One challenge facing today's church

In 2006 The Missional Leader: Equipping Your Church to Reach a Changing World by Alan Roxburgh and Fred Romanuk was published. As a Resource Minister in our region at the time, I read it hoping to find some tools I could use to help some of our churches. Frankly, I didn't really understand much of what the book was saying. This week I began re-reading it, and it is hitting home. They are saying some of the same things I've been saying to churches for the past few years. (Maybe I understood the book better than I thought!) For instance, they write

People are no longer willing to learn the internal language of the congregation. They are not shaped by loyalty to institutions and have little interest in joining groups or programs. No amount of rearranging of programs will change this. The reality is that the organizational cultures, the environments, created in congregations over several generations are no longer able to engage the changed context and its emerging generations,

Unfortunately, many of our churches fail to realize this is happening or they refuse to do anything differently to minister to a new generation. Instead, they spend time putting down new carpet, painting walls and rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic while whistling a happy tune as the ship is sinking.

Pastors and lay leaders need to stop talking about what's happening in the church and discover what is happening in people's lives. Rather than simply offering programs that we used in the 1950s we need to discern what current needs are and how we can best address them. Such discovery is unlikely to happen within the walls of the church. I once met with a church board and pastor to discuss this very issue. I asked how many people in the immediate community attended their church, the answer was virtually none. I then asked what were the needs of the people in the community? The pastor looked at me and asked, "How do we find that out?" After recovering from my immediate shock I answered, "By going outside the church and asking them." He had never thought about that.

But, what happens once the church better understands the culture of the surrounding community? Here is where it really starts getting tricky. Chances are likely that what is discovered in that culture is unlike anything the church has addressed before. Pastors are trained in seminary to manage institutions, counsel, exegete Scripture, preach and do the things often associated with pastoral ministry. Most congregations have simply been taught to let the pastor lead them in the things he or she has been trained to do.

A bivocational pastor who was a school teacher once told me that the young people in his school that did not fit in any of the cliques (jock, nerd, farmer, etc.) were assuming they were gay and began to identify that way. He was at a loss of what to do. How many churches and pastors are equipped to address the growing trend of gender dysphoria that we hear so much about these days? There is not space in this post to mention the many other challenges found in today's society that the church must address if it wants to reach this generation for Jesus Christ.

I hope as I continue to read this book that I will find some answers because I too must admit that I do not have the answers to the questions I've raised. But, if we don't find some answers we will not reach this generation for the Kingdom of God and our churches will continue to become more irrelevant.

Leaders see further than others

One of the characteristics of leadership is that leaders see further than others see. Jesus cautioned people to count the cost before before beginning a project (Luke 14: 28). How can you count the cost if you cannot see the end from the beginning? Many people can't, but leaders can. Leaders can see into the future and spot potential problems that might keep their plans from coming to pass.

When I served on region staff we were asked to develop some goals for the upcoming year. The goal-setting tool I used then, and still do, includes a section that asks what challenges might keep me from achieving this goal. Before I begin a project, I want to know what might come up that will threaten my success in reaching the goal. If I can spot potential problems in advance, I can work to alleviate them  before they occur.

This same principle holds true when communicating potential change to a group of people. It's not enough to know the what and why of the change, a leader must also know what potential challenges he or she might encounter. If the leader can address people's concerns before they even express them, he or she will avoid a lot of arguments of why the change won't work.

I read recently that the vision a pastor should have for a church should exceed his time there. At my first church I had a vison for a new fellowship hall that would offer expanded ministry opportunities. I further challenged the church to build the facility without borrowing any money. They agreed to build it without incurring any debt.  Little did I know that when the subfloor was laid I would be called to another ministry position. The good news is that the church completed the building, and it was built debt-free. I was delighted when I was invited to  speak at the dedication service for the new fellowship hall.

Will the leader identify every potential twist and turn when communicating vision to others? No, but if he or she cannot identify at least a few potential challenges it's probably not a good idea to move forward. They don't understand the vision well enough to lead it, and there is too much risk they will lead the organization into trouble.

The joy of ministry

 The title of this post may have caught some of you off-guard. So much has been written lately about the struggles many pastors have and how many are leaving the ministry because of these struggles. I get that. For years now we've known that about 50 percent of pastors leave the ministry within five years of graduating from seminary. Studies have found that many pastors believe that going into the ministry has been a hardship on their families and on their own health. I have met many of those pastors, and I understand their pain and frustration. I've been involved in ministry since 1981, and I've had my share of difficult situations as well. That does not change my opinion that there is joy to be found in ministry.

Regular readers of this blog know my story. I began in 1981 serving a small, rural church as its bivocational pastor. I served that church for 20 years until being called to be a Region Minister with our region. I served that role for 14 years before retiring. After retirement I served three churches as Transitional Pastor, and last year, at the age of 76, accepted the call to be the pastor of the last church I  served as Transitional Pastor. As a Region Minister, I saw it all. Before retiring I was responsible for 133 churches so I saw the good, the bad and the ugly. I've often said that if you like churches, do not look behind the curtain. You may see some things you don't like.

I've seen pastors afraid to speak out on things they knew were wrong because of threats from powerful lay leaders in their churches. I've seen church leaders fire pastors who then offered them severance pay if they never told anyone they had been fired. They were just supposed to announce they felt led to seek another place to serve. I do not talk about the joy of ministry wearing rose-colored glasses and having a Pollyanna view of the church.

