Leadership Pointers - Church Leaders Share What They Have Learned: Eleven Articles

4 Tasks of a Senior Leader

My friend Steve Graves recently met with some of our leadership team and shared four tasks of a senior leader. I found his framework helpful and challenging, and in sharing it with you, I have added some of my own thoughts. So, here are the four tasks that every senior leader must be preoccupied with and focused on. Read more

Over-Pastoring and Under-Pastoring

There are two common dangers in pastoral ministry and Paul is alert to both of them. They are what we might call over-pastoring and under-pastoring. Read more

The Senior Pastor/Executive Pastor Fit

The role of “executive pastor” is a growing position in churches. While specifics change from context to context, typically the executive pastor leads the staff, oversees the daily operations, and provides strategic and administrative leadership to the church. Initially, the role was viewed as almost exclusive to very large churches where it was logically perceived that the senior pastor could not handle the teaching and the administrative load of such a large congregation. In recent years, more and more churches are seeing the executive pastor role as critical, regardless of their church’s size, so the senior pastor can spend more time focused on teaching. This position also ensures another strategic leader is at the table.

While the role is growing, the role is very diverse in that it varies greatly from context to context. If you put 30 student pastors or worship pastors in the same room, their responsibilities and weekly schedules are somewhat similar. If you put 30 executive pastors in the same room, you will find very different leaders with differing responsibilities. The role of executive pastor changes drastically from church to church, as it should, because the role at its best is uniquely designed around the gifting and needs of the senior pastor (or team of pastors in a team model). Read more

Leadership Pitfalls: Crashing on Autopilot

Question: “I seem to be wasting my time as a leader. No matter how much I invest, my leadership seems to be making very little discernable difference. It’s discouraging. What am I doing wrong?” Read more

Why A Real Leader Never Says “It’s Not My Fault”

Despite our faith, Christian leaders don’t always have the healthiest practices.

It’s so easy to get defensive in leadership.

After all, all the problems no one else can solve land on your desk. What makes it really difficult is that sometimes... Read more

When the Leadership Wimps Out, What’s a Pastor to Do?

“But as for you, keep a clear head about everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:5).

The deacons in Church A promised the new pastor that if he would come, they would deal with a difficult situation they had been condoning and which was destroying the witness of the church.

A man and woman in leadership positions were co-habiting as husband and wife, though unmarried. The deacons agreed that it was unscriptural and could not be condoned and that they would address it.

Six months later, the pastor resigned. Read more

Strength to Lead Grows through Resistance

Have you ever realized how easy leadership is? A vision statement is pretty easy to write if you toy around with the verbiage long enough. Dreaming up big hairy audacious goals is a blast. And reading leadership books? That often borders on entertainment.

But doing the actual leading? That’s hard. Leading is hard because you bump against resistance in every direction you turn. The people you want to lead think your vision statement is cheesy and your goals are just hairy. But those struggles are a sign that tells you that you are in fact leading. Maybe even in the right direction. Read more

4 Principles for Building a High-Performing Team

Have you ever stopped to count how many teams you’ve served on or led throughout the years? Take a minute and try to count just within the last five years. I think you’ll find it a challenge. Teams come in all shapes and sizes — from a softball team to an executive team. Any team is important, especially the ones that serve the Lord and His Church. There are many ways to build a high-performing team, but I believe these four principles are the most important. Read more

5 Ways to Help Your Staff Thrive

“With young ministry staff, raised expectations without increased involvement is unrealistic.”—Vance Pitman, Lead Pastor, Hope Church

I am blessed to pastor a thriving, increasingly racially diverse congregation in the midst of a rapidly growing city. As our church grows, however, I find myself leaning more and more on our pastoral staff—many of whom are relatively young in the ministry. If we are going to succeed in our mission to build disciples in our city, I anticipate I will depend even more upon them in the future. Consequently, our church needs these individuals to perform at a level beyond their experience.

Over the last two years, we have worked to create a culture designed to help our staff members grow. Here are a few of the insights we have gleaned along the way.... Read more

Top Ten Sources of Discouragement of Pastors and Church Staff

I love those men and women who serve local churches. I love their commitment and sacrifice. And I wish I could do more to help them remain energized and encouraged.

In this post, I share the results of an informal Twitter poll where I asked pastors and church staff to share with me those areas of ministry that discouraged them most. My motivation for doing so is primarily my love and concern for these church leaders. It is my prayer that this awareness will encourage church members to be even more supportive of and prayerful for these leaders.

Here are the top ten sources of discouragement of pastors and church staff listed in order of frequency. Admittedly, there is overlap in some of these responses, but those who responded often made their own distinctions. A representative quote follows each category. Read more

How to Leave Your Church Without Hurting It

Those of us who have the privilege of serving on a church staff will eventually leave our ministry posts. I recently resigned from the church I have loved and served for thirteen years in order to accept my new ministry assignment to serve pastors with LifeWay. I would like to share a few lessons I learned from this transition that may help make your last Sunday a happy ending rather than a hurtful one. Read more