the organized church. As I told a group of church leaders recently, your church is in just as much of a pagan culture as what our missionaries in Africa or Asia work in. To think the old ways of doing church and denominational work in the 21st century is going to produce the results they did in the mid-twentieth century is just not being realistic. Our culture has changed, and the means by which we impact this culture for the Kingdom of God must also change or we will continue to sink into further decline in both numbers and impact.
For many of us in church leadership that means we need to learn new ministry skills. Most seminaries are still training ministers to do ministry in a modern, churched society, and their graduates may have great understanding of biblical languages, history, and theology, but many of them are ill-equipped to do ministry in the post-Christian culture in which we now live. They may know the "Language of Zion," but they do not know the language of the street. They may understand how to exegete Scripture, but they don't know how to put that into a sermon that speaks to current realities of 21st century life. We need to find new ways to proclaim and model the life-changing truths of Scripture. How can we best do that?
- Constantly read good books by trusted authors that challenge your thinking about ministry. Leaders are readers, and if you're not reading at least one book a month you are not leading. (I try to read a book a week.) Do not limit your reading to books about faith and church, but read books occasionally that will help you better understand the culture in which we now live.
- Attend continuing education training events to help sharpen the gifts God has given you. It's much easier to saw down a tree if you stop occasionally to sharpen your saw. Take time to sharpen the tools God has given you.
- Get a coach to help you through the ruts that occur in ministry. The business world has proven the return on investment for a coach is great, and the same thing is true for ministers. A good coach can help guide you into better decision making and is a wonderful investment you can make in yourself.
- Pursue formal education that will prepare you for ministry in the real world. There are very good programs available at any level you need. Campbellsville University has a great on-line certificate program specifically structured for bivocational ministers. They also offer both on-line and on campus Masters of Theology degrees for those ministers who have completed college. If you have not completed college, you may want to consider that, and they offer on-line and residential programs to enable you to do that as well. I have taught one of their on-line classes, and I can tell you they offer classes that are very practical for ministers and church leaders.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Awakening
Awakening is a new program we are offering to the smaller churches of the American Baptist Churches of Indiana and Kentucky. Designed for churches with an average attendance of under 110, Awakening will examine seven aspects of church life: Health, Transformation, Vision/Mission, Structure, Discipleship, Worship, and Stewardship. Pastors and three lay leaders will be invited from each of our smaller churches to participate in this 18 month emphasis. Along with the seven sessions we will provide additional resources for Bible study and sermon preparation plus provide a coach for each pastor for the duration of Awakening. This program will demand a lot from the participating churches, but it will also provide a lot. If you are a member of a church that averages 110 or less in the ABC of Indiana and Kentucky I encourage you to participate in Awakening. It will transform your church. The deadline for registering is fast approaching so I urge you to act now by going to http://www.abc-indiana.org/ for registration information.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Job descriptions
This evening I read that one of the reasons some pastors experience burn-out is because they are locked into job descriptions that are designed to maintain the institution and care for the members instead of being free to serve from their calling and giftedness. As soon as I read that I thought of the many pastor job descriptions I've seen over the years, and most of them do focus on maintenance ministry. Pastors often get the blame for the lack of growth in churches, but in most cases they are doing what the church has told them to do. While this problem is not limited to smaller churches, it does seem to be a common problem in many of them.
Churches have to come to a place of decision. They can either be faithful to the Great Commission and Great Commandment or they can call a chaplain to care for the flock. It's time they quit playing games and saying one thing while expecting another. The fact is, many churches have made the decision; they just haven't had the courage to voice it.
If Jesus operated like many churches today He would have focused all His attention on making sure the 12 disciples were comfortable and had all their needs met. Fortunately, for all of us, He did not do that. His purpose for coming was to reach out to the whole world and offer people a new life that could only be found in a personal relationship with Him. He equipped His disciples to take His message to nearby communities and to continue His work after He was gone. His example should be the model for churches today.
Pastors, does your job description free you to do ministry or does it call you to be a family priest and chaplain to the faithful in your congregation? Are there people you can talk to about this? If you could write your own job description without limitations, what would it be? Who can you talk to about this?
Churches have to come to a place of decision. They can either be faithful to the Great Commission and Great Commandment or they can call a chaplain to care for the flock. It's time they quit playing games and saying one thing while expecting another. The fact is, many churches have made the decision; they just haven't had the courage to voice it.