Maybe it's my age. After all, what can a church do to a 76-year-old man? Maybe it's because I've always been bivocational with income from other sources of work. Like I told my first church, if you fire me today, tomorrow morning I'll go into the factory, clock in, and on Friday come home with my paycheck. Being bivocational did give me some freedom that fully-funded pastors do not always enjoy. The same is true of being older. I have rods and reels hanging in the garage; I can always return to retirement. And, I'm still bivocational with my auctioneer business.

Actually, it's not either of those things. I have been blessed beyond measure by serving in wonderful churches, without exception, and serving in a region that appreciates bivocational ministers. Yes, there have been the occasional problem in the churches I've served, but we've always been able to rise above those issues and move forward. My family and I have felt loved and appreciated by everyone involved in every ministry I've had.

However, this is still not why I talk about the joy of ministry. God has called me to this work. God, the creator of heaven and earth, the Almighty, saw fit to call me, with all my flaws, to serve Him in this work. Those who focus on the negatives of ministry have lost sight of their calling from God, or they were never called by God in the first place. Some were called by Momma and sent by Daddy. God had nothing to do with it. But, when God calls you, it touches something deep inside of you. You realize that you have been given a privilege not given to most.

What else can you do that gives you such access into people's lives? We are with them in their mountain-top experiences and in their deepest times of despair and hurt. We have the opportunity to touch people in their deepest needs and speak words of encouragement and healing to them. As a pastor, I have the privilege of sharing with a congregation the words of Almighty god, and I have an even greater privilege of seeing persons make life-changing decisions when they invite Jesus Christ into their lives as their Lord and Savior.

Yes, ministry can be messy and sometimes tough. But, the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. What God calls us to do, He equips and enables us to do. He walks with us and refuses to abandon us. I have always known God was with me as I served Him in this work He gave me, and that knowledge alone is enough to bring me joy.

Ministry in a changing time

 I accepted my first pastoral position in 1981. As I've written elsewhere, I went to that church with no education beyond high school and no pastoral experience. It was truly on-the-job training, and I'm thankful for the patience of that church. That ministry lasted 20 years until I accepted a call to become a Resource Minister with our judicatory. That ministry lasted 14 years before I retired. This past summer I accepted the call to serve as pastor of another church. Man, have things changed!

Last week I began to clean out file cabinets, something I should have done years ago. One drawer had my sermons for those 20 years of pastoral ministry. I looked at some of the earlier ones and realized just how bad I was. They all went to the trash can. On New Year's Eve I sat in front of my bookshelves and realized how dated some of my books are. They will also need to be pitched. I'm a firm believer that you cannot fix today's problems with yesterday's solutions.

Of course, many churches attempt to do just that. Many congregations remember when their sanctuaries were filled every week, and, despite their dwindling numbers, they believe they can recapture those glory years by doing the same things they've always done. Their order of worship never changes, they continue to sing the same songs and repeat the same prayers, and wonder why people don't rush in to fill the pews each week.

We are repeatedly told that while many Americans have little faith in the church, they continue to have great interest in God and Jesus Christ. Numerous studies have found many hunger for spiritual truth, and just as many studies show that a majority do not believe that hunger will be met in the traditional church. This should create a wake-up call for the church, but that doesn't seem to be happening.

As a pastor, I know I have to approach ministry differently than I did in 1981. That model doesn't work any more. As churches, we have to do the same thing. People are not looking for religious social clubs. If they are interested in a church at all, they will look for churches that have doctrinal integrity rather than one that tries to appease the politically correct crowd. They do not want a watered-down gospel; they want a faith upon which they can build their lives. They want a church that is actively ministering to the real needs that people have. It's OK for churches to support missionaries overseas, but they also want to see a church that is also meeting the needs that exist in their own communities. They want to have real relationships with real people and not feel they have to wear a "happy Christian" mask all the time.

We are beginning a new year, and for some of us in church leadership, we need to take this time to reflect on beginning a new way to approach ministry.

Preparing for a new year

We are at the final day of 2024. It has been an interesting year. Since retiring as a Regional Minister with our denomination I've had the privilege of serving three churches as Transitional Pastor. I never thought at 75 years of age I would return to serve as the pastor of a church, but this year I accepted that role. I have not served as the pastor of a church since 2001, so I feel I have a lot of catching up to do. I sure hope an old dog can learn new tricks because a lot of what I knew as a pastor in 2001 isn't necessarily helpful in 2025. If nothing else, becoming a pastor again has helped my prayer life!

I spent some time last week cleaning out file drawers. One drawer was full of my old sermons. They have all gone to the dump. I looked at a few of them before pitching them, and they were pretty bad. They certainly were not suitable for today. I wanted to make sure that I forced myself to prepare new messages that would be more timely today than these would have been. Of course, that means I have to work on sermon preparation again, but, fortunately, that is one of the things I enjoy most about ministry.

Part of my preparation for the new year is another commitment to read through the Bible in 2025. I've purchased a new version I've not read before so I'm ready for January 1. I have also encouraged my church to join me, and several of them have told me they will do so.

Our church got a new website in 2024, and we plan to begin streaming the sermons as quickly as we can get the right camera to do that. No one in our congregation has any experience in filming a service or putting it on social media so we will have a learning curve as we learn how to do this. 

On a personal level, our youngest grandchild turned 18 last weekend. Talk about something that will make you feel old!

My auction business is doing far better than I ever thought possible. We took most of December off to catch our breath and relax a little. We do an online auction every two weeks, and we only missed one auction in 2024, and that was so we could set up for a live auction we were doing. Our building is full again, our trailers are full and people are wanting to bring us more. I'm very thankful we are able to serve people in this way. As I've written elsewhere, I see this as an extension of my ministry.