If Jesus operated like many churches today He would have focused all His attention on making sure the 12 disciples were comfortable and had all their needs met. Fortunately, for all of us, He did not do that. His purpose for coming was to reach out to the whole world and offer people a new life that could only be found in a personal relationship with Him. He equipped His disciples to take His message to nearby communities and to continue His work after He was gone. His example should be the model for churches today.
Pastors, does your job description free you to do ministry or does it call you to be a family priest and chaplain to the faithful in your congregation? Are there people you can talk to about this? If you could write your own job description without limitations, what would it be? Who can you talk to about this?
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Newsletter
I just added several new subscribers to my free monthly e-newsletter for bivocational ministers. If you serve in such capacity or work with bivocational ministers you should request this valuable resource. It is also a great resource for lay leaders in such churches. On the first of each month this newsletter goes out to hundreds of people just like you who have found it addresses the unique challenges of bivocational ministry.
Each month you will find articles that speak to some issue that is relevant to bivocational ministers, information about upcoming training events I am leading, and a book review of a recently read book that I believe will be helpful to my readers. There is no cost for the newsletter and I will never sell or give your mailing address to anyone.
For twenty years I served as a bivocational pastor of a small church in southeastern Indiana and for the past 11 years I have worked as a judicatory minister with special responsibililities for the smaller churches in our Region. I have great respect for persons who serve as bivocational ministers and believe their numbers will continue to grow across most denominations in the future. This newsletter is just one of several resources I make available to assist them in their work. Contact me if you are interested in being added to the mailing list and you'll start receiving your newsletters in February.
Each month you will find articles that speak to some issue that is relevant to bivocational ministers, information about upcoming training events I am leading, and a book review of a recently read book that I believe will be helpful to my readers. There is no cost for the newsletter and I will never sell or give your mailing address to anyone.
For twenty years I served as a bivocational pastor of a small church in southeastern Indiana and for the past 11 years I have worked as a judicatory minister with special responsibililities for the smaller churches in our Region. I have great respect for persons who serve as bivocational ministers and believe their numbers will continue to grow across most denominations in the future. This newsletter is just one of several resources I make available to assist them in their work. Contact me if you are interested in being added to the mailing list and you'll start receiving your newsletters in February.
Coaching bivocational ministers
This Friday I will be training about a dozen United Methodist pastors in Ohio how to coach the bivocational ministers in their District. This particular District has a large number of smaller churches many of which are led by bivocational ministers. I met one last year who pastored three churches as a bivocational minister (and I used to think pastoring one was a challenge!). District leadership has been looking for ways they can resource these pastors and decided that providing them with a coach would be one possibility. Because of my work with both bivocational ministry and coaching they asked me to train their coaches.
This is something I hope catches on in many judicatories. The numbers of bivocational ministers are increasing in virtually every denomination. Many judicatories are cutting staff and services. Coaching is a great way to stay in contact with a pastor and provide assistance, and because most coaching can be done by telephone the costs and time of travel are eliminated. Because of the schedules many bivocational ministers keep coaching provides the flexibility to fit into any bivocational ministers schedule.
Because coaching operates from the belief that the person being coached already has the answers to most of his or her challenges but just needs someone to help bring those solutions to the surface, coaching is very affirming. As a coach there is nothing more rewarding that when the light bulb suddenly goes off for the person being coached and they have one of those "Aha" moments. As a person who has been coached I remember times when I suddenly realized the solution to my question during a coaching session. It was exciting and affirming. Such times helped me get unstuck in some of my thinking and enabled me to move forward with my life, and it's been exciting to me as a coach to help others do the same thing in their lives and ministries.
If you feel coaching could benefit you, please contact me and let's talk. If you are in judicatory or denominational leadership and believe coaching is something your organization should consider for the bivocational (or fully-funded) pastors in your judicatory, you should also contact me. I would love to discuss the possibilities with you.
This is something I hope catches on in many judicatories. The numbers of bivocational ministers are increasing in virtually every denomination. Many judicatories are cutting staff and services. Coaching is a great way to stay in contact with a pastor and provide assistance, and because most coaching can be done by telephone the costs and time of travel are eliminated. Because of the schedules many bivocational ministers keep coaching provides the flexibility to fit into any bivocational ministers schedule.
Because coaching operates from the belief that the person being coached already has the answers to most of his or her challenges but just needs someone to help bring those solutions to the surface, coaching is very affirming. As a coach there is nothing more rewarding that when the light bulb suddenly goes off for the person being coached and they have one of those "Aha" moments. As a person who has been coached I remember times when I suddenly realized the solution to my question during a coaching session. It was exciting and affirming. Such times helped me get unstuck in some of my thinking and enabled me to move forward with my life, and it's been exciting to me as a coach to help others do the same thing in their lives and ministries.