I don't make New Year's Resolutions. I set goals based on the priorities I believe God has given me. Despite our busy schedules, one of my goals is for my wife and I to spend more time doing things we enjoy doing. There are some places she wants to see, and I plan to make that happen this year. 

2025 can be an exciting year for anyone who is willing to open themselves up to the opportunities it offers. I want to experience everything God has for me in this coming year. I hope you want the same thing, but it takes intentionality, preparation and work on our part. 

Character trumps vision

 Readers of this blog know that I often write about vision. Vision is the key to any successful endeavor. As a Resource Minister in our region I always began my first meeting with a pastor search team by asking for the vision of the church. Not once in 14 years could any pastor search team tell me their church's vision. I then explained that without a vision how could they know what they needed in their next pastor. If they didn't now where God was leading them, how could they know if the person they might interview was capable of taking them there. A few churches allowed me to help them discern a vison from God, but most just wanted to continue their search for a pastor. Those churches are still wandering around in the wilderness.

Vision is key, but one thing is even more important. That is the character of the leader. As Jon Gordon writes in The Power of Positive Leadership, "You can have the greatest vision and mission statement in the world and be optimistic and positive, but if you are not someone people want to follow, they are not getting on your bus. People follow the leader first and their vision second." John Maxwell says that leaders have to have the heart of the people before they can expect the people to follow them. The leader's character determines whether or not others will follow him or her.

When I began my first pastorate the youth told me they wanted to go to King's Island. When I announced at a business meeting we would be taking the youth to that amusement park it was made very clear that I wasn't taking the kids anywhere. My first business meeting as a new pastor made me think being a pastor might not have been such a great idea! Later that evening one of the lay leaders called and explained the reaction I had received from those attending. There was a history I knew nothing about that triggered the response.

Jump forward about 15 years later. Some of our members were at a piano store and asked me to join them. The store had a sale on an electronic piano that was similar, but a step above the one our pianist had in her home, and it was less expensive than she had paid for hers. I was asked what we had to do to buy the piano, and I explained they all knew the Baptist history. We need to form a committee and let them discuss it for a few months before the church votes. While they knew all that, they also knew the sale ended that day. I explained the other option was that we buy the piano. We did, I put it on my credit card, and it was delivered the following Monday. The church voted to reimburse me for the piano, and there was not a single objection to our buying it.

Why the different reactions? Over the years the congregation got to know my heart. I had earned their trust. They were willing to follow me because they knew I loved that church and would do nothing intentionally to hurt it. It was also important that I had not made the decision to buy the piano alone; the decision was made with three other trusted leaders in the church.

It takes time to model character to a congregation. They have to know first of all that you love them and want only the best for them. Once that is settled, then they become willing to follow your vision. If they determine you do not have their best interest at heart, or if your character is lacking in important areas, they will not follow you.

Finding peace in the ministry

While serving as a Region Minister in our judicatory one of the things that troubled me was the number of pastors in the churches I served who were simply waiting until they reached retirement age. The pressures of ministry had wore them out, and now they were just counting the days until they could retire. Essentially, they had given up on ministry. Some were still serving their congregations well, but others were just going through the motions. Some were obviously battling depression, but none of those pastors were willing to see a doctor and get some help. I felt sorry for the pastors and also for the churches they were serving. Those churches were not getting the kind of pastoral leadership they needed.

I can understand why some pastors feel beat down. They are serving in churches I often referred to as "widow makers." During my time as Region Minister I finally told two churches I would work with them to get healthier, but I would not recommend another pastor to them until they worked through their health issues. Not surprisingly, they were not interested in working on health issues so I never worked with them on finding a new pastor.

Fortunately, most churches are not like that. Often, in those churches, when a pastor feels overwhelmed it is self-inflicted. Most people enter the ministry wanting to impact people's live. Many of us struggle to say no to almost any request. It doesn't take long before our schedules are so full of meeting the needs of others that we have no time for self-care or for meeting the needs of our families. We begin to feel like we are in a vise. The pressure can continue to build until we feel overwhelmed.

So how do we deal with this pressure? What can we do to recapture the joy we first felt when we entered the ministry? We can start by learning to say no to some things. We do not have to touch everything in the church. We do not have to attend every meeting. We do not have to run over to someone's house when their cat stubs it's toe. We can learn that it's OK to let a phone call go to voice mail. We can learn that not everything is an emergency. 

We can learn to own our calendars. I suggest setting aside time each week for personal time. Put it on your calendar. Add some time on your calendar to spend time with your family. Have a date night with your spouse, and put it on your calendar. If someone asks to meet with you during those times just tell them you already have an appointment at that time.

Build margin in your life. If your calendar is packed full you have no time for true emergencies. That adds stress to your life. You can't control when you will need to do a funeral or deal with a crisis in your family or in someone else's family. If you have no margin, you'll be trying to do too many things at the same time. Talk about stressful!

Determine your priorities and work with those as much as possible. If you are responsible for preaching remember that Sunday comes every seven days. You must make that message a priority, and that doesn't happen if you start working on that message on Saturday night. If your church is having a special event that you are required to participate in, start early preparing for that. The week before is not the time to start. I had an instructor in Bible college who had plans drawn up four years in advance for events he was responsible for leading. I'm not suggesting anything that extreme, but I also never saw him stressed about anything. Start early planning those special events and you'll have much less stress.

There's more you can do, but if you'll start with these simple steps, you'll find ministry to be much less stressful.

Are we wasting our time?