If you feel coaching could benefit you, please contact me and let's talk. If you are in judicatory or denominational leadership and believe coaching is something your organization should consider for the bivocational (or fully-funded) pastors in your judicatory, you should also contact me. I would love to discuss the possibilities with you.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Frustration and uncertainty
For some reason this week I've spoken to a few pastors and lay people who are frustrated with the direction of their churches and don't know what to do about it. In at least one case, it is causing some significant stress in the pastor. He remains committed to the church but is concerned about its future. I'm not sure how helpful I've been to him or to the others with whom I've spoken.
Along with these conversations I did some reading last night that deeply troubled me about the future of the church. I closed the book and began asking myself if we are just riding a dead horse. I began to think of several churches I know that have been declining for so long that the people now assume that's the way church is supposed to be. I thought about denominations that are in the same condition and begun to wonder if we are pouring good resources into something that will never be able to advance the Kingdom of God again. Are the traditional churches and denominations historical relics that have outlived their usefulness? Are those who have been calling for a return to house churches on the right track? Are we focused on maintaining systems and structures that can no longer address the needs of the 21st century? I thought about a lot of things last night and again today and have to admit that I have not come up with real answers to my questions.
I know Jesus said the gates of hell would not prevail against the church, but was He speaking about what we know as the church today? I know that God's Kingdom will advance, but will it do so through the same structures we have today? How can I be the best steward of my life and resources, and how can I best respond to God's call on my life today? These are important questions for which I do not have an answer.
They are also the kinds of questions each of us need to be asking of ourselves and our churches. Those of you who attend my healthy church workshop have heard me ask two important questions: "Who are we here for?" and "Is what we are doing here today worth the life of the Son of God?" Perhaps we need to be adding these additional questions as we think about our future ministry plans.
This is not meant to be a depressing post but one that will make each of us think about what it is God has called us and our churches to be and to do. I think it is good to spend time on a regular basis considering such questions and prayerfully seeking God's answers to them. I may not be certain of a lot of things right now, but I do know this morning I thanked God for giving me the privilege to serve Him in ways I never thought would ever be possible. It is an exciting calling God has given me, and I hope you feel the same way about His call on your life as well.
Along with these conversations I did some reading last night that deeply troubled me about the future of the church. I closed the book and began asking myself if we are just riding a dead horse. I began to think of several churches I know that have been declining for so long that the people now assume that's the way church is supposed to be. I thought about denominations that are in the same condition and begun to wonder if we are pouring good resources into something that will never be able to advance the Kingdom of God again. Are the traditional churches and denominations historical relics that have outlived their usefulness? Are those who have been calling for a return to house churches on the right track? Are we focused on maintaining systems and structures that can no longer address the needs of the 21st century? I thought about a lot of things last night and again today and have to admit that I have not come up with real answers to my questions.
I know Jesus said the gates of hell would not prevail against the church, but was He speaking about what we know as the church today? I know that God's Kingdom will advance, but will it do so through the same structures we have today? How can I be the best steward of my life and resources, and how can I best respond to God's call on my life today? These are important questions for which I do not have an answer.
They are also the kinds of questions each of us need to be asking of ourselves and our churches. Those of you who attend my healthy church workshop have heard me ask two important questions: "Who are we here for?" and "Is what we are doing here today worth the life of the Son of God?" Perhaps we need to be adding these additional questions as we think about our future ministry plans.
This is not meant to be a depressing post but one that will make each of us think about what it is God has called us and our churches to be and to do. I think it is good to spend time on a regular basis considering such questions and prayerfully seeking God's answers to them. I may not be certain of a lot of things right now, but I do know this morning I thanked God for giving me the privilege to serve Him in ways I never thought would ever be possible. It is an exciting calling God has given me, and I hope you feel the same way about His call on your life as well.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Discipline isn't fun
About three years ago I started on Weight Watchers and over the next 18 months lost 50 pounds. I weighed the least I had weighed since Navy boot camp and felt really great. Well...with all the traveling I do it wasn't long before the weight started creeping back. A pound here and a pound there until I had regained much of the weight I lost. I've started back on the program and decided to jump start it by going all this week without meat. Nothing but fruit and vegetables. It hasn't been fun trying to find something to eat that doesn't include meat. That's not how I was raised, and it's not a lifestyle I want to live. But, the discipline has been good, and I do feel that I've lost weight this week. (I force myself to only weigh myself the first thing every Monday.) When this week ends I'll be back to eating meat, but I'll continue to count my points and get this weight back off. I did it once and I'll do it again, but the discipline that is required is not a lot of fun.
But isn't that the whole point of discipline? If discipline was easy everyone could do it, and it wouldn't be discipline any longer. What's true of discipline in weight loss is also true in the life of a Christian. We talk about discipleship much more than we practice it. The church may talk about being a disciple, but few churches define what that means and even fewer provide any real discipleship training. In most churches they substitute Sunday school classes for discipleship believing that discipleship is all about education. Discipleship includes education, but it goes far beyond it. To be a disciple means that there must also be some action.
Jesus told a rich young ruler to sell all he had, give it to the poor, and follow Him. Jesus did not tell him to study a quarterly that taught about the needs of the poor; He told him to actually do something about the poor, and what He asked the man to do was to give away everything he owned so he could follow Jesus. What was the man's response? He went away sorrowful because Jesus had asked him to do something difficult. To be a disciple is hard.
We should not use this story to announce that every Christian is to sell everything he or she has to give to the poor. Jesus asked the rich ruler to do that because his wealth was what was standing between him and Christ. What Jesus asks each of us to do is to remove everything in our lives that prevents us from fully following Christ. It may be money. It may be a relationship. It may be a habit. It may be something that is totally ethical and proper, but it is a problem in your life because it hinders you from following Christ. Whatever it is, it will always hurt when you give it up. Jesus taught that we should count the cost of being His disciple because there will be a cost involved.
Accepting the call to bivocational ministry also requires discipline on the part of the minister. There will be a cost to accepting that call, and sometimes the cost is really deep. It takes discipline to work a second job and serve as a pastor. It takes discipline to prepare a sermon(s) every week. It takes discipline to lead others. It takes discipline to continue to grow as a person and a minister. But, the cost is always worth it when we are in God's will for our lives.
Whatever your goals for the new year, it will require some discipline on your part to achieve them. If it doesn't, your goals weren't much. There will be days when you'll wonder why you ever decided to pursue a particular goal, but when it is finally achieved you'll understand the discipline was worth it.
But isn't that the whole point of discipline? If discipline was easy everyone could do it, and it wouldn't be discipline any longer. What's true of discipline in weight loss is also true in the life of a Christian. We talk about discipleship much more than we practice it. The church may talk about being a disciple, but few churches define what that means and even fewer provide any real discipleship training. In most churches they substitute Sunday school classes for discipleship believing that discipleship is all about education. Discipleship includes education, but it goes far beyond it. To be a disciple means that there must also be some action.
Jesus told a rich young ruler to sell all he had, give it to the poor, and follow Him. Jesus did not tell him to study a quarterly that taught about the needs of the poor; He told him to actually do something about the poor, and what He asked the man to do was to give away everything he owned so he could follow Jesus. What was the man's response? He went away sorrowful because Jesus had asked him to do something difficult. To be a disciple is hard.
We should not use this story to announce that every Christian is to sell everything he or she has to give to the poor. Jesus asked the rich ruler to do that because his wealth was what was standing between him and Christ. What Jesus asks each of us to do is to remove everything in our lives that prevents us from fully following Christ. It may be money. It may be a relationship. It may be a habit. It may be something that is totally ethical and proper, but it is a problem in your life because it hinders you from following Christ. Whatever it is, it will always hurt when you give it up. Jesus taught that we should count the cost of being His disciple because there will be a cost involved.
Accepting the call to bivocational ministry also requires discipline on the part of the minister. There will be a cost to accepting that call, and sometimes the cost is really deep. It takes discipline to work a second job and serve as a pastor. It takes discipline to prepare a sermon(s) every week. It takes discipline to lead others. It takes discipline to continue to grow as a person and a minister. But, the cost is always worth it when we are in God's will for our lives.
Whatever your goals for the new year, it will require some discipline on your part to achieve them. If it doesn't, your goals weren't much. There will be days when you'll wonder why you ever decided to pursue a particular goal, but when it is finally achieved you'll understand the discipline was worth it.
Monday, January 2, 2012
New year = new opportunities
The start of a new year always brings with it the hope of new beginnings. One poll I read last week showed that most Americans believe 2012 will be a better year than recent ones. While that can be true, it will not happen by accident, and it probably won't happen because we made some new year's resolutions that sound quite similar to the ones we made last year about this time. If we want things to be better we need to take specific steps to make that happen. The mistakes of 2011 are now behind us, and it is time to look for the new opportunities for personal and ministerial growth that 2012 will offer. Let's look at some of those opportunities.