 I recently read a blot post written by someone I respect as a Christian leader. He has challenged me for years to think differently about the church. I've quoted him in some of my books. In his blog he stated his belief that 60-70 percent of pastors are wasting their time serving churches that have no chance of long-term survival. He correctly noted that 80-85 percent of churches in America are plateaued or dying, and many of them will not survive. I personally believe that the majority of those churches are dying, not plateaued. He does not believe that most of those churches will survive long term. Unfortunately, I've come to agree with him.

Several years ago when I served on regional staff in our denomination I would not have agreed with him. I was convinced that with the right pastoral leadership almost any church could be turned around. I now realize that, short of a miracle from God, some of these churches had no chance of survival. They had gone too far down the decline side of the bell curve. They had zero interest in outreach or discipleship. Their only goal was survival. Since then, some of those churches have closed their doors while others continue to hang on by a fingernail waiting for the miracle pastor who can save their church.

It hurts me to say this, but perhaps this church leader is right. Maybe a lot of pastors are wasting their time trying to save something that died a long time ago. While pastors spend their days putting out fires and seeking ways to serve their shrinking congregations, multitudes are dying without Christ. The Great Commission and the Great Commandment are ignored while we try to soothe the ruffled feathers of a patriarch in the church. Too many churches are trying to find the funds to remodel their kitchen while they have nothing in the budget for evangelism and discipleship.

My DMin project was coaching bivocational ministers for greater ministry effectiveness. In one coaching session with a pastor he had questions about an upcoming baptism. Since he seemed so concerned about the details I commented that he seemed very nervous about the baptism and asked why. He responded he wanted it to go well because it was the first baptism in that church in 50 years. I had to wonder what the previous pastors had done while serving that church. Perhaps they had wasted their time and the opportunities to present Jesus Christ to their community.

But, here was a young pastor who was not wasting his time. In our next coaching session he reported the baptism went well. After the service, the congregation marched down to a river bordering their town and baptized the person there. The parade of the congregation was noticed by some people in the community who followed them. They were able to hear the pastor explain the purpose and symbolism of baptism and witness the baptism itself. Several people heard the gospel that day without ever attending the church service. I do not know the long-term outcome of that baptism, but this young pastor sowed some powerful evangelistic seeds that day.

The church leader I quoted earlier would have probably looked at that small church that had gone 50 years without a baptism and determined the church had no chance of survival and any pastor who went there was wasting his or her time. Maybe we should not be so quick to judge that, and maybe that's not our call to make. After all, if God calls a person to serve a church He must have a purpose in doing so.

I realize there are some churches that will not survive. Churches close their doors every week. At some point, denominations and church leaders need to allow them to end their ministries and stop artificially propping them up. At the same time, there are some struggling churches who only need a pastor with a God-given vision to turn them around. Such pastors will not be wasting their time serving in that church. It will take time to pass that vision on to the congregation, and it will take time to implement the vision, but it will be time well spent. It will not be wasted.

Questions from yesterday's blog

There were some good questions raised after yesterday's blog appeared about my meeting with a church to help them transition from having a fully-funded pastor to a bivocational one. Let me try to respond to a couple of those questions.

One person asked if a current fully-funded pastor can remain as pastor if the church does transition to having a bivocational pastor. This is the plan of the church I met with Monday evening. Much of this depends on the pastor and the congregation. In some ways, this pastor will have an advantage as he has been at the church for some time and has developed a lot of trust with the congregation. If the church called a new pastor, it would take some time for this trust to develop. I have found that trust is a key element in a church that is required to make anything change possible. This pastor is willing to go bivocational, and I believe has already found another job. From his comments he also seems aware of some of the challenges he will face. I am hopeful that it works out well for him, his family and the church.

There are other times when such a transition will require calling a new person. I have met with fully-funded pastors who resented being asked by the church if they would consider going bivocational. Such people will not transition into that role well. Some felt bivocational ministry was beneath them. Others believed they did not go through seminary to become a part-time pastor (their words). With such negative attitudes, it's unlikely that they will transition into a bivocational role. In such cases, it's probably best if they move on and the church seek a bivocational minister to lead them.

A second question asked was about some of the hardest changes the church should expect. Two immediately come to mind. One is that the church may feel like they have failed and develop a poor self-image of themselves. Many smaller churches, especially those that were once larger ones, can develop serious self-esteem issues. They may feel God has abandoned them, wonder what they have done wrong, begin to blame pastors or others for the decline and struggle to see anything in their future. It's important that pastors of smaller churches address self-esteem issues with their congregations and help them get some wins under their best so they can begin to feel better about themselves.

A second challenge will be managing the expectations of the congregation. There will be some in the congregation who will still expect the same level of ministry from the pastor as he or she provided when they were fully-funded. That's why I emphasized to the church I met with that they would have to communicate over and over again to the congregation what the church now expected from their bivocational pastor and to protect him if persons began to demand more. As I told them, my experience has been that if those expectations are not controlled that the transition to bivocational ministry failed in every situation in which it was tried.

The transition to bivocational ministry

Last night I was privileged to meet with a church and pastor who are transitioning to bivocational ministry. To my knowledge, this church has always been served by a fully-funded pastor so this is a major transition for them. The pastor is agreeable to the change, and, I believe, has already found other employment. I was asked to come in and discuss what the transition will look like and what problems to avoid. I was very impressed with the questions people asked and the desire of the church to be fair to the pastor and his family.

One of the things I explained to them is that bivocational ministry was the norm for most Baptist and Methodist churches until the 1950s. As people moved west their pastors were typically store keepers, teachers, farmers and others who were not usually trained in theology or ministry but who had a heart for ministry and felt a calling to serve their community. In the 1950s denominations began to move towards a more professional ministry, and churches began to seek a fully-funded, seminary educated pastor to serve their churches.

For the past several years we have seen this shift back to a renewed interest in finding bivocational ministers. There are several reasons for this. There are fewer fully-funded pastors available who are willing to serve in traditional churches. Many churches have shrunk in size since Covid. More and more people find the church irrelevant to their lives and simply no longer attend. A growing number of people claim to be spiritual but are not interested in Christianity. The list goes on, but the bottom line is that many churches are seeing fewer people which also translates into reduced financial support, and this often drives the move towards bivocational ministers.

I explained to this church that the transition will not be an easy one as some people will continue to have expectations of the pastor that he or she can no longer meet with a second job. The pastor relations committee will have to have his back when these complaints arise. There will need to be many conversations with the congregation about what his new responsibilities will look like, and lay leaders will need to fill the gap in the things he can no longer do. This can be a time of growth for this congregation, or any who makes this transition, but only if everyone steps up and uses their gifts to serve the congregation and the community.

Everyone present understood there will be growing pains during this change. It appears there is good trust between the pastor and congregation which will help, but all the planning in the world won't eliminate every problem. There will be times when it's necessary to renegotiate the expectations for both the church and the pastor, but I believe this church has the maturity to do that well. I pray this will be a successful transition.

Fallen ministers

 This morning I read about another ministry leader who had resigned from ministry due to immoral behavior. It seems that few weeks go by that we do not read of a similar instance, many of them pastors and ministry leaders of megachurches. However, the problem is not limited to the leadership of large churches. I have known several pastors of smaller churches, some of them friends of mine, who have experienced similar failures.

I write this blog not to condemn these leaders, but to remind each of us that anytime a person goes into the ministry he or she has a target on their backs. Satan knows if he can ruin the reputation of a ministry leader he can do great damage to the church, to the family of the fallen leader and to the unchurched world who concludes that such leaders cannot be trusted.

Several years ago the Catholic church was under attack for the actions of some of its church leaders. I remember at the time a Protestant leader warning against believing it was only the Catholic church that had such problems with their leaders. He predicted we would soon hear of similar failures within the Protestant churches as well. His prophecy has proven true.

It is a mistake for anyone to think they are above moral failure. Such failures usually do not happen overnight. They are the result of a series of actions on our part and those of others. No doubt some in ministry would be considered sexual predators using their position to lure people into sexual activities. However, I believe that most immoral behavior occurs over a period of time as pastors become more isolated from others and have little accountability in their lives. 

Ministry leaders must protect themselves from such failures in their lives. Mike Pence was criticized as Vice President because he would not be along with a woman who was not his wife. He was following a rule Billy Graham followed many years ago. That rule protected both men from even the hint of sexual scandal, and is a rule I have followed for much of my ministry. Isn't it interesting that those who issued such criticisms against both men have not found it necessary to criticize entertainers, politicians and others who have multiple affairs?

Social media is an area where we must be very careful. I once read that Facebook was the number one cause of divorce today as old flames met each other online and began communicating. It's very important that we are careful about what we say in a text message as it is easy to  be misunderstood even if we didn't mean anything inappropriate. My phone is always available for my wife to look at, and I often just leave it on the counter even when I go out.

As important as it is for ministry leaders to have guidelines in place for their relationships with others, it is equally important that persons in the church pray for their leaders. Remember that Satan would like nothing more than to destroy your pastor. Keep him or her in your prayers that they will be recognize any attack he might send against them and that they will be able to resist every attack.

Ministry change

 For most of the past year I have served as the Transitional Pastor of North Madison Baptist Church in my hometown of Madison, IN. Yesterday, at a specially called business meeting, the church voted to call me as their pastor. This is a great church that will celebrate it's 175th anniversary in November, and we are already working on that celebration. It is a church with a rich history, but I truly believe its best days are still ahead. I am excited to be a part of that future.

I will remain as a bivocational pastor as I will continue to operate my auctioneering business. We offer an online auction every two weeks with an occasional live auction. This alone keeps my wife and me busy, but it has not interfered with my pastoral ministry.

These past few months at the church have been exciting. Our mission offerings have increased substantially over past years. Our offerings have remained strong. We have introduced some videos for our specials that are not found in traditional Baptist hymnals, and these have been well received. We have a new website that will be released online any day now that will give us the opportunity to post our services and keep the community informed of special events at the church. We held a "Big Event" on Mother's Day that was well attended. At that event we passed out copies of The Case for Christ to every family present. We are installing new carpet for the steps coming into the church with plans to replace those steps perhaps next year and add a new ramp at the same time. A number of people have returned to the church who have not been attending since Covid. Our Leadership Team and I have been discussing some new ministries that will allow us to minister to more people in the Madison and Jefferson Country community. As you can see, this transitional time has been productive. We give God praise for this!

We want to invite all our members to join us for worship each Sunday at 10:30. Some have not been back since Covid. Others have left for other reasons. It's a new day at North Madison Baptist Church! God is leading us forward, and we want you to be a part of it.

We also want to invite everyone who does not have a church home to check us out. I think you'll like what you'll see. We are still growing in some areas, but you can help us with that growth.

Finally, I have been in the office most Tuesday mornings from 9:00 - 12:00. I plan to continue that and to add Friday mornings to that schedule as well. If you want to meet me at those times, please call me at 812-599-5599  to make sure I'll be there.

Achieving your potential

 I recently read something I found quite interesting about former basketball coach of the UCLA Bruins, John Wooden. In forty years of coaching he only had one losing season - his first. He led UCLA to four undefeated seasons and ten NCAA championships. While that's impressive, it was not what I found interesting. What was interesting to me was that he never scouted his opponents. His focus was on getting his players to reach their potential. He knew that if each of his players reached their potential, the wins would take care of themselves.

How does this relate to leading a church? While I hope we do not view other churches as opponents that we feel the need to scout, I believe the focus Wooden had on developing his team does have application for church leaders. How many of the people sitting in our pews are living up to the potential God gave them? If we're honest, the answer would probably be pretty disappointing. The few churches I know who have done discipleship studies of their congregations were all disappointed in the results.

The Great Commission calls us to share our faith with those who are not Christians and to lead those who respond into a life of discipleship. Not many churches live up to the first part of that call, and even fewer are successfully leading people into a deeper life of discipleship. It's no wonder so many in our churches lack understanding of even basic biblical theology, struggle to live a Christ-honoring life and are growing in their faith. Many of us in pastoral leadership need to take a serious look at our priorities and find ways to address the lack of discipleship in our churches.

But, before we do that, we need to examine our own lives. Are we achieving our God-given potential? We cannot take someone further than we are going ourselves. We cannot ask people to do something we are not doing. We have to show growth in our own lives before we can ask people to begin to grow in theirs.

Let me ask you some questions. What are you reading? Whose tapes or podcasts are you listening to? Who are you spending time with? How much time do you spend each day in prayer and devotional reading? When was the last time you read through the entire Bible?

What priorities have you set for the remainder of 2024? How much time do you spend sharing your faith with pre-Christians? How many non-Christian friends do you have? What specific steps do you plan to take to help people grow in their faith?

These are important questions. Before you can challenge others to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ, you have to demonstrate that you are growing as a disciple. Years ago when I was serving as a Regional Minister in our judicatory our Executive Minister told me he had never seen anyone so committed to lifelong learning as me. I'm 75 years old, and I have the same commitment I had back then. I haven't achieved the potential God gave me, and I doubt you have either. As long as I have breath, I will continue to strive to grow and reach that potential. I pray you will make the same commitment. Only then, can you lead others to reach theirs. 

Leadership 101

 This evening I decided I would start re-reading John Maxwell's book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. In my opinion, it is the best book on leadership available today. I attended a conference he led when the book was first released, and it changed my life and ministry. He began discussing the first chapter which was "The Law of the Lid." What he said about that law impacted me so much I don't think I heard anything he said about the next two laws.

As a bivocational pastor who owned a business, I was often frustrated. I complained the church wasn't doing enough because I couldn't get people to do what needed to be done. I had the same complaint about the business. When Maxwell said that the lid of the leadership is what enables an organization to thrive or decline, I realized I was blaming the wrong people. It wasn't the congregation or the people who worked for me that was limiting our growth; It was me! My leadership (or the lack of) was holding both the church and our business back. I realized I had to grow as a leader if I wanted our business to succeed and if I wanted to see our church more effectively minister to our community.

This is a book that I believe needs to be read by every pastor because many of us do not see ourselves as leaders. Many seminaries do not teach pastors to be leaders; they teach us to be managers. There is a huge difference. Many pastors have responded to surveys that they do not see themselves as leaders. They do not believe they have the gift of leadership. Worse yet, they do not realize that anyone can grow as a leader.

The majority of our churches in the US are in decline, and the reason for the decline is the lack of leadership from pastors. Before you argue that some churches won't allow the pastors to lead, I recognize that, and I would also argue that, as a pastor, you either lead or let that church continue its slide towards death, and go somewhere where you are allowed to lead the church to grow and effectively serve its community. 

I also realize that some pastors take leadership to an extreme and become bullies in the pulpit. A number of mega-church pastors in recent years have been forced to resign or terminated due to the way they began to bully staff and congregational members. That is certainly not the kind of leadership to which I am referring. I believe Jesus modeled the type of leadership that should be practiced by ministers today. When He needed to be firm, He was, but He never stopped loving people even to the point of giving His life that they, and we, might have our sins forgiven.

If you've not read this book, I encourage you to do so. If you don't see yourself as a leader, I would ask that you begin to pray about that. Our churches will never rise to their potential if the pastor does not grow as a leader.

The Pastor Theologian

 A common criticism often directed at many church members is their lack of knowledge of basic Bible doctrines. I have often been amazed at the number of Christians who did not know even basic Christian teaching. Some of these individuals faithfully attended church and even Sunday school but had little knowledge of theology. It makes one wonder what they have been hearing from the pulpit. Many sitting in the pews have been fed a steady diet of self-help messages, sermonettes that could have come out of Reader's Digest, or the pastor's weekly rant, but they have not been fed a steady diet of theological instruction. They have been fed milk, not meat, and now many prefer the milk.

Gerald Hiestand and Todd Wilson wrote a book I read when I first found it titled The Pastor Theologian: Resurrecting an Ancient Vision. It impacted me greatly, and, I must admit, convicted me. They point out in the book that the pastor is the theological leader of the church. They write, "As goes the pastoral community, so goes the church. Assuming sufficient tenure, show us a pastor with robust theological depth, and we'll show you a local church with a corresponding theological depth. Likewise, show us a pastor who lacks the capacity to think meaningfully about the gospel, and we'll show you a church that lacks the same...The theological integrity of a local church will never rise above that of the pastor."

These are serious words a pastor must consider as he or she reflects on his or her preaching. If people sitting in our pews do not even know the difference between the Old and New Testaments or that there are four Gospels that is on the pastors who have served that church. Likewise, if our congregations do not understand the importance of the various attributes of God and how they impact our lives and faith and do not know how to lead someone to faith in Jesus Christ, that is also on the pastors.