You have the opportunity to get your finances in order. Debt is destroying our nation and too many of our households. It's time to stop talking about our financial problems and doing something about them. Some of you need to do plastic surgery and cut up your credit cards. It's time to get serious about paying off your debt which may mean a big change in lifestyle for a time. Dave Ramsey says that we need to live like no one else right now so we can live like no one else later. What a great thought! His books and radio program can help you develop a strategy to get out of debt, and his Financial Peace University can be a great ministry your church can offer your congregation and the community.
You have the opportunity to create wonderful memories with your family. I don't want to be morbid, but one day those memories will be all your family will have of you. I, for one, do not want those memories to consist of me always leaving the house to attend another committee meeting or some other function that really doesn't demand my time. I want them to remember the times I sat in the gym for their basketball games or in the stands for a baseball game or track event. I want them to remember a holiday dinner where we all sat around the table laughing at the stories we were telling. I want them to remember the times I held them in my arms when I had no words to offer for their pain or grief. I want them to remember vacations we took where my focus was on them and not on checking e-mails.
You have the opportunity to improve your health, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Frankly, I spent too many years not giving my well-being much thought, and I regret that now. To live life to the fullest it's important that we care for ourselves. As I say in some workshops, self-care is not selfishness; it is stewardship of a resource God has given each of us. Life and ministry is for the long haul, and the better care we take of ourselves the better we will enjoy both life and ministry.
You have the opportunity to make a difference in people's lives. You will encounter many people in 2012 who are seeking a transformed life. They are tired of the life they are living but do not know what to do about it. As a Christian, you have a message of hope and transformation, but that message does no one any good if you never share it. Look for the opportunities God opens up for you to share a word that might change someone's life forever.
If you are ready to take advantage of the opportunities the new year brings you but are not sure how to begin, that may be an indication you are ready for coach to help you. The best investment you will ever make is in yourself. Having a life coach to assist you in your desire to change your life is not an expense; it is an investment in your life and your future. If you think it is time to get a coach to assist you in making the changes you want to make in your life, please feel free to contact me. I can only coach up to five people at a time, but I would be glad to work with you if you are ready to take advantages of the opportunities 2012 is bringing you.
You have the opportunity to get your finances in order. Debt is destroying our nation and too many of our households. It's time to stop talking about our financial problems and doing something about them. Some of you need to do plastic surgery and cut up your credit cards. It's time to get serious about paying off your debt which may mean a big change in lifestyle for a time. Dave Ramsey says that we need to live like no one else right now so we can live like no one else later. What a great thought! His books and radio program can help you develop a strategy to get out of debt, and his Financial Peace University can be a great ministry your church can offer your congregation and the community.
You have the opportunity to create wonderful memories with your family. I don't want to be morbid, but one day those memories will be all your family will have of you. I, for one, do not want those memories to consist of me always leaving the house to attend another committee meeting or some other function that really doesn't demand my time. I want them to remember the times I sat in the gym for their basketball games or in the stands for a baseball game or track event. I want them to remember a holiday dinner where we all sat around the table laughing at the stories we were telling. I want them to remember the times I held them in my arms when I had no words to offer for their pain or grief. I want them to remember vacations we took where my focus was on them and not on checking e-mails.
You have the opportunity to improve your health, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Frankly, I spent too many years not giving my well-being much thought, and I regret that now. To live life to the fullest it's important that we care for ourselves. As I say in some workshops, self-care is not selfishness; it is stewardship of a resource God has given each of us. Life and ministry is for the long haul, and the better care we take of ourselves the better we will enjoy both life and ministry.
You have the opportunity to make a difference in people's lives. You will encounter many people in 2012 who are seeking a transformed life. They are tired of the life they are living but do not know what to do about it. As a Christian, you have a message of hope and transformation, but that message does no one any good if you never share it. Look for the opportunities God opens up for you to share a word that might change someone's life forever.
If you are ready to take advantage of the opportunities the new year brings you but are not sure how to begin, that may be an indication you are ready for coach to help you. The best investment you will ever make is in yourself. Having a life coach to assist you in your desire to change your life is not an expense; it is an investment in your life and your future. If you think it is time to get a coach to assist you in making the changes you want to make in your life, please feel free to contact me. I can only coach up to five people at a time, but I would be glad to work with you if you are ready to take advantages of the opportunities 2012 is bringing you.
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