The authors point out the difference between academic theology and popular theology. Academic theology is the theology one studies in seminaries I visited a church one Sunday whose pastor was working on his PhD. His sermon contained excellent theology which no one in his church could understand or relate to. Sitting there, I wondered if he was repeating what one of his professors taught in a class that week. Popular theology brings sound theology down into the world where people live. It addresses such issues as marriage, finances, leadership, worship, family life and much more. Yes, the Bible has much to say about each of these areas, and much more, that are important to ordinary people.

Many who reject the church and the Christian faith accuse both of being irrelevant to their lives. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible addresses virtually every area of life experienced by ordinary people. Unless they can be shown that this is true, they will continue to consider the church to be irrelevant, and that very belief can keep them from finding faith in Jesus Christ.

Pastors, we are the resident theologians in our churches. The depth of our congregation's theological understanding is totally dependent upon us. This is a role we must take seriously. 

Ministry and suicide

I just finished reading an article about another pastor who took his life. I'm sure both his family and congregation are struggling to understand why this happened. They are probably also wondering how they missed warning signs. Over the next few months they will deal with a lot of mixed emotions while dealing with the loss of someone I'm sure they loved very much.

I never met this pastor, and, in fact, had never heard his name before reading the article. I don't know what was going on in his life, what struggles he might have had or what prompted the decision to end his life. None of us are in a position to judge his actions.

Two pastors I have known have taken their lives. One was actually a childhood friend. I do not know why either one ended their lives. No doubt they were struggling with issues that led them to that decision. I wish either one of them had talked to me about whatever their issues were.

Much has been written in recent years about the pressures of being in the ministry. Many pastors have left the ministry because of those pressures. Certainly, the ministry does involve pressure. As a pastor and a former regional minister, I have felt those pressures many times. Once, the pressure became so overwhelming that I fell into clinical depression and sought counseling to understand what was happening and how to overcome it, and I did overcome it. I also learned better coping strategies to ensure I would not experience depression again. Even in my deepest depressed state, I never considered suicide as an option. Perhaps, that was because of the support I was receiving from my family and my counselor.

To any minister, or anyone else, reading this who is thinking about taking his or her life due to the pressures of living, seek help. Tell someone what you are thinking. Call a counseling center as I did. Talk to your family doctor. Call the ER. Tell someone. I've known pastors who seriously needed to enter counseling due to depression or another mental illness who refused to do so. They didn't want to appear weak. Some have the misguided belief that seeking outside help would demonstrate a lack of faith in God. Let me be blunt: That's stupid! If you broke your leg I'm sure you would see a doctor to repair the damage. Seeing a counselor for depression or to avoid suicide is no more a lack of faith than having a doctor repair a broken leg.

Committing suicide does not relieve the pain a person is feeling. It just passes it on to others who loved that person very much. Please, talk to someone before ending your life. 

Finding a good coach

 A few years ago a UMC district asked a number of their experienced pastors to serve as coaches for their bivocational pastors. I was asked to lead a training session to address both coaching and bivocational ministry to these new coaches. I was very impressed with the district's leadership to providing this opportunity to their bivocational pastors and with the coaches willingness to add another responsibility to their busy schedules.

The business world has long known the value of providing coaches to their senior leadership. In fact, some top companies offer coaching as a perk to attract the best leaders to their organizations. The church world has been slower to see the value of coaching for pastors and denominational leaders. This is very unfortunate. I have seen first-hand the value of having a coach.

I had a ministry coach for a year who helped me through a time of confusion in my life and ministry. At the time I was uncertain whether to remain in my current ministry or go in a different direction. I was also considering pursuing my DMin and was uncertain whether this was where God was leading me. Having a wise coach helped add clarity to my choices. I remained in my current ministry and earned my DMin. I am thankful for doing both.

My DMin project and thesis focused on the effect of coaching on bivocational ministers. For the project I coached six bivocational ministers across the US and Canada for three months and wrote about the experience. In my thesis I included statements from each minister about how the coaching experience impacted their lives and ministries. That thesis has been downloaded over 3,300 times. I also wrote a book that detailed that coaching experience titled The Art and Practice of Bivocational Ministry: A Pastor's Guide.

Too many people look at the cost of having a coach rather than the impact it can have on one's life and ministry. It's true that Executive Coaches can cost as much as $750.00 an hour, but ministry coaches charge much less than that. Instead of viewing the cost of having a coach as an expense, it's better to see it as an investment in your future.

If having a coach seems too much, at least allow some experienced pastors mentor you through their books and podcasts. John Maxwell, Charles Swindoll, William Lane Craig, Gary McIntosh and many others have influenced my ministry in many ways through their books and podcasts. Find good people whose books and podcasts speak to you and learn as much as you can from them. Both your personal life and ministry will benefit.

What I enjoy most about bivocational ministry

 Today was a very busy day. We had an online auction conclude Tuesday night. On Wednesday people were coming in to pick up their winnings. Today, we were shipping those items that needed shipment, serving people who didn't pick up their items yesterday and receiving items for our next auction that begins next Tuesday. In between all that, I was taking pictures of some items for our next auction. Then a text came in.

A lady's father died a few months ago, and she is trying to decide what to do with a household of stuff and a ton of memories associated with most of the items. I agreed to meet her at the house and see if I could help her. Unfortunately, what was in the house had little value, not enough to hold an auction. It didn't take too much discussion to see she was feeling completely overwhelmed having to deal with it. I could identify with her stress. Before becoming an auctioneer I was the executor of an estate for a family member and had to deal with the stress of deciding what to do with everything.

I began to explain to her what I felt would be the simplest way to deal with all the material things. I then told her I was the pastor of North Madison Baptist Church here in Madison and asked if I could pray for her. She agreed, and I prayed that God would give her wisdom and insight to handling the estate and that He would surround her with His presence and peace throughout the process.

This is not the first time I've been able to pray for someone dealing with the stress of deciding what to do with a loved one's estate. This is what I enjoy most about being a bivocational minister. I get called into people's lives to help them solve problems, and in the process I'm able to minister to them. Not one time has anyone refused my offer to pray for them. I've been able to direct people to churches in their community that I know will minister to them.

I was 64 when I got my auctioneer's license. People asked why I wanted to do that at my age, and I responded that it was a way to serve people. It would be an extension of my ministry. Auctioneers get called when people have to settle estates and don't know what to do; we get called when people are downsizing or moving into assisted living and they need to dispose of some of the items they've collected over the year; and we get called by those who buy and sell to support their families. In all three examples, I have an opportunity to minister to people at their point of need.

I encourage all bivocational ministers to consider how their other work can also become a ministry. As a bivocational minister, I am a minister 24/7 whether I'm working in a factory, selling cars or conducting an auction. Your ministry doesn't end at the front doors of the church you're serving. God has given you a much larger ministry than that, and that is what I enjoy most about bivocational ministry.

When going through the fire

For several years my wife and I were permanent seat holders at the National Gospel Quartet Convention held in Louisville, KY each year. We attended all six nights of the convention and were blessed by many of the artists and their music. We gave up our seats when the convention moved to Pigeon Forge. 

One of our favorite groups was the Crabbe Family. These young people brought an energy to the stage and to their music that was electrifying. One of their songs was "Through the Fire,." which became one of their many hits. I won't go into the details behind the song, but this family had been through the fire. They knew what it meant to be in difficult circumstances and to be rescued by God. I just watched a video of them performing the song, and many of the members had tears running down their faces as they sang about how God delivers us from the fires of life.

So many in our churches and communities are going through the fire right now. People sit in the pews every Sunday with smiles on their faces and hearts broken by things we know nothing about. Some are struggling with pain that is almost overwhelming and with fears that keep them awake at night. The gospel is a story of hope, of healing and a promise that God can deliver us from the fire. We need to make sure we make that story told.

What's true of people in our churches is equally, if not more, true of those in our communities. A wise church member once told me that we never know what goes on behind the closed doors of those we know. For those who do not know Jesus Christ, their despair is even worse. They do not know the only true source of hope that exists in the world. Again, this gospel story is one they need to hear, and we in the church must find ways to help them hear it.

For those pastors reading this, I know some of you are going through the fire yourselves. Your church may be struggling over low attendance or discord within the congregation. You may even be wondering if you should remain in ministry. A lot of pastors do leave the ministry each year because the fire becomes too intense. Ro. 11: 29 tells us that "The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable." If God has called you into ministry, that calling will never leave you whether you obey it or not. I know what it's like to go through the fire. It's not fun. But, God has delivered me from every fiery trial I've encountered, and He will bring you through as well.

If you are going through a fire and need someone to talk to, please contact me. If you are a pastor struggling with your call, I invite you to contact me as well. I care. 

The tired pastor

Much has been written in recent years about the exhaustion many pastors feel. The pressures and stresses of ministry has led to many leaving the ministry and seeking other types of employment. There is no question that these pressures and stresses are real. I've experienced them myself, but I've also learned that there are some things I can do to help alleviate them.

One of the simplest is to take control of your schedule. I often joke that people who have nothing to do want to do it with you. Unfortunately, that is not a joke. Unless you control your calendar, someone else will. I recommend that at the start of each month block off times on your calendar for the things you are responsible for doing. If you are responsible for preaching each week, you need preparation time. When are you most effective in your study and sermon preparation? Many find their most productive hours are in the morning. If that is you, block out your mornings to plan and prepare your messages. You can then schedule other demands on your time at other times on your calendar.

When blocking out times on your calendar don't forget to schedule times with your family and for your own self-care. You don't want to schedule a deacon's retreat on your wife's birthday or your anniversary! Block out those days well in advance. Be sure to include time on your calendar for yourself. Remember...self-care is not selfishness, it is stewardship of a very valuable commodity...you. Take your vacations. Take your days off.

A second thing to do to help ease the stresses of ministry is to deal with interpersonal conflicts quickly. There are few things more stressful than knowing that someone is upset at something you've said or done. Address it as soon as you learn someone is unhappy with you. It may be something as simple as a misunderstanding that can easily be cleared up. There may be a legitimate issue that needs addressed. If so, acknowledge your part in that and see what can be done to resolve it.

Unfortunately, personal finances are often a stressor in a minister's life. Few ministers are paid salaries comparable to what others with our education and experience receive. Personal financial management is a course that should be taught in seminary. I would recommend that every minister take the "Financial Peace University" course offered by Dave Ramsey. It will help you get out of debt, avoid debt, build up an emergency fund and plan for retirement.

The final thing I'll address in this post is to set priorities. Some people act as if everything is a priority. If everything is a priority, nothing is. What are the top five things you need to do today? Once you determine that, you can then prioritize each of them. Number them one through five. Begin working on number one and don't stop until it is completed. Then move on to number two. You may not get to number two, and that's OK. That becomes number one tomorrow.

One thing I've learned in ministry is that there will always be one more phone call I could have made, and probably should have. There will always be one more visit I could have made, and probably should have. There will always be unfinished work at the end of every day, and I've had to learn to accept that. I'm not going to save the world today, and I'll burn myself out if I try. If that happens, then I'll be no good to anyone